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Dodgers Expand Catalog for Anniversary Season

With an eye toward increased sales of team memorabilia during the 40th anniversary of Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers have increased the page count and dimensions of this year's merchandise catalog.

“The Dodgers were interested in showcasing a wider array of items,” said Todd Russell, manager, sports marketing at AGA Marketing & Design, New York, who for the fourth season has produced the catalog. “There is probably an increase of 35 percent to 40 percent in actual products. This year's product total was roughly 250. We have more of a lifestyle feel in this book, showing full-page fashion bleed shots. They were not as prominent last year.”

Gone is the 28-page digest book (5 1/2 inches by 8 3/4 inches) of last year in favor of a 48-page catalog measuring 10 1/2 inches by 8 1/4 inches. Approximately 50,000 catalogs mailed the first week of April to season ticket holders and to people who have purchased from the catalog within the past five years.

About half of the recipients are within a 200-mile radius of the Los Angeles area while the remainder is a mix of out-of-state and out-of-country recipients. Fifty-two percent of the target is male while the age range is 22 to 47.

“We still get a lot of calls and orders from Brooklyn and people who are from Brooklyn who have migrated,” said Dodgers director of merchandising Mike Nygren, referring to the New York City borough the team called home until moving to Los Angeles in 1958.

Fortieth anniversary items in the catalog include a $395 silver bat, a $200 jacket, and $5 items such as a ball, pin and 18-inch bat.

New to the book is the offer of a free gift with purchase. Pictured on the order form insert at the center of the catalog, the gift is a Dodgers AM/FM stereo cooler, which is described as a $60 value offered free with orders of $150 or more.

Players wearing authentic team merchandise dominate pages 2 and 3 while a shot of a couple and their young daughter appear on the cover. Five pages in the middle of the book are dedicated to women's items, which have been featured in previous catalogs. For those looking to spend well above the book's average price point is the item occupying all of page 33 as well as the back cover: the Vespa motor scooter at $4,595.

The anniversary-themed items, authentic merchandise, and caps, visors and hats are expected to be the book's biggest selling items.

“We have utilized players to sell authentics, while we've tried to focus on featuring fans on the front cover since that's our target audience,” Russell said.

Nygren has increased expectations for this year's catalog.

“The average order amount has been around $76 in recent years,” he said, “and we expect it to be as good if not better. We average 3.23 units per order and we're expecting more because of the 40th anniversary merchandise, and the Vespa should increase the average sale.”

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