PRESS RELEASE – What do you get when you combine local food, family pride, plenty of folklore, and rich, Northeastern Wisconsin tradition? Booyah! It’s official; the Northwoods League team that will begin play at Capital Credit Union Park in 2019 will be called the Green Bay Booyah!
The phrase Booyah resonates with many sports fans around the country as an expression for an intense and amazing play. ESPN analyst Stuart Scott popularized the phrase describing a tremendous dunk: Booyah! When a player crushed a home run: Booyah! A one-handed touchdown catch on the football field on a throw from Aaron Rodgers: Booyah!
Green Bay knows plenty about the last statement, but the community also knows Booyah as something that typically has nothing to do with sports. Families around Northeastern Wisconsin know Booyah as a Belgian style stew that has been a local favorite for over a century. There are many varieties, and each chef adds their own flair to every batch of the stew, traditionally comprised of mixed vegetables, thick broth, with the meat usually consisting of chicken, with an ox tail added for extra flavor. Booyah can take multiple days and many hands to prepare, often cooked in a large cast iron kettle over a fire and is featured as the main dish in a plethora of fundraisers, church picnics, and large family gatherings.
The stories about why Booyah is called Booyah vary, but most likely stem from local resident Andrew Rentmeester deciding to cook a large batch of soup to sell as a fundraiser to purchase school supplies for kids. Rentmeester spoke with a journalist from the Green Bay Press Gazette to promote his fundraiser and told her he would be serving “bouillon” which is the French word for soup. The journalist asked him to spell the word, to which he phonetically spelled b-o-o-y-a-h. The newspaper printed it that way and a simple, misspelled word has become a local fixture in the area since.
“We’re extremely excited to unveil a brand that is not only fun but has a meaningful connection to the community we call home,” said John Fanta, the team’s Vice President. “The name speaks to the rich tradition in Northeast Wisconsin and fans will really enjoy how we plan to integrate the Booyah theme at the ballpark. I can’t wait to shout the phrase after our first home run at Capital Credit Union Park!”
Chicken is the most common ingredient in Booyah, which inspired the fierce rooster featured in the team logos. The team introduced team colors including royal blue, sky blue, gold, orange and gray. The Booyah also unveiled a variety of alternative logos that will be featured on merchandise and branding around the new stadium. The organization turned to the Brandiose team to make the vision come to life. A new website is up and running at booyahbaseball.com along with new social media accounts (Facebook: Green Bay Booyah, Twitter: @greenbaybooyah).
Part of the fun with the team name has already begun, as team officials debuted the World’s Largest Booyah Kettle. The kettle features hand painted versions of the team logos, which provided the first glimpse of the branding at the unveiling event. The 2,000 gallon kettle will be installed at Capital Credit Union Park in time for the 2019 season.
Team merchandise will be available at the new Team Store and front office location (2325 Holmgren Way, Suite 110, in Ashwaubenon, near Gordman’s) beginning on Thursday, November 15th and is also available online now. The Booyah Team Office and Shop hours are Monday through Friday from 9am-6pm and Saturday from 10am-2pm through the end of the year. There will also be a host of Sunday dates that the store will be open leading up to the holidays.
On Saturday, November 17th the team will serve FREE Booyah from The Booyah Shed to all fans beginning at 11am outside of the Holmgren Way location until it’s gone. Anyone that stops into the new team store will receive a voucher that can be redeemed outside at The Booyah Shed trailer. No purchase required. Fans can also reserve the all-new 5 Game Memberships to enjoy Booyah Baseball online or by stopping into the new office location. Anyone that places a deposit on tickets by December 21st will receive a FREE invitation to the inaugural Hot Stove event in January where they will receive the first opportunity to pick their seats at Capital Credit Union Park, witness the unveil of new team uniforms and mascot, along with the first player signees for the 2019 team.
The team also announced that Mike Rabas, a Door County resident, was the Grand Prize winner of the Name the Team Contest and won two lifetime infield box season tickets, a personalized team jersey, authentic game hat, and will be invited to throw out the first pitch for the 2019 Home Opener in June.
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