TinCaps Unveil Uniforms for Manzanas Luchadoras Identity

PRESS RELEASE – The Fort Wayne TinCaps unveiled the uniforms for their Manzanas Luchadoras identity on Thursday. The team will be taking the field as the Manzanas Luchadoras (“Fighting Apples” in Spanish) for six games at Parkview Field during the 2020 season as part of Minor League Baseball’s Es Divertido Ser Un Fan (“It’s Fun to be A Fan”) Hispanic fan engagement initiative.

Copa Ready to Reach Higher in Third Season

PRESS RELEASE – This is community service and engagement. These are new identities and recharged returning concepts. This is Copa 3.0. Minor League Baseball’s award-winning initiative of cultural engagement with Hispanic and Latinx communities across the country, Copa de la Diversión returns in 2020 for its third season with more teams than ever. A total of 92 franchises will participate in the Copa program next year — up from 72 in 2019 — with the complete collection of new team names and eye-catching logos rolling out Thursday afternoon.

Barbanegras to Debut Saturday

As a team participating in MiLB’s Copa initiative, the Bradenton Marauders will play as the Bradenton Barbanegras for four games this season, starting Saturday night against the Tampa Tarpons.  Bradenton’s proximity to the Floridian Gulf Coast makes the region ripe with centuries-old stories of conquistadors and other seafaring explorers.  To better connect the region’s maritime history to its robust, large Hispanic community, the Babanegras (“Black Beards”) moniker came to light.  Read more and see uniforms here.

Rolling Out the Copa Logos for 2019

Minor League Baseball is unveiling the 72 team identities for the 2019 Copa de la Diversión program.  From the Chicharrones de Columbia to the San Bernardos de Salem, learn about the logos as they are revealed.  Read more and see logos here.

Minor League Baseball Reveals 2019 Copa Details, Team Identities and Logos will be Unveiled March 18

Minor League Baseball today unveiled the 397-game schedule for its second annual Copa de la Diversión (Fun Cup) event series, taking place during the 2019 season.  The 2019 season will see 72 teams transform their brands to join in Copa’s mission to authentically connect MiLB teams with their diverse communities, and embrace and celebrate the culture and values that resonate most with Latinx fans nationwide.  Read more here.

Minor League Baseball Unveils Finalists in its Copa de la Diversión Season-Long Event Series Competition

PRESS RELEASE – Minor League Baseball™ (MiLB™) today unveiled the finalists of its inaugural Copa de la Diversión™ (Fun Cup™) event series that took place during the 2018 season. The winner will be announced on Monday, Dec. 10, at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Las Vegas during the Opening Session.

The cornerstone of MiLB’s Es Divertido Ser Un Fan® (It’s Fun to be A Fan®) Hispanic/Latinx fan engagement initiative, Copa de la Diversión (“Copa”) established an innovative new platform authentically connecting MiLB teams with their diverse communities, embracing the culture and values that resonate most with Hispanics/Latinx nationwide. Thirty-three teams adopted culturally-relevant on-field personas and integrated more local flavor into their gameday experiences for designated games.

The five Copa finalists are: Mariachis de Nuevo México (Albuquerque Isotopes), Monarcas de Eugene (Eugene Emeralds), Cucuys de San Bernardino (Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino), Cielo Azul de Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City Dodgers) and the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio (San Antonio Missions).

“Copa generated the positive buzz and subsequent following because of the passion, creativity and hard work all of the participating teams and their community partners poured into the campaign,” said Kurt Hunzeker, Vice President of Marketing Strategy and Research for Minor League Baseball. “The five finalists and their respective communities should celebrate this honor and achievement as their vision, inclusion and leadership have established the perfect playbook for other sports properties wanting to authentically connect with their local Latinx communities.”

The five finalists represent every classification of Minor League Baseball, reinforcing the success and relevancy of the event series throughout MiLB and its communities. The contending teams were selected by Minor League Baseball’s newly-formed Latinx Advisory Committee comprised of leaders in multicultural academia, media and marketing. The committee ranked the teams on how well they achieved the primary objectives of the Copa event series including increasing awareness, authentic engagements and attendance with U.S. Hispanics/Latinx in their local community; embracing this community and culture that is passionate about baseball, family and fun by updating their ballpark experience to match the values this specific fan segment cherishes most; creating and embracing culturally-relevant on-field personas that authentically connect them with their local U.S. Hispanic/Latinx community; and amplifying MiLB’s continuous effort to diversify the game and business of baseball nationwide.

Notable accomplishments of the finalists included:

• The Albuquerque Isotopes (Mariachis de Nuevo México) setting a single-game attendance record (16,975) for their first-ever Mariachis’ game on May 5 and leading all Copa-participating teams in most attendees gained per game, averaging 5,000 more fans each Copa game compared to similar dates in 2017.

• The Eugene Emeralds (Monarcas de Eugene) leading all Copa-participating teams in community impact metrics by engaging 16 local civic groups, community organizations and corporate offices, investing significant time and resources to authentically connect with Eugene and surrounding areas’ Hispanic/Latinx communities.

• The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino (Cucuys de San Bernardino) achieving their season-long attendance increase goal during their first Cucuys’ game, as 6,887 fans packed San Manuel Stadium on Thursday, May 3, an increase of 272 percent compared to similar game date in 2017.

• The Oklahoma City Dodgers (Cielo Azul de Oklahoma City) establishing deep connections with local area businesses searching for programming to reach OKC’s Hispanic/Latinx community, resulting in the second-largest commercial partnership revenue among all Copa-participating teams.

• The San Antonio Missions (Flying Chanclas de San Antonio) generating the most team-controlled retail sales for its Flying Chanclas’ licensed products with more than $700,000 in retail sales (in-ballpark and via the team’s online store).

In September, Minor League Baseball announced it is expanding Copa de la Diversión for the 2019 season, more than doubling the number of participating teams to 72. The new Copa identities will be unveiled in March 2019.

Minor League Baseball’s ‘Copa de la Diversión’ Hispanic Fan Engagement Initiative Expands to 72 Teams for 2019

PRESS RELEASE – Minor League Baseball™ (MiLB™) today revealed an expanded roster of 72 teams set to participate in its “Copa de la Diversión,” or “Fun Cup,” a season-long event series in 2019. The cornerstone of MiLB’s U.S. Hispanic/Latino fan engagement initiative, “Copa de la Diversión” established an innovative new platform authentically connecting MiLB teams with their diverse communities, embracing the culture and values that resonate most with Hispanics/Latinos nationwide.

The #1-Ranked Copa de la Diversion Name that Almost Didn’t Happen

Last summer, Burl Yarbrough, president of the San Antonio Missions (Double-A, Texas League), received a text from his general manager, Dave Gasaway.  After collaborating with fellow staffers, Gasaway probed Yarbrough about becoming the Flying Chanclas and join 32 other clubs in the MiLB initiative Copa de la Diversion, or “Fun Cup.”  Yarbrough delivered an initial terse response: “Nope.”  Read more here.  View full branding here.  View SI rankings here.

MiLB Unveils On-Field Brands for “Copa de la Diversión”

Minor League Baseball has revealed the on-field identities of the 33 teams participating in its new “Copa de la Diversión” (“Fun Cup”) season-long event series this season.  Copa de la Diversión serves as a key component of MiLB’s “Es Divertido Ser Un Fan” (“It’s Fun to be A Fan”) Hispanic fan engagement initiative.  View press release here.  Read translations of MiLB Copa de la Diversión on-field brands here.

MiLB Expanding Hispanic Fan Engagement Initiative with National Event Series

Minor League Baseball® (MiLB™) today announced the launch of “Copa de la Diversión,” or “Fun Cup,” a season-long event series specifically designed to embrace the culture and values that resonate most with participating teams’ local U.S. Hispanic/Latino communities.

Read more here.