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Click here to read the article on Catholic.org. Pro baseball makes pitch to U.S. religious market with ‘Faith Night’By Annamarie Adkins 6/30/2006 National Catholic Register (www.ncregister.com/) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (National Catholic Register) – America. Baseball. Hot dogs. And Catholicism? Kyle Becher plans to bring about 100 teens and their families to at least one minor league baseball game faith night this summer. “In the South, some people don’t think Catholics are Christians,” Becher said. “It’s good for the entire community that we are gathering together at a Christian event.” She and her group, based at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Huntsville, Ala., will take part in a “faith night,” an event specially designed for Christians at an increasing number of stadiums across the country. Church groups buy special tickets at faith nights – or “faith days,” depending on when the games are held – that include a pre-game or post-game concert by a nationally known Christian recording artist. Athletes or local celebrities give testimonies of their faith. Bibles are available and Bible figure bobble-head dolls are given away. Characters from “Veggie Tales” sometimes make an appearance. Due to recent national publicity and faith nights’ history of financial success at minor league baseball and Arena Football League games, organizers for professional football and hockey, college sports, racing, and fishing and golf tournaments also are considering holding similar events. The Atlanta Braves organization is the first major league baseball team to schedule three faith days this summer. They will take place July 27, Aug. 13 and Aug. 26. Derek Schiller, vice president for sales and marketing for the Braves, told the National Catholic Register that it made sense to cater to Christians as they account for one of the largest percentages of group sales. “If you look at our part of the country… church and religion make up a large part of our fan base’s lives,” Schiller said. “There are 5,400 churches within a 75-mile radius of Atlanta.” He estimated that more than 100,000 tickets were sold to religious groups last year; 2.5 million fans total bought tickets to games last season. Bowie Kuhn, commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1984, said that baseball needs to market. “There are many games and seats to sell, and they’re always looking for imaginative ways to attract people,” said Kuhn, a board member of the Ave Maria Foundation. “This seems like another in a long line of marketing approaches that baseball has used.” There are more Catholics than ever in Major League Baseball, said Kuhn. “During games you often see a batter making the Sign of the Cross. I always like that,” he said. “He’s taking some risk, and he signs himself to ask for his protection. It’s a good practice.” Sports help Catholics and Protestants get along, said Mike Sweeney, Kansas City Royals first baseman and designated hitter. “We may not agree on everything – like the nature of the Eucharist or reverence for Mary,” he said, “but I would hope that fellowship would bring us together.” Catholic presence Rebecca Rosko has brought her St. Peter the Apostle Parish youth to Faith Nights in Birmingham, Ala. “We really went for the concert and to represent Catholicism to others,” the youth minister told the National Catholic Register. “It was new for most of the kids to go to a concert and see people jumping around and singing and praising out in public, but they enjoyed it,” Rosko said. “I’ve seen some kids blossom and become further involved with our group after we attended the faith night.” The major organizer of these events is Third Coast Sports in Nashville, which coordinated the first faith night in 2001 for the Nashville Sounds Class AAA baseball team. This year, the company has scheduled almost 70 events in more than 40 cities. Brent High, president of Third Coast Sports, was quick to give credit for faith nights to someone else. “This is further testament to God and his involvement. We could never write this script or take credit for what has been going on,” High said. “We are on the verge of something special.” High said he has worked with more than 40 Catholic churches in the Nashville area and many more throughout the country while coordinating these nights. Rosko combined forces with other local Catholic youth ministers and brought 45 teens to the recent Faith Night. “I wanted to get the kids out in the community,” Rosko said. “Our kids see Protestant groups all the time that are large, involved and active. I wanted to be ecumenical and present our small but vital Catholic community to others – to let our kids see other Christians, and let Protestants meet Catholics.” In his work organizing these events, High has witnessed Christians of all stripes come together for the first time and build relationships. “I’m from the Church of Christ tradition,” High said, “but with my job I’ve gotten to know leaders of other church groups. In study, prayer and conversation with them, we find out we’re not that different. “Faith nights have united people who are Christians – Protestant and Catholic – because everyone is coming,” High said. “Some cities have even used faith nights as a platform of racial unity. We’ve seen these events accomplish ministry goals, and we want to be good stewards of these opportunities.” Even Sin City The popularity of faith nights is a given in the Bible Belt, but High has found they can flourish anywhere Christians are well organized. On Palm Sunday, April 9, Third Coast Sports organized a faith day in Las Vegas that drew 2,000 additional people to a Gladiators arena football game – the highest attended Sunday in team history and the second highest in the season. “People told us we were nuts to do a faith night in ‘Sin City,’ but what happened there was amazing,” High said. “Las Vegas doesn’t have as many churches as cities in the Bible Belt, but those churches rallied around this event. They’re not used to these things coming to town.” Non-Christians who happen to attend the game the same night may not even realize that a faith night is going on. “The faith day concerts will not interfere in any way with normal operation of game,” said the Braves’ Schiller. “This primary issue is fundamental for us. We are non-denominational and have no religious association. It’s part of what America is built on – to respect all beliefs.” High concurred. “This is a promotion separate and apart from the game experience. You have to make an intentional effort to be part of the faith night happenings,” High said. “The second we start offending fans this business goes away. Teams want to reach every demographic; they don’t want to offend any season ticket holder,” High said. “There will be no Bible shoving and there will never be a testimony from the home plate.” Still, curious fans often are drawn to these events. “The music draws people that wouldn’t normally come over,” High said. “Sometimes people wander into a concert and pick up Bibles and other information on the tables. We’ve heard from lots of people that didn’t come for faith night but picked up a Bible, and they said it changed their lives forever.” The Christian events on game day may physically stay out of the ballpark, but is the Holy Spirit moving at all on the field? “Sports are a natural medium for recognizing God; there’s all kinds of thanksgiving going on,” said Kuhn. “If someone gets a hit he wants, he often thanks God. Maybe God’s helping, maybe he’s not – it’s God’s call. But the acknowledgement of God is still taking a role in sports.” - - - Annamarie Adkins, based in St. Paul, Minn., is a National Catholic Register correspondent. |
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