By Cliff Peale
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It looks just like the Longines clock from Crosley Field - except for the furniture ad on it. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

When Mike Hutmier met Reds officials last summer about advertising in Great American Ball Park, the owner of 10 Tristate Papa John's Pizza stores was prepared to turn down their offer.

But that was before he saw a new opportunity not available in the team's former Cinergy Field home: Putting the Louisville-based Papa John's logo on cup holders attached to about 40,000 seats.

The price was right, too: Less than $100,000 a year for a three-year contract.

"The cup holders make a lot of impressions, every inning of every game," said Hutmier, president of the pizza chain's local advertising co-op. "It was just something we couldn't say no to."

It's an answer the Reds hope they hear from more and more businesses.

ON DISPLAY

Companies that have signs inside the new ballpark: Ace Hardware Anheuser-Busch Beacon Orthopaedics Chevrolet The Cincinnati Enquirer Cinergy Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau Delta Air Lines Fox Sports Net Great American Insurance Hankook Tires Jeff Wyler auto dealerships John Deere Kahn's Kroger MasterCard Mobil New Era O'Charley's Ohio Lottery Outback Steakhouse Papa John's Pepsi Provident Bank Rumpke Skyline Sofa Express Taco Bell Time Warner Tri Health United Dairy Farmers Van Dyne Crotty Verizon Wireless Viagra WLW Source: Cincinnati Reds

Selling ads in the new park is one of the ways the Reds will reap millions in new revenue from Great American Ball Park, giving them money to spend to lure free agents or seal contracts to retain the team's own stars.

The Reds are trying to mix those bottom-line concerns with the atmosphere of the ballpark, knowing that tradition-conscious fans will remember Crosley Field days featuring signs for Coney Island, Hudepohl beer ("Get moody with Hudy") and even the famed Longines clock atop the scoreboard.

A new version of that scoreboard clock is installed at Great American, with a new sign: Sofa Express.

"They just jumped on it," Reds marketing director Cal Levy said of the clock sign. He said the club still is selling ads, but has matched its revenue projections and easily beat advertising revenue in Cinergy Field. He wouldn't give specific numbers.

"You can't really compare the two (Cinergy and Great American), because of the new ballpark and the energy that creates," Levy said. "Unless you're the Yankees or the Mets, you can't make comparisons like that."

In the Reds offices attached to the $280 million ballpark, its success will be measured not just by wins and losses, but by the dollars that business owners like Hutmier pay to advertise there.

"It's critical to any new facility," said Dean Bonham of the Bonham Group, a Denver-based consultant mostly for corporations looking for sponsorship opportunities. "You should be able to make a compelling case to corporate America that there will be more people coming to the games and more people watching on television. All of which means more value to sponsors."

Levy said the Reds tried to strike a balance between selling as much as they could and retaining the aesthetics of the ballpark.

"I don't think we jumped it up too much," he said. "Compared to what I see in other ballparks, we don't have as much signage."

The biggest advertising deal, obviously, is with Great American Insurance. Controlled by Reds owner Carl Lindner, the insurer paid $75 million over 30 years for naming rights. It has the three biggest signs: one atop the scoreboard, one overlooking the Crosley Terrace main entrance, and one on the southern facade of the park overlooking the Ohio River.

Great American also bought the sign behind home plate - critical for television broadcasts - for the bottom of the fourth inning during every game, and its message will adorn the ribbon boards along the baselines during the fifth inning of each game.

"We're not Met Life, where everybody knows Snoopy's hanging out on top of the doghouse," said Keith Jensen, senior vice president at Great American parent American Financial Group Inc. "I think it does give us some national visibility. It's just a great name for a ballpark. One of the things we hope is that people will recognize that it's a company, too."

The park includes the normal roster of national names, including Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch. MasterCard will be a new sponsor at the Reds' park this year, Levy said.

Signs also will feature local firms that have been standards for years, including Provident Bank, Jeff Wyler car dealerships and Kahn's.

Sofa Express is one of the biggest jumps. The Columbus-based company's owner remembered the clock at Crosley Field and set up the deal, marketing director Rhonda Booth said.

As part of the same sponsorship deal, the company also has a "Big Red Sofa Express" promotion, featuring a red leather sofa along the first-base line in the lower section. A group of four ticket holders will move to those seats from the upper deck every home game, the Reds said.

There are several other marketing deals the Reds struck that were not available in Cinergy Field. For example, the Enquirer is sponsoring a lineup board near the Crosley Terrace entrance, Levy said. The Enquirer's parent company, Gannett Co. Inc., is a minority owner of the team.

Some firms have chosen not to participate. Cincinnati-based LaRosa's Inc., for example, has cast its lot with amateur sports, meaning you won't find many LaRosa's signs in Great American Ball Park.

Vic Gregovits, vice president of marketing and broadcasting for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are entering their third season in PNC Park, said a faltering economy has made selling ads more difficult the last few years.

"Right now, everybody is watching the budget and scrutinizing their spending, so it's a tough climate," he said. "But everyone gets excited about a new ballpark - not only fans but corporations as well."

E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com