‘Memorabilia geek’ mixes business with pleasure
Spending 25 years in sales and marketing with Rawlings has changed the way Mike Thompson sees America’s favorite pastime. While watching a Yankees game on TV recently, he noticed something different about the team’s struggling slugger Mark Teixiera. It wasn’t the form of his swing that drew Thomspon’s attention, but what he was swinging — he wasn’t using his usual Rawlings bat.
It is common for struggling players to turn to superstitions to get them over a slump, such as a new brand of bat, but as a leader in sports marketing for the company, Thompson has to notice these idiosyncrasies. He knows that’s not the way most people watch baseball, but mixing business with the sport he loves hasn’t soured his enjoyment of the game.
There have been several chances to work elsewhere in the sports industry for Thompson, but the Southern California native loves working for what he calls the "mecca" of baseball companies. (About 35 percent of major league players wear Rawlings baseball mitts — the most of any company.)
The job requires Thompson to travel often to meet with athletes and their agents. More recently he’s spent time scouting emerging markets, such as Japan, to understand how the company can capitalize on baseball’s international growth.
Despite the frequent trips that take him away from his family, the job has its perks — many of which, he said, come in the form of sports memorabilia that line the walls of Thompson’s office and home.
How’s the economy affecting your business?
It’s a struggle. In 2008, we saw this coming about October when everything just started sliding. Fortunately for us, we really battled through all that, so we achieved our goals in 2008. This year has been even more challenging. Our business is off a little bit right now. But, obviously, the key is how you respond and recover and get up off the mat. … People are a little resistant to pay $400 for the high-end, premium ball glove or $350 for your top bat. So you look at segments of the business and say lets bring it down, develop a $199 bat or glove. We look at it from a product point of view.
I’ve heard plenty about baseball teams spending less on players’ contracts this year because of the poor economy. How have you handled paying players less on endorsement deals?
We’ve held a similar position. What’s been cool about it is agents and players have been understanding. With a few expected exceptions, there’s been a willingness to get on board. We’ve gone back and said, "The product is what you want, you’re going to have to take a bit of a cut this year cash advance today." They’ve been pretty understanding.
What’s more common with players you work with now — players who use new equipment regularly or those who stick with an old piece because of superstition?
I think it varies. At the professional level, from a ball glove point of view, depending on your position, at the professional level, once they get comfortable with the tool of their trade it’s hard to knock them off it. The guys who will switch are pitchers. They’re basically playing catch. So he typically doesn’t have a difficult time with it. But, say, a player like Albert Pujols, who’s been using a Rawlings product his entire career, he would have a very difficult time making that transition (to a new glove).
And a glove is different from a bat. A guy goes into a slump, if he’s 0-for-10, he sets that bat down and goes to the next one. There are lots of guys that use our bats and we’ll see, from time to time, they’ll switch to the competition. Typically, they’re in a slump. Or you can see a guy is swinging our bat now. The reason? He got a hit with it and continues to use it.
The bat thing goes back and forth. The glove thing, (players are) pretty regimented about that.
How do you deal with finicky athletes selecting equipment on superstition? Isn’t your job about controlling that?
It is, but this is where our branding guys come into play. Everything from blogs to YouTube videos. A lot of this stuff is moved digitally. Kids watch that.
For example, we might throw up an example of a home run exhibition that we staged with our partners that put on these high-level high school showcases using our bats. And you’ll see guys hitting third- deck bombs. We’ll take those clips, we YouTube them and put them on the Web for people to see.
What’s your favorite piece of sports memorabilia?
Well, I’m sort of a memorabilia geek. What’s in my basement would make this (stuff in the office) look pretty silly. But I’ve never asked for an autograph. A lot has come to me just from being in the business. In (the office, my favorite is) probably the Cardinal jersey from the 1940s. …It’s an actual gamer from about 1947.
In my basement, I’ve got a Babe Ruth signed check. I’ve got the program … from Yankee Stadium when they unveiled Mickey Mantle’s monument. I’ve got a lot of Joe DiMaggio stuff.