At Home With the River Bandits

Today we speak with Ben Chiswick, the director of broadcasting and media relations for the Quad City River Bandits. After four years as "the Swing," Quad Cities reverted to the River Bandits moniker prior to the 2008 campaign.

MiLB.com: How would characterize your team's fan base? Has it grown or changed in recent years?

BC: The Quad Cities are full of the best baseball fans in the country. Our fan base is made up of loyal fans that take a great deal of pride in their community and in their hometown team. That was never more evident than this past season, when the franchise gave fans the opportunity to vote for a new team name. Not only did an overwhelming majority of fans opt for a return to the "River Bandits" -- 51 percent in a six-way race -- but they followed that up by supporting the club all season long. In addition to showing up in force to the tune of a 56-percent increase in per-game attendance, River Bandits hats and shirts were once again a staple in the community. There is no question that the River Bandits brand is one that the Quad City Area takes a great deal of pride in, and they showed their loyalty and support this past season more than ever before.

MiLB.com: What type of marketing strategies do the fans respond to?

BC: Fans in this market -- like those in most others -- respond to great value and high-quality family entertainment. When our new ownership took over prior to the 2008 season, the word "value" became key. Part of that was lowering ticket prices, but the other part of that was enhancing the gameday experience by doing everything from installing our new Tiki Village and Hot Tub Deck to placing a renewed focus on what we call "The Show" or the in-game entertainment. Not only is it cheaper than ever to come to a River Bandits game, but there is much more going on for fans of all ages once they enter the park.

At a Glance: Quad Cities River Bandits

• First season: 1960 • Affiliation: St. Louis Cardinals (2005-present) • Stadium: Modern Woodmen Park (1960-present) • League Championships: 1968, 1971, 1979, 1990 • City Population: The team is located in Davenport Iowa, which has a population of approximately 100,000 people. • Notable Quad Cities Alumni: Garrett Anderson Shawon Dunston Carney Lansford Frank Tanana • People who've called the Quad Cities home: Bix Beiderbecke (jazz musician) Lara Flynn Boyle (actress) Samuel Cody (aviator) Roger Craig (former NFL running back)

MiLB.com: Has your team staged any notable promotions in recent years? Any that just didn't work?

BC: In 2008 we ended up third in Minor League Baseball's Promotion of the Year voting for our Tattoo Night. We offered a 2009 season ticket for anybody who got a free River Bandits tattoo during one of our ballgames on July 17, and 28 people got one of our new logos inked on their skin! We also had a lot of success with our Bobble-Election, in which fans entering the park had the opportunity to choose whether they wanted a bobblehead doll of Barack Obama or John McCain in River Bandits uniforms.

MiLB.com: How has the internet affected the way your team is run?

BC: We put a great deal of focus on using the internet to market River Bandits baseball. For starters, we have beefed up our website over the past year to feature different areas of the ballpark, different programs that we run, and to promote each game we play during the season. We are also very active when it comes to internet marketing, sending regular email blasts in advance of every homestand as well as to promote time-sensitive specials that we may be running. We have also recently delved into the world of MySpace and Facebook in an effort to reach out to our younger fans. There is no question that the Internet is becoming a more effective way to reach people with every passing year and it is very important to us to keep up with the times and make sure the River Bandits brand extends to all our fans.

MiLB.com: Does your concession stand serve any regional specialties or otherwise remarkable items?

BC: In 2008 we revamped our concessions menu to feature a number of unique items. We put in four themed stands which all have a different style of food: the Angus Grille features most of our meat items; the Rio Bandito consists of Mexican cuisine such as tacos, burritos and nachos; Paesano's offers fans pizza and pasta; and The Dog House -- introduced midway through last season -- is a specialty hot dog stand that provides 10-15 different kinds of hot dogs. Our signature items are the Bandit Dog and the Bandit Burger, which fans can find at the Angus Grille. The Bandit Dog -- get ready for this -- is a juicy jumbo hot dog that is sliced down the middle, stuffed with cheese, wrapped in bacon and smothered in chili sauce. The Bandit Burger consists of two huge beef patties, bacon, nacho cheese sauce and chili. The Dog House also became very popular last season, featuring items such as the Pizza Dog, the California Dog, and the foot-long Texas Dog (which I'm pretty sure is loaded with just about everything)!

MiLB.com: What type of merchandise sells the best at the team store? Are there are any unique items available for purchase?

BC: The new River Bandits merchandise has been extremely popular since we introduced the new brand into the marketplace in December of 2007. The hats are all big sellers, especially the batting practice version. Walking around the ballpark, one of the things I noticed a lot of last year were the foam raccoon claws.

MiLB.com: How large a role does your mascot play, both at the stadium and within the community?

BC: Our mascot, Rascal, is very active at the ballpark and around the community. Rascal is especially active during the offseason, bringing our reading program into more than 50 schools and keeping busy with various community appearances all over town. Wherever there is something going on in the Quad Cities community, we want to make a point of having Rascal there to reinforce our message that the River Bandits are an active and contributing member of the Quad Cities and are committed to doing our part to improve the quality of life in our market.

MiLB.com: Minor League stadiums often vary greatly from one another. What are the positives of playing in your facility? Any drawbacks?

BC: Modern Woodmen Park is one of the greatest facilities in all of baseball and we recognize how fortunate we are to be able to operate such an outstanding facility. The stadium first opened in 1931 and then went through a complete renovation in 2004, creating what is now a historic ballpark with an old-time red brick facade that also features all the fantastic amenities of a modern ballpark.

Modern Woodmen Park also sits on the banks of the Mississippi River, giving every seat in the house a breathtaking view of the mighty Mississippi and Centennial Bridge -- one of the landmarks of the Quad Cities.

Beyond the amazing setting, the River Bandits take a great deal of pride in the fact that we have continued to improve upon what was already a spectacular ballpark. During the 2008 season, we installed the exotic Tiki Village on the right field berm -- featuring three Tiki Bars, a Tiki Lounge and a Tiki Bed -- as well as the Jumer's Casino and Hotel Hot Tub Deck -- a group area that comes complete with a barbeque menu -- and the Crop Production Services Corn Field, which quickly became one of the iconic features of our eastern Iowa ballpark. Fans love it when we play the clip from Field of Dreams right before the players run out of the corn during introductions! We are already planning an additional series of enhancements for 2009, including the installation of seat backs to the bleachers (decided by a fan vote) and an 80-foot LED ribbon board on the right-field wall.

MiLB.com: What are some of your favorite on-field moments since you've been with the team?

BC: There have been a lot of great memories since I began working for this organization prior to the 2005 baseball season. One is a rehab start that Mark Mulder made for our club while he was trying to work his way back to the majors in 2006. That same year saw Larry Bigbie play a handful of games with us and also featured the most talented roster that I've seen with this franchise, including Colby Rasmus, Bryan Anderson, Randy Roth and others. Perhaps all of those players stick out in my mind because of what great people they were and how little their talent level affected their personalities. Rick Ankiel, who began his conversion to an outfielder with Quad Cities in 2005, also stands out as a memorable person.

Outside of the players that have passed through the Quad Cities, this past season brought a decade's worth of great memories. On June 10, we packed 6,822 fans into Modern Woodmen Park -- the biggest crowd since 1999. We opened the month of July with a seven-game homestand that drew more than 30,000 fans, and we were able to surpass 207,000 fans for the season for the first time since 1996. But while seeing so many people return to the ballpark this year was certainly memorable, the two games that stand out the most were on June 14 and 15, the last two games of the first half. While the flooding Mississippi River was ravaging the Midwest we were fortunate enough to be able to continue playing thanks to a bridge built by the City of Davenport. The bridge allowed fans to enter Modern Woodmen Park despite the fact that were essentially playing on an island -- completely surrounded by water on all sides! We drew nearly 9,000 fans to the two games and the energy inside the ballpark is something I will never forget. As if the camaraderie of the community was not enough, the June 14 game ended in dramatic fashion. With the River Bandits leading by a run with one out in the ninth, center fielder Tommy Pham made a sensational diving catch on a ball hit to shallow center and then jumped to his feet to throw out Garrett Olson of the Beloit Snappers, who had tagged from third but was gunned down at the plate to end the game.