Specech by Bermuda Perimer, Ewart Brown: Good Afternoon Cabinet Ministers, invited guests, and members of the media… welcome to all of you.

Allow me to first introduce our distinguished guests from overseas Greg Stangel, Director of Corporate Sales for the New York Mets and Brett Ehrlich, National Sales Manager for Sports Net New York.

Today I have asked them and all of you here to a announce a unique partnership between the Bermuda Department of Tourism and the New York Mets – one of the most storied sports franchises in the United States.

During this year’s baseball season Bermuda will be the official destination of the New York Mets… making us unique partners under a wide-sweeping plan.

This partnership with the New York Mets puts us in a very strong marketing position, in a market that Bermuda Tourism cherishes the most – New York City.  More visitors come to Bermuda from New York than any place else in the world.  So we are well positioned now, with the help of the New York Mets, to grow that market even more.

Speaking of growth… our tourism product is coming off a year of steady growth – and the New York Mets tell a similar story.  While we saw an increase in air and cruise arrivals last year, the Mets saw an increase in fans and ticket sales.  The Mets home attendance is up to an average of 48,000 people per game, a 10% increase over the previous year.  In fact attendance at Shea Stadium has been climbing steadily each year since 2003.

And this year is the final season at Shea Stadium, where they assure me attendance will top 4 million for the first time ever!

Our new partnership aims to capitalize on that explosion of fan popularity.  So for every home game this year at Shea Stadium there will be a “Feel the Love Grand Slam Inning” announced to the hometown crowd and “Feel the Love” branding posted on the big scoreboard.  Then if any Mets player hits a grand slam during that inning, a fan in the stands will win a trip for two to Bermuda.

In addition to that, Mets fans will be immersed in Bermuda Tourism messaging – rotating television spots near the concession stands, concourse signage throughout the stadium and advertising spreads in the Mets Yearbook and Mets Magazine.  We’ve brought a sample to show you the kinds of ads fans inside Shea Stadium will see this season.

However, we are well aware that the popularity of the Mets stretches much farther than just New York City.

This new partnership will also capitalize on the wide reach of television – reaching Mets fans in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.  On average SNY, the Mets TV broadcaster, brings in 350,000 to 450,000 viewers for each of its games.  During the upcoming season SportNet New York will air 30-second commercials during the game, during the post-game show, and during other SNY programming.

And we haven’t stopped there.

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