The New Hampshire Fisher Cats will find a familiar name on the field the next time they head to Maine to play the Portland Sea Dogs.
The Sea Dogs, the Double- A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, have announced a 10- year naming rights partnership with Delta Dental that will rename the ballpark to Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field.
The insurance company has secured a similar partnership with the Vermont Lake Monsters, a collegiate summer baseball team in Burlington, where the ballpark will be named Delta Dental Park at Centennial Field, said Tom Raffio, president and CEO of Northeast Delta Dental.
The new deals will mean Delta Dental will be affiliated with baseball teams across its three-state Northern New England footprint.
Delta Dental plans to expand programs they have offered at Fisher Cats games to Maine and Vermont, such as promotions to educate children and families about oral health and ticket giveaways to local nonprofits.
“We’ve discovered that a lot of people that go to the games don’t have dental coverage through their employer, so it’s allowed us to get the oral health message out and promote that people should go to the dentist,” Raffio told NH Business Review.
The company currently has eight years left on its current 10-year contract with the Fisher Cats at Delta Dental Stadium. The New Hampshire and Maine minor league teams are both owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings.
The Maine deal came together relatively quickly, over less than three months, so that the name change could be ready for the Sea Dog’s April opener next year, Raffio said.
“Because we had the experience at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, we could sort of model the agreement along the lines of what we did in New Hampshire,” he said.
Raffio did not disclose the value of the deal but said it was pricier than the one with the Fisher Cats, which is an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It’s more because it has broader reach, and it’s a Red Sox affiliate,” he said.
The new name will be featured on the Sea Dogs building, prominently displayed in the park and featured in marking and promotional materials. A new logo featuring the Delta Dental name and the ballpark’s lighthouse has been created, the Sea Dogs said in a press release.
“We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Delta Dental as they join our beloved Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field, building on their tremendous New England presence as the existing naming rights partner for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats,” said Pat Battle and Peter Freund, executive chairman and CEO, respectively, of Diamond Baseball Holdings, in a statement.
Delta Dental’s deal with Vermont Lake Monsters, has not yet been officially announced, Raffio said.
— MIKE COTE/NH BUSINESS REVIEW
