Update: Future of Orioles Hangout announcement next week

[weams]

It's gotta be about Hangout Night.

Happy Birthday you mature member of society.

[NewMarketSean]

Good for you, weams. I am seriously having a crisis of self when it comes to being an O's fan. One more thing and it's going to make me snap.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Happy Birthday you mature member of society.

Maybe the O's will offer me a senior discount?

[Tony-OH]

Tony is not going to cut ties and neither should any of us. Being an Oriole fan is not a choice for me.

Never in my life have I ever considered giving up on the Orioles, but the more I've known about the organization over the years and now seeing how they've treated the fans has really shaken my fandom to the core. Time heals all wounds, but it may take me a little while. I'm still not rooting for the Nationals though. Even if I do respect how they are trying to do things.

[Pedro Cerrano]

All I will say is if the Orioles are alienating one of the last few bastions of fans they have then they are dumber than I thought.

[weams]

Never in my life have I ever considered giving up on the Orioles, but the more I've known about the organization over the years and now seeing how they've treated the fans has really shaken my fandom to the core. Time heals all wounds, but it may take me a little while. I'm still not rooting for the Nationals though. Even if I do respect how they are trying to do things.

Just say no, to Nationals.

[SilentJames]

Tony, I understand what you might be going through and I had the same thing happen to me.

When I was making the shirts and dealing with the Orioles I got asked a lot of questions about how big I was going to make this or whatever. The issue seemed to be that the MLB, like the NFL, is very particular about how their team identities get used (see Ravens 24x7 and The minor Ball So Hard controversies). With my shirts they basically determined that I was so small and any money I made off of the shirts would be so negligible that it wouldn't have been a big deal but I was pretty much warned that if the MLB wanted to do something I was leaving myself open to action.

I get the feeling that is what is happening here. If you are making any significant profit off of the site then the MLB might be forcing hands here. The NFL and MLB have been stepping up a lot of trademark enforcement stuff over the last couple of years (see the article in the sun recently about the super-cheap jerseys coming out of China) so the fact that this is happening now doesn't really surprise me.

It is a shame it is happening and I hope it all gets worked out in a mutually beneficial way.

[weams]

Tony, I understand what you might be going through and I had the same thing happen to me.

When I was making the shirts and dealing with the Orioles I got asked a lot of questions about how big I was going to make this or whatever. The issue seemed to be that the MLB, like the NFL, is very particular about how their team identities get used (see Ravens 24x7 and The minor Ball So Hard controversies). With my shirts they basically determined that I was so small and any money I made off of the shirts would be so negligible that it wouldn't have been a big deal but I was pretty much warned that if the MLB wanted to do something I was leaving myself open to action.

I get the feeling that is what is happening here. If you are making any significant profit off of the site then the MLB might be forcing hands here. The NFL and MLB have been stepping up a lot of trademark enforcement stuff over the last couple of years (see the article in the sun recently about the super-cheap jerseys coming out of China) so the fact that this is happening now doesn't really surprise me.

It is a shame it is happening and I hope it all gets worked out in a mutually beneficial way.

On one hand, Tony is fortunate that he has not had to deal with theses types of issues lately.

I hope the Orioles realize that the pebble that have been tossed fro the peanut gallery are not the rocks that the center stage Hangout can throw. I hope that we can all make our feelings known before some underling makes some terrible mistakes as to how they value this site and it's members.

[BrunoCherrytown]

The Warehouse better not be forcing you to change the bird ranking system. I'm getting closer and closer to that first one. I can almost taste that first bird. And I don't even eat meat! To get so close only to have it ripped out from underneath me would be unacceptable. Angelos would've found yet another way to make me loathe being cursed into Oriole Fandom.

[GBader]

Dear Orioles Hangout Community:

For approximately ten seasons, the Orioles have been actively involved in advertising on Orioles Hangout and in providing tickets and access to tickets for Hangout members through various ?Hangout Nights,? spending more than $50,000 cash and providing additional thousands of dollars in tickets over that period of time. It was made clear to us that our investment would not buy us any sort of positive coverage or kid-glove treatment, and we certainly didn?t expect or want that in return. We just wanted to support what we feel is a good outlet for Orioles fans to talk about the team.

This offseason, as standard business practice for our company, we reevaluated all of our advertising spending to determine whether our investments were still appropriate for the 2012 season. We communicated this to Tony Pente, ultimately telling him we were likely not going to make as significant an investment in the Orioles Hangout site this season as we have in the past, although we affirmed our interest in remaining involved in the site and the Orioles Hangout community.

Surprisingly, our decision to adjust the way in which we were going to participate this year was met with significant resistance. It was made clear to us that the Orioles? investment was going to make or break whether the Hangout continued, and we asked that not be the case. Our position was that the operators of Orioles Hangout should make a decision independent of the Orioles? advertising contribution as to whether they wished to continue to operate the site. We requested to know the fate of the site before making a decision on how we would participate. Since the Orioles do not control or operate Orioles Hangout, our investment level should not be the final decision-making factor as to whether the site continues to exist in its current form. The site should be financially viable to operate on its own, and if it was not, we were not prepared to subsidize the site?s operation. We expressed to Tony that we would certainly understand if changes needed to be made and that we would fully support?and not in any way criticize or attempt to influence?those decisions. Our choice on whether to participate as an active advertiser would not have affected our decision to continue to allow our marks to be used, to continue to support the site at a reduced compensation level and to hold Hangout Nights.

We believe that Orioles Hangout is a great resource for Orioles fans. In particular, the message boards allow some of our very best fans to express their excitement or concern about the direction of the team both on and off the field. We clearly indicated on multiple occasions to Tony our desire to remain involved, even if the direction of the site became less Orioles-centric and more Baltimore sports-centric. We indicated that either way, some level of contribution was likely and we would want to continue Hangout Nights in some fashion. Those requests were largely ignored, and we were told that unless we matched or came close to matching last year?s level of commitment, the site would be changed, the operators would no longer work with us to squelch rumors that were patently false, and the days of the club being presented in a fair manner would be over? that essentially communication would be cut off between the site and the club.

It is extremely disappointing to us that this is the approach that was chosen in response to a purely business decision. The Orioles have provided unprecedented access for this online community over the years and, in addition to financial support and allowing a Hangout writer to receive full media access at each home game, we have defended the site against potential Major League Baseball licensing concerns with the site?s logos and marks. We fully support the Hangout in whatever form it takes, and we hope to be a more active participant in the message boards (assuming we are permitted), especially if the staff at Hangout refuses to communicate information we provide them regarding inaccurate information being disseminated.

Greg Bader
Director, Communications
Baltimore Orioles

[Pedro Cerrano]

Dear Orioles Hangout Community:

For approximately ten seasons, the Orioles have been actively involved in advertising on Orioles Hangout and in providing tickets and access to tickets for Hangout members through various ?Hangout Nights,? spending more than $50,000 cash and providing additional thousands of dollars in tickets over that period of time. It was made clear to us that our investment would not buy us any sort of positive coverage or kid-glove treatment, and we certainly didn?t expect or want that in return. We just wanted to support what we feel is a good outlet for Orioles fans to talk about the team.

This offseason, as standard business practice for our company, we reevaluated all of our advertising spending to determine whether our investments were still appropriate for the 2012 season. We communicated this to Tony Pente, ultimately telling him we were likely not going to make as significant an investment in the Orioles Hangout site this season as we have in the past, although we affirmed our interest in remaining involved in the site and the Orioles Hangout community.

Surprisingly, our decision to adjust the way in which we were going to participate this year was met with significant resistance. It was made clear to us that the Orioles? investment was going to make or break whether the Hangout continued, and we asked that not be the case. Our position was that the operators of Orioles Hangout should make a decision independent of the Orioles? advertising contribution as to whether they wished to continue to operate the site. We requested to know the fate of the site before making a decision on how we would participate. Since the Orioles do not control or operate Orioles Hangout, our investment level should not be the final decision-making factor as to whether the site continues to exist in its current form. The site should be financially viable to operate on its own, and if it was not, we were not prepared to subsidize the site?s operation. We expressed to Tony that we would certainly understand if changes needed to be made and that we would fully support?and not in any way criticize or attempt to influence?those decisions. Our choice on whether to participate as an active advertiser would not have affected our decision to continue to allow our marks to be used, to continue to support the site at a reduced compensation level and to hold Hangout Nights.

We believe that Orioles Hangout is a great resource for Orioles fans. In particular, the message boards allow some of our very best fans to express their excitement or concern about the direction of the team both on and off the field. We clearly indicated on multiple occasions to Tony our desire to remain involved, even if the direction of the site became less Orioles-centric and more Baltimore sports-centric. We indicated that either way, some level of contribution was likely and we would want to continue Hangout Nights in some fashion. Those requests were largely ignored, and we were told that unless we matched or came close to matching last year?s level of commitment, the site would be changed, the operators would no longer work with us to squelch rumors that were patently false, and the days of the club being presented in a fair manner would be over? that essentially communication would be cut off between the site and the club.

It is extremely disappointing to us that this is the approach that was chosen in response to a purely business decision. The Orioles have provided unprecedented access for this online community over the years and, in addition to financial support and allowing a Hangout writer to receive full media access at each home game, we have defended the site against potential Major League Baseball licensing concerns with the site?s logos and marks. We fully support the Hangout in whatever form it takes, and we hope to be a more active participant in the message boards (assuming we are permitted), especially if the staff at Hangout refuses to communicate information we provide them regarding inaccurate information being disseminated.

Greg Bader
Director, Communications
Baltimore Orioles

Can you elaborate, then, as to how your level of commitment would be any less considering you stated you would continue Hangout Nights? I'm not really sure what else the franchise itself provides towards the site in terms of financials. Is it just a matter of the Orioles not advertising here any longer?

[Dipper9]

Dear Mr. Bader,

Thanks for your note. Since you are reading, can you please let the powers to be know that after 14 years of losing, our patience has worn thin?

Thanks.

Diehard O's Fans

[Mr Snuffleupagus]

Dear Orioles Hangout Community:

For approximately ten seasons, the Orioles have been actively involved in advertising on Orioles Hangout....

Greg Bader
Director, Communications
Baltimore Orioles

Member since July of 2005?! Talk about saving your first post for the right moment!

Thanks for sharing your side of it Greg. I hope the Orioles and the OH staff can come to a resolution that allows this board to remain the top destination for all Orioles chatter.

Perhaps if this board was an 18 yr old from Asia... Oh, nevermind.

[brotherlo38]

Thanks for the reply Mr. Bader. Always good to hear from both sides.

[Can_of_corn]

Plus member since July of 2005?! Talk about saving your first post for the right moment!

Thanks for sharing your side of it Greg. I hope the Orioles and the OH staff can come to a resolution that allows this board to remain the top destination for all Orioles chatter.

Perhaps if this board was an 18 yr old from Asia... Oh, nevermind.

Join date. GBader is not a plus member.