The Boston Red Sox’ hated rivals, the New York Yankees, possess far more World Series crowns (27 to seven). However, the Sox – aka the “Olde Towne Team” – have, arguably, attracted more fans than their buttoned-up, pinstriped foes to the south. When the Sox overcame a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series en route to its first World Series title in 86 years, many exalted as the team shed its “bridesmaid” persona — and ST Publisher/Editor and rabid Red Sox fan Wade Swormstedt shaved his head (see ST, December 2004, page 10).
Although fully replicating the atmosphere at its hometown Fenway Park – which is rightly revered as a “cathedral” of baseball where every game has sold out since 2003 – would be impossible at its winter home, the 7,707-seat City of Palms Park in Ft. Myers, FL, the Red Sox wisely invested in creating strong branding.
“We’ve worked hard to create a distinctive, fan-friendly atmosphere,” Todd Stephenson, the team’s special advisor for Florida operations, said. “Cuban Royal palm trees line the outfield, and awnings cover more than 75% of our seating bowl to keep our fans more comfortable. Our goal is to incorporate signage that flows seamlessly, and doesn’t clash, with the park’s atmosphere.”
For five years, SignARama’s Fort Myers franchise has produced and installed signage and graphics for City of Palms Park. A year’s volume of signage for the Red Sox winter home fluctuates from 3,000 to 5,000 sq. ft. The shop works on the team’s graphics for five weeks from the time it receives the team’s JPEGs until it installs the finished products. Jeff Bayer, the franchise owner, said, “The Red Sox signage represents the largest amount of work we complete in such a short time. But, I’ve been fortunate to have the same crew for five years, so they know the expectations and get the work done quickly and efficiently.”
For banner applications, the team uses 13-oz. Starflex material; for vinyl and mesh-material signage, the shop uses a proprietary brand from two distributors. It prints its banners on a 10-ft.-wide 3360 EFI-VUTEk printer; for other vinyl graphics, the franchise employs its HP 9000s DesignJet. To install the colonnade of Red Sox concourse banners, the shop got vertical with a scissor lift and used cast-aluminum, wall brackets with fiberglass arms.
One of Stephenson’s favorite components – many Red Sox fans would surely concur – is the row of seven World Champion pennants that line the overhang above the team’s batting cages. Bayer’s team fabricated the signs using Alcan’s Dibond® composite-material panels, which it fashioned on a Gerber Sabre 404 CNC router.