Hamilton showed an impressive level of marketing prowess after their partnership with Mark Hominick.
Shortly after he bought the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2003, new owner Bob Young waxed effusively about the team's brand awareness throughout the world.
It seemed far-fetched at the time. After all, who had ever heard of the team outside of North America? The only reason to include the U.S. is because of the CFL's brief experiment south of the border in the mid-90s.
But now the team has truly gone global because of what can only be described as a sheer stroke of genius, which has found a way to align the Tiger-Cats with UFC 129, a seemingly unlikely marriage if ever there was one.
The team entered into a sponsorship agreement with Mark Hominick, who is challenging champion Jose Aldo for the featherweight title at UFC 129 on Saturday at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Hominick is wearing a ballcap with the Tiger-Cats' logo for all events connected to the card, which will take place in front of an expected crowd of at least 55,000 and viewed by millions more watching on pay-per-view TV. The exposure for the Tiger Cats will be enormous.
Hominick wore the hat for the media conference, which was broadcasted live around the world on Wednesday. So anyone who watched the media conference - and there is no telling how many, but given the popularity of Saturday's card and the UFC, it easily could have been hundreds of thousands. One local member of the media prefaced a question to Hominick by saying he was a fan of the Toronto Argonauts, the Tiger-Cats' rival in Southern Ontario, and it pained him to see the Hamilton logo.
To the many in the international media that have gathered for UFC 129, the remark probably passed by as quickly as a George St-Pierre takedown, but it was amusing nonetheless. Toronto is Argonaut territory and the fact the Tiger-Cats have found a way to encroach upon enemy ground and grab some publicity is both shrewd and rather funny.
Hominick will wear the Tiger-Cat hat in his procession to the octagon, which will be captured live step-by-step, while the logo and Ticats website will be on display in the backdrop.
"I am very excited about this partnership with the Tiger-Cats," Hominick said a week ago when the team announced their commitment to him. "I can't wait to enter the octagon, in Canada, with millions of CFL and Ticats fans cheering me on. I am grateful for the Ticats support and look forward to representing the black and gold with pride."
The exposure for the team will be enormous. Win or lose - and he's a heavy underdog - Hominick will wear the hat for the official result, garnering even more publicity.
And if he wins, it will be a major accomplishment for the young Canadian and for the Tiger-Cats' marketing prowess. The publicity will be off the charts.
It won't end after the fight. Hominick will be featured in a promotion by Hamilton on July 16 for the team's home game against Saskatchewan.
"The popularity of MMA in Southern Ontario and in particular the Hamilton area is no secret," Ticats team president Scott Mitchell said. "We look forward to working with Mark to promote an exciting game on July 16, featuring great MMA fighters and thousands of MMA enthusiasts. As an exciting, tough, local Canadian athlete, Mark embodies many of our organization's characteristics. We are glad to be in Mark's corner as he contends for the featherweight title and we know our fans in the TigerTown region will be behind him."
It's hard to gauge how much all of this will translate to ticket sales or possible merchandising opportunities, but if nothing else it's a creative way to extend the brand and steal some thunder in Argonaut territory.
You wonder if the Argos are kicking themselves for not thinking of the idea Coincidentally, the team is in Florida now for a three-day off-season organized team workout that has largely been ignored by the Toronto media because it is in the U.S. and takes place during the biggest international sports event in Toronto history.
The fact the fights take place at the Rogers Centre, where the Argos play their home games, is another juicy little tidbit to this whole promotion and how the Tiger-Cats have managed to become a part of it.
So, it's really quite fascinating how the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will somehow be on display eight years after Bob Young's somewhat bombastic comments.
The Cats have truly become a global brand.
