The Giants held their annual Media Open House today to unveil "what's new" at AT&T Park for the 2016 season, which includes special celebrations, promotions, giveaways, food items, community programs, technological experiences and capital improvements.
When the Giants begin their 17th season at AT&T Park on Thursday, April 7, they will do so in front of the largest number of season ticket members ever in franchise history with 30,750. They will also enter the 2016 campaign with the longest consecutive regular season home sellout streak in the National League (408 regular season games, plus 23 dates in the post-season, for a total of 431) and currently, the longest active one in Major League Baseball.
The Giants will mark the 2016 season with two special celebrations commemorating the team's rich history -the 1986 Team Reunion and the Gaylord Perry Statue Dedication. Members of the 1986 Team will gather at AT&T Park on Saturday, June 11, led by Will Clark. The '86 season was Clark's rookie year, and he is credited with leading the team from a franchise-worst 62-100 in 1985 to 83-79 in 1986. Invited members of the team include Robby Thompson, Mike Krukow, Candy Maldonado and manager Roger Craig.
On Saturday, August 13 there will be a special pre-game ceremony unveiling of a bronze statue of Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry. Located on the 2nd & King Street side of AT&T Park, this will be the fifth statue installation at AT&T Park to honor a Hall of Famer's career. Perry's 22-Major League career began with the Giants in 1962 and in his 10 years in San Francisco he posted a 134-109 record, ranking second on San Francisco's career lists for games started, innings pitched, ERA, complete games and shutouts.
Other special events, which require a Special Event ticket purchase to receive the giveaway, include Warriors Playoff Send-Off on Monday, April 18 with a co-branded Giants/Warriors hat; MARVEL Super Heroes Day on Saturday, May 7 with a Giants inspired Captain America Bobblehead; LEGO Day at the Park on Saturday, July 30 with a LEGO/Lou Seal Mini-Buildable Figure; Beatles Tribute Night on Thursday, August 19 with an Abbey Road inspired t-shirt depicting a Giants reenactment of the iconic image; and Margaritaville at the Park on Saturday, August 27 with a co-branded desktop item with Margaritaville sound chip. There will also be a series of College Nights featuring a co-branded hat with the school and the Giants including Cal Night (April 19); Stanford University Night (April 18); San Francisco State University Night (April 20); San Jose State University Night (April 22); St. Mary's University Night (April 25); University of San Francisco Night (May 9); and Santa Clara University Night (September 29).
Fan favorite and notable giveaways throughout the 2016 season include Opening Day Calendar presented by AT&T on Thursday, April 7; Opening Night Fireworks presented by Hanwha Q CELLS on Friday, April 8; Two-Flaps Down Cap presented by River Rock Casino on Friday, April 22; Matt Duffy Bobblehead presented by PG&E on Saturday, April 23; Brandon Crawford Bobblehead (fans will receive either a Silver Slugger or Gold Glove) presented by AAA on Saturday, May 7; Mother's Day Quilted Tote Bag presented by Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream on Sunday, May 8; Madison Bumgarner Bobblehead presented by Chevron on Saturday, June 25; Giants Player LED Watch in one of four designs, Posey, Bumgarner, Pence or Crawford, on Sunday, June 26; Giants Player T-Shirt presented by Stub Hub of either Jeff Samardzija or Johnny Cueto, on Saturday, July 9; Buster Posey Hugs Mug presented by AAA on Saturday, July 30; Virgin America 2-for-1 Flight Voucher on Saturday, August 20; Sergio Romo Portable Speakers on Saturday, August 27; Mike Krukow Bobblehead commemorating the 30th anniversary of his 20-win season on Sunday, August 28; and Star Wars Day T-Shirt on Saturday, October 1.
"We are excited to begin this season and reunite with our fans at AT&T Park," said Giants President and CEO Larry Baer. "There is a unique relationship between our team and our fans and we look forward to celebrating that special bond throughout the season."
AT&T Park concessionaires, Centerplate and Bon Appétit Management Company, will continue to offer fans some of the best and most unique food offerings in sports. New food items for the 2016 season include: Chefs Evan and Sarah Rich of Rich Table will offer a Porcini Doughnut, a savory fritter with an umami flavor topped with raclette cheese foam. In The Garden's Hearth Table bistro, fans can find options without gluten-containing ingredients like flatbread pizzas, including a fennel sausage with roasted eggplant, caramelized leeks and goat cheese and a grilled garden zucchini with shaved parmesan, olive oil, garden thyme and toasted almonds. Fans will also find fried brussel sprouts topped with lemon aioli and a shrimp sandwich to complement the ever popular Crazy Crab sandwich.
In-park, fans will notice enhancements to professional sports' original Wi-Fi system, which will now provide the most Wi-Fi access points of any MLB facility with 1,628 Wi-Fi access points. This means that Giants fans are the most connected fans in baseball, with over 100 Terabytes of data delivered by AT&T to Giants fans last season.
In response to recommendations from Major League Baseball and in the interest of providing a greater level of protection to our fans, the Giants have redesigned and expanded the protective netting behind home plate. The netting now extends to the home plate edge of each dugout, while also raising the height of the net from 20 feet to 25 feet. Sightlines have been improved by removing several of the vertical support poles and the horizontal cross bar in favor of much less obstructive cables. To allow for this change, support cables will run from the top of the protective netting to the facing of the Club Level.
The Giants are currently active on 12 social media channels with a combined following of over 6.1 million fans, and the @Cafe at AT&T Park has become the hub for Giants social media activities during home games. This season, the team will debut the Giants Virtual Reality Experience, giving fans another reason to visit the @Cafe. This exclusive content from a day at Spring Training at Scottsdale Stadium will bring the fans closer to the players and game than ever before. Fans will find themselves on the field, in the batting cages and even sitting beside Sergio Romo riding in his car through the technology of Virtual Reality.
The Giants and long-time sponsor, Bank of America, extended their partnership for another five years. Bank of America will also continue it community focus with its title sponsorship of the Junior Giants program and the ballpark will feature a new iconic sign in right field.
New sponsors include Pure Storage, which will allow the Giants to increase their data storage capacity and reliability; Magniflex, an international partner from Japan who will sponsor Japanese Heritage Night and highlight the importance of a good night's sleep and a healthy lifestyle; Colavita, marking the first official partnership between the Giants and an olive oil producer; Jack Daniel's, creating the "Jack Daniel's Barrel House" located under the bleachers in left field featuring Jack Daniel's specialty cocktails. Long-standing partner, Anchor Brewing, has created the first-ever MLB and craft beer product in a can - Orange Splash Lager.
Also coming to AT&T Park this season will be the 50-50 Raffle presented by HERO, giving fans the opportunity to support the Giants Community Fund. Tickets will be sold at home games throughout the park and at the kiosk located on the Promenade Level behind home plate adjacent to the Community Clubhouse. Once lucky fan will win 50 percent of the total amount collected during each game and the remaining 50 percent will benefit the Giants Community Fund.
For a complete listing of 2016 season highlights, please visit sfgiants.com/2016 highlights and to connect with the Giants via social media go to sfgiants.com/connect.