By: Jennifer Detwiler

Dear Faithful Readers,


I hope everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday! This is my favorite time of year and it was great to travel home to be with family and friends back in Arizona. As December approaches, I am already looking forward to decorating for Christmas and taking advantage of the holiday season events happening in San Diego!


The holiday season is an important time to reflect, be thankful, and give back where you can. This week’s ‘Selling It…’ article shares the amazing partnership between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Bully Max and showcases how powerful the sports industry can be for bringing awareness to organizations through meaningful partnerships. 


Enjoy,


Isabelle Madrid
Communications Manager
isabelle@sports-forum.com

“Powerful Partnerships: Bully Max Teams Up with Pittsburgh Pirates to Hit Home Runs for Children’s Heart Foundation”

Bully Max Teams Up With The Pittsburgh Pirates To Help And Support The Community

Description: 

Partnerships and sponsorships in the sports industry are more than just activation and name recognition. When looking for the right partner, organizations are more likely to work with other organizations that have similar values, beliefs, missions, and goals. To the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bully Max was the perfect way to go above and beyond to help and support their community. The Pirates believe Bully Max is a great example of the perfect partner because of the aligning values and the meaning of Bully Max to the Pirates. The Pirates and Bully Max know that The Pirates are more than just a baseball team, and it is more than just a baseball game to both of them.

Lea Kinneman, Bully Max Co-Owner and The Children’s Heart Foundation Walk Chair (Pittsburgh), made it her mission to help raise awareness and funds for research when her daughter Mila was born with a congenital heart defect. When Lea went to The Pirates to team up with them to support Bully Max as well as The Children’s Heart Foundation, there was no hesitation from The Pirates to help and support such a special cause.

Founded in Pittsburgh, Lea and her husband started Bully Max, a local Pittsburgh dog food company. They are the leading name in performance dog food and understand the extraordinary demands that working breeds face, which is what led them to craft a range of performance-focused dog foods. Lea and her husband went beyond their 9 to 5 job to help support a cause that is near and dear to their hearts. Their daughter Mila was born on February 13, 2016, with a congenital heart defect. This is what prompted Lea to become The Children’s Heart Foundation Walk Chair and for Lea and her husband to use their business to partner with the Pittsburgh Pirates to help raise money for The Children’s Heart Foundation. The Children’s Heart Foundation started in 1995 by a family who had a boy who passed away from multiple organ failure brought on by a sudden heart-related collapse. This organization has been researching congenital heart defects for 30 years and counting. About 1 in 33 babies is born with a birth defect in the United States each year. The Children’s Heart Foundation is the country’s leading organization dedicated to funding congenital heart defect research.

Objectives:

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Lea teamed up to support The Children’s Heart Foundation, as well as put on other events to support the community. They are determined to provide support while simultaneously amplifying their message to the fullest extent possible. Charlene Cheroke, Corporate & Premium Partnership Sales for The Pittsburgh Pirates, said, “Our side of the partnership is that the partnership does not stop in the park,” while Nicole Park, Coordinator, Corporate Partnership Activation for The Pittsburgh Pirates, added, “It goes beyond what is in the contract.” 

Charlene and Nicole wanted to personally support Lea’s cause to help Mila and all the other children. They want individuals to know that “our partners are our family,” and that the Pirates are loyally going to support their partnerships and partners. As they described, they did not have to even think twice about partnering with Lea because they support and are dedicated to Mila and The Children’s Heart Foundation and knew they could help make a large difference to their program. 

Lea explains, “Mila has been thriving as a young, vibrant, energetic, kind little girl going through life being able to show the world that heart defects do not have to define who you are.” She and her husband are determined to be a voice to help raise awareness and funds for research, so they can find cures and ways to help kids born with these conditions.

Partnerships:

This is the first year that Bully Max and The Pittsburgh Pirates have teamed up. Charlene and Nicole explained that Lea planned the events, and allowed Bully Max to take control of their activations and are always open to collaboration when planning these types of events. During the 2023 season, Bully Max teamed up with the Pittsburgh Pirates to support all the Pup Nights offered every Tuesday during home games. They offered sampling, photo ops, giveaways, raffles, and more. 

Bully Max, The Pittsburgh Pirates, and The Pittsburgh Penguins joined together to support one of the best causes near and dear to Lea’s family, The Children’s Heart Foundation. The Pirate Parrot, which is the Pirates mascot, also joined Mila at McKnight Elementary, where they held a Thanksgiving themed fundraiser to raise money for The Children’s Heart Foundation. The Pirate Parrot lit up the kids’ faces and made them feel proud for donating to this cause and showing Mila the needed and endless support. The Pirates donated a raffle basket with a signed Andrew McCutchen photograph to honor the kind acts the kids took part in.

Lastly, The Pirates and the Penguins joined Bully Max at PetFest and donated autographed items for raffle and raised roughly around $500 at this event. Bully Max, The Pittsburgh Pirates, and The Pittsburgh Penguins also recently volunteered, as partners, at the community turkey drive just days before Thanksgiving. Bully Max was able to donate over 1,000 lbs of dog food to families in need to make sure no pet goes hungry this Thanksgiving holiday with the help of their partners in the pouring rain.

Results:

In 2023, the Pittsburgh Congenital Heart Walk, which Lea has led for the past 2 years and has been able to help grow, had over 800 walkers and raised over $128,000 towards research with the support from The Pittsburgh Pirates and The Pittsburgh Penguins. It is anticipated that there will be an even larger crowd at the 2024 annual walk at Stage AE in the heart of Pittsburgh with the help of Audacy, hosting the event and the support from The Pittsburgh Pirates, The Pittsburgh Penguins, Bully Max, and many other sponsors. The Pirates continue to promote the various events that they hold with Bully Max, allowing even more awareness of the cause due to their large social media following. While they do expect an increase in ticket sales and higher average attendance, brand awareness is their main priority as they want to build trust and recognition with all organizations, so they can continue to partner with those organizations that align with their team values.

Looking Ahead:

Pittsburgh is known to have great doctors and care. Lea emphasizes that the most important thing while looking ahead is, “Getting the word out.” Charlene, Nicole, and The Pirates emphasize that they “Hope our partnership with Bully Max is forever.”

Bully Max and The Pittsburgh Pirates will continue to partner with each other and put on these events to make a difference in the lives of children facing heart challenges. The commitment goes beyond the game for The Pirates; it is about making a positive impact on the lives of those who need it most. They plan to continue to raise awareness and funds for the Children’s Heart Foundation through passion and dedication. They believe in creating a brighter future for these brave young hearts. Every step they take together brings them closer to making a lasting impact on the lives of the children and their families. It is their shared mission, as partners, to make a difference and support the Children’s Heart Foundation, while also donating dog food to those in need. An individual’s voice is one of their most powerful aspects, and it is important to use when in need. The partnership between the Pirates, Penguins, and Bully Max is a great example of how partnerships that are meaningful to both sides can be the most powerful. 

Anyone looking to become a sponsor can contact Lea directly at Lea@bullymax.com and to donate to The Children’s Heart Foundation, and join our family and the Sports Teams of Pittsburgh, you can do so at: https://events.chfwalk.org/event/pittsburgh (Team Mila)

About the National Sports Forum

The National Sports Forum is one of the largest annual cross-gathering in North America of the top executives from leagues, teams, agencies, and properties in the sports industry, who come together and share ideas and best practices on Marketing, Business Development, Ticket Sales, Sponsorship, and Diversity & Inclusion.  Visit www.sports-forum.com for more information.

The NSF Salutes Our Partner 

Advent Creates Experiences That Move People. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, Advent is an experience creation firm that has partnered with professional sport organizations, universities, and corporations across the country.  Throughout its 23-year history, Advent has created branded experiences for the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, the University of Texas, the University of Oregon, UNC, Penn State, TCU, the PGA of America and many others. Advent’s brand design work is distinguished by a focus on storytelling and audience insight.  Learn more at www.adventmovespeople.com.