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Trip from Buzz to Stingers not a bee-line By
Jason Sauter In case baseball fans in Utah haven't noticed, there is no longer a triple A team called the Salt Lake City Buzz. Since 1994 the Salt Lake City Buzz has been Utah's triple A team. However, now because of copyright infringements with Georgia Tech University the team could no longer be referred as the "Buzz." The Salt Lake Buzz passed unnoticed until 1997 when merchandise was seen on sale in Atlanta, Ga. Another thing that caught the eye of Georgia Tech officials about the similar logo was the movie Major League 3, in which the featured team in the movie used the Buzz logo. At the end of September 2001 a ruling in a lawsuit ordered the triple A team to pay Georgia Tech $600,000 and to longer use the word or logo of Buzz in any of its merchandising. The team then changed its name to the Salt Lake City Stingers. This caused many marketing problems, according to Michael Weisbart, director of community relations for the Salt Lake City Stingers. "We had to build an identity," said Weisbart. Utah had become accustomed to the Buzz for many years and now it would have to start over in gaining recognition with the new name Stingers. "The best thing to do is to do just brand," said Weisbart. It is the Stingers' goal to get the its name everywhere so everyone could see it. Last week, Weisbart came to Utah State University to speak to journalism students about public relations and marketing in professional baseball. Weisbart talked about his job and how he helps markets the Stingers to Utah. The most important thing about his job is attendance at the baseball games at Franklin Covey Field. He has to create new ways to get more people into the seats. In one stretch the Salt Lake City team lead the triple A in attendance for six consecutive years.
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