Dodgers Acting to Draw More Blacks to the Ballpark.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have launched a marketing campaign directed at enticing more African Americans to the ballpark.

Marketing director Sergio del Prado stressed that the Dodgers are reaching out to all minority communities in Los Angeles, but the African American community is an underrepresented constituency at the ballpark. More specifically, blacks comprised only 5 percent of the more than 3 million fans who attended games at Dodger Stadium last year, while Latinos comprised more than 30 percent.

"We feel that, with the team's tradition and heritage, that (relatively small attendance by African Americans) is something we would like to change," del Prado said. "The team will continue to advertise in black community newspapers and market itself through black churches throughout the area in an effort to attract more African Americans to the ballpark."

One way in which the Dodgers are marketing themselves is by holding pre-game "gospel brunches" at the ballpark. The brunches are organized and promoted through churches in local African American communities, and one such event drew 1,000 members of local black churches to a game.

In addition, the team plans to stage a celebration of black players from the Negro Leagues at Dodger Stadium later this season.

Baseball, unlike basketball and football, has never attracted black fans in the same proportion as they arc represented in the population. In Los Angeles County, 9.8 percent of the population is black, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

Yet a recent survey by Scarborough Research Corp. found that only 7 percent of Angelenos who describe themselves as "very interested" in baseball are black.

Major League Baseball has been working to elevate its profile among black tans since 1997, when the league held ceremonies in each major league city celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson becoming the first black player in the big leagues. Robinson played 12 seasons with the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.

Currently, there is no league-wide effort to attract black fans, del Prado said. But the league, along with the Dodgers, is renovating neighborhood baseball fields in the inner city and last week announced a plan to sponsor creation of a $10 million Youth Baseball Academy at the Hansen Dam Recreation Area near Pacoima.

The academy is the logical next step for the league to expand and demonstrate its commitment to urban youth, said Dodgers Chairman Bob Daly.

The league has made a $3 million commitment to the academy, which is scheduled to open in late 2002.

The campaign to increase attendance by African Americans at Dodger Stadium is included in the team's marketing budget, although del Prado declined to comment on how much money has been committed to the effort. He also declined to say how many black fans the Dodgers hope to attract this season.

Meanwhile the Dodgers later this month will begin airing their Spanish-language ads on English-language television and radio. Del Prado said that campaign is aimed at the city's large Hispanic population that is increasingly tuning in to English-language broadcasts.

"Out of the 3 million fans that attended Dodger games last season, more than 1 million were Hispanic," he said. KTLA Channel 5 and the Fox Sports Network will carry the Spanish-language ads.

The effort comes on the heels of a survey prepared for the Dodgers by Alternative and Innovative Marketing LLC, which found that nearly 40 percent of the Los Angeles market is Hispanic, and Hispanic residents wield $57 billion in buying buyer.