Phillies scrap Dollar Dog Night, cite fan behavior
PHILADELPHIA — For more than a quarter century, Phillies fans considered Dollar Hot Dog Night among the best ballpark promotions — but the team has now decided it was the wurst.
Those dog days of April — when the Philly weather is cold and the wieners are a steal — are going, going, gone.
The Phillies officially ended the popular promotion Thursday and replaced dollar dogs on select dates with a 2-for-1 deal at two April games at Citizens Bank Park.
A statement from the team said the change was made “based on the organization’s ongoing commitment to provide a positive experience for all fans in attendance.”
What wasn’t positive about Dollar Dog Nights?
Armed with projectile frankfurters, some unruly Phillies fans began chucking their favorite Hatfield meat during a game last season, and the dogs soared like cans of corn throughout the stands and onto the field. The demand for the discount dogs also led to clogged lanes on the concourse, leading to security and safety concerns.
An April 11 game last season turned into a Philly food fight when fans — largely good-naturedly — tossed their ballpark franks in several sections, leading to multiple ejections.
“It wasn’t just the throwing,” said John Weber, senior vice president, Phillies ticket operations and projects. “It’s the concourse, the crowds of everybody being at the same X amount of stands. But obviously, you know, the throwing was a little bit of a tipping point.”
To be frank, the Phillies don’t necessarily need the deal these days to pack in crowds. The Phillies started the promotion 27 years ago when they still played at cavernous Veterans Stadium to try to boost ticket sales on an otherwise dreary game night.
But the Phillies stuck with the food-frenzy deal through the decades, even as they rose again to become one of the best teams in the National League. The Phillies topped 3 million fans last season — and scheduled three Dollar Dog Nights for two April and one May weeknight game when attendance is generally down compared to weekend games.
“The idea originally was much more family-orientated, four, five, six people and having a discounted concession item,” Weber said. “As it’s morphed over time, it’s gone more to a younger demographic, which is great as well, especially in the April, May time frame.”
The Phillies BOGO nights this season are April 2 against the Reds and April 16 against the Rockies.
Aramark did not provide sales totals for 2023.
The company said ahead of the 2022 World Series when the Phillies played the Houston Astros that 1 of every 3 fans eats a hot dog at Citizens Bank Park, and an average 6,951 hot dogs were sold per game — enough to line Ashburn Alley five times.
The Phillies kept a running dollar dog sold tally on the scoreboard for each game they were marked down.
The Phillies first caught blowback in 2022 when they tried to scale back from three Dollar Dog Nights to two.
The unpopular move failed to cut the mustard with fans — even in the highest branches of government. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) responded to a writer for the Crossing Broad website who complained about the decision with a post on social media that read, “I agree, more Dollar Dog Nights. @Phillies Let’s do this.”
One more dog night was added to the schedule.
He took a high road Thursday, posting on social media, “Double [hot dog emoji ] sounds like a great way to fuel up for #RedOctober.”
Phillies fans applauded the decision on social media.
By midafternoon, one apparel shop already had a T-shirt made lamenting the decision with the inscription “RIP dollar dog night. Pork Flew. Heads Rolled.”
“Our goal is to always give a great fan experience,” Weber said. “If you were there at the game, it was not a great experience.”
If cheap meats are still your thing at the old ballgame, head across the state to Pittsburgh, where the Pirates will hold at least six $1 hot dog nights. Just a long relay throw south down I-95, the Class-A Wilmington Blue Rocks offer $2 dog Wednesdays.
The Texas Rangers sell dollar dogs at every Wednesday home game, and the Minnesota Twins have a $1 dog deal at each Tuesday home game. The Kansas City Royals are among the teams that still offer low-cost hot dogs.
Just not in Philly anymore, where some bad apples spoiled the Phillies’ appetite for a good-dog deal.
“Hopefully our fans will still come out and view two hot dogs for $5 as a value and support the team in those two April dates that we have,” Weber said.
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Dan Wetzel
As victims go, Lane Kiffin doesn’t seem like one.
He could have stayed at Ole Miss, made over $10 million a year, led his 11-1 team into a home playoff game and become an icon at a place where he supposedly found personal tranquility. Or he could’ve left for LSU to make over $10 million a year leading a program that has won three national titles this century.
Fortunate would be one description of such a fork in life’s road. The result of endless work and talent would be another.
But apparently no one knows a man’s burdens until they’ve walked a mile in his hot yoga pants.
Per his resignation statement on social media, it was spiritual, familial and mentor guidance that led Kiffin to go to LSU, not all those five-star recruits in New Orleans.
“After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU,” he wrote.
In an interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith, Kiffin noted “my heart was [at Ole Miss], but I talked to some mentors, Coach [Pete] Carroll, Coach [Nick] Saban. Especially when Coach Carroll said, ‘Your dad would tell you to go. Take the shot.'” Kiffin later added: “I talked to God, and he told me it’s time to take a new step.”
After following everyone else’s advice, Kiffin discovered those mean folks at Ole Miss wouldn’t let him keep coaching the Rebels through the College Football Playoff on account of the fact Kiffin was now, you know, the coach of rival LSU.
Apparently quitting means different things to different people. Shame on Ole Miss for having some self-esteem.
“I was hoping to complete a historic six-season run … ,” Kiffin said. “My request to do so was denied by [Rebels athletic director] Keith Carter despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance.”
Well, if he hoped enough, Kiffin could have just stayed and done it. He didn’t. Trying to paint this as an Ole Miss decision, not a Lane Kiffin decision, is absurd. You are either in or you are out.
Leaving was Kiffin’s right, of course. He chose what he believes are greener pastures. It might work out; LSU, despite its political dysfunction, is a great place to coach ball.
Kiffin should have just put out a statement saying his dream is to win a national title, and as good as Ole Miss has become, he thinks his chance to do it is so much better at LSU that it was worth giving up on his current players, who formed his best and, really, first nationally relevant team.
At least it would be his honest opinion.
Lately, 50-year-old Kiffin has done all he can to paint himself as a more mature version of a once immature person. In the end, though, he is who he is. That includes traits that make him a very talented football coach. He is unique.
He might never live down being known as the coach who bailed on a title contender. It’s his life, though. It’s his reputation.
One of college sports’ original sins was turning playcallers into life-changers. Yeah, that can happen, boys can become men. A coach’s job is to win, though.
A great coach doesn’t have to be loyal or thoughtful or an example of how life should be lived.
This is the dichotomy of what you get when you hire Kiffin. He was on a heater in Oxford, winning in a way he never did with USC or Tennessee or the Oakland Raiders.
That seemingly should continue at resource-rich LSU. Along the way, you get a colorful circus, a wrestling character with a whistle, a high-wire act that could always break bad. It rarely ends well — from airport firings to near-riot-inducing resignations to an exasperated Nick Saban.
LSU should just embrace it — the good and the not so good. What’s more fun than being the villain? Kiffin might be a problem child, but he’s your problem child. It will probably get you a few more victories on Saturdays. He will certainly get you a few more laughs on social media.
It worked for Ole Miss, at least until it didn’t. Then the Rebels had to finally push him aside. This is Lane Kiffin. You can hardly trust him in the good times.
If anything, Carter had been too nice. He probably should have demanded Kiffin pledge his allegiance weeks back, after Kiffin’s family visited Gainesville, Florida, as well as Baton Rouge.
Instead, Kiffin hemmed and hawed and extended the soap opera, gaining leverage along the way.
Blame was thrown on the “calendar,” even though it was coaches such as Kiffin who created it. And leaving a championship contender is an individual choice that no one else is making.
Blame was put on Ole Miss, as if it should just accept desperate second-class hostage status. Better to promote defensive coordinator Pete Golding and try to win with the people who want to be there.
To Kiffin, the idea of winning is seemingly all that matters. Not necessarily winning, but the idea of winning. Potential playoff teams count for more than current ones. Tomorrow means more than today. Next is better than now.
Maybe that mindset is what got him here, got him all these incredible opportunities, including his new one at LSU, where he must believe he is going to win national title after national title.
So go do that, unapologetically. Own it. Own the decision. Own the quitting. Own the fallout. Everything is possible in Baton Rouge, just not the Victim Lane act.
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