Minor league baseball is all about promotion, but a Victoria-based baseball club is offering up the strangest prize in franchise history to get people through the gates. The pearly gates.
That's because the Victoria Harbourcats are giving away the last prize a baseball fan would ever need – a funeral package.
The package includes a will, death certificate, cremation and an urn valued at approximately $2,400.
Why choose such a grim giveaway?
"As funeral directors, we're sports fans too," said Eric Toneff, who served as an umpire for 35 years and also runs a funeral service company in Courtenay. "[The team] asked if we wanted to be involved in it, and my answer was yeah, of course, it's baseball."
And for those wondering, the team promises there's no expiry date on the prize package.
"You do not have to die within six months to make us of it," said Harbourcats managing partner Jim Swanson.
Even though the prize is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the team thinks it can provide some comfort and financial relief to whoever the lucky winner is.
"We're pretty proud of the fun we have at our ballpark," said Swanson. "It's a very valuable package, it's actually the most valuable prize we'll give away at the park this year"
The winner will be announced at the Harbourcats game on July 18 at Royal Athletic Park.
