BAILOUTS FOR SPORTS FANS

As the economic crisis worsens, sports franchises are tweaking marketing pitches to go after a new sort of customer: Joe the Unemployed Plumber. There are some bittersweet deals out there. On Nov. 29 the NHL's St. Louis Blues staged the first of 11 "Fannie & Freddie Mortgage Saturdays." The fan winning a drawing held at each game has his or her rent or mortgage payment covered by the team--up to $1,000 a month for four months. Blues officials say the promo sold about 500 extra tickets. Says CEO Peter McLoughlin: "Our goal is to fill the building every night--at a time when people have real concerns about their discretionary spending." Other teams are focusing on recession-battered customers. The NBA's New Jersey Nets gives free tickets to out-of-work fans who post résumés to the Nets' Web site. (The résumés go to team sponsors JPMorgan Chase, Coca-Cola, Amtrak, and others.) And Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks has fans nominate needy families for free season tickets. Now that's a bailout.