OKC Dodgers Showcased Best In-Game Promotion of 2021
Speed painter Revel’s performance results in Dodgers winning coveted Golden Bobblehead for Best In-Game Promotion/Feature during the 2021 Minor League Baseball season
The digital field clock at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark read 2 minutes, 25 seconds marking the start of a timed break between innings at a July 2021 Oklahoma City Dodgers game.
After an introduction, Revel the Speed Painter turned to face a blank, black canvas and quickly got to work.
Shades of gray, white and blue paint slowly overtook the black canvas as Revel finessed paint with brushes and his hands to make his vision come to life.
As the clock ticked toward zero and players once again took their spots on the field to begin the next inning, Revel stopped painting. He flipped the canvas 180 degrees and a spectacular image was revealed: Dodgers and Baseball Hall of Fame legend Jackie Robinson.
In less time than it takes to pop a bag of popcorn in the microwave or listen to your favorite song, Revel painted — live and upside down — a portrait of one of baseball’s most iconic figures.
The unique and awe-inspiring performance during OKC’s July 3 home game against Salt Lake recently won the OKC Dodgers’ first-ever Golden Bobblehead award announced Dec. 5 during the 2021 Baseball Winter Meetings in Orlando.
The Golden Bobblehead awards are given annually by Minor League Baseball for the top promotional activities and events MiLB’s 120 teams develop and put on during the year. Six awards were given out for the 2021 season and the Dodgers won the Golden Bobblehead for Best In-Game Promotion/Feature for Revel’s performance.
“Winning our first Golden Bobblehead award is another benchmark for our organization,” Oklahoma City Dodgers President/General Manager Michael Byrnes said in a MiLB release. “I’m proud of our team members for not only devising the idea of having a performance artist be part of our game presentation, but also finding a way to make it work with the unique constraints within a baseball game. We’d also like to recognize Revel, because without his incredible talent and willingness to try something new, this would have never happened.”
Revel painted two player portraits live and upside down during inning breaks of the July Dodgers’ game. His easel and paints were set up on a club level balcony overlooking the stadium and the OKC Dodgers’ entertainment team, the Blue Crüe, cheered him on while fans watched on the stadium video board.
After the game, Revel took to the playing field to create a painting of Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
Proceeds of the three paintings he created generated $2,000 for the Oklahoma City Dodgers Baseball Foundation.
The idea for showcasing a live artist during an OKC Dodgers game blossomed from a weekly marketing team meeting during the spring of 2021.
AJ Navarro, Director of Video and Game Presentation, went on to research potential acts to bring the unique idea to life. He focused his search on speed painters and performance artists to find someone fun and interactive for OKC Dodgers fans to enjoy. He researched options online and conducted mini interviews with potential acts.
“I was immediately drawn to Revel’s art off the bat —his visual style and color choices spoke to me,” Navarro said.
He learned Revel, who resides in Orlando, had performed previously at halftime of a NFL and NBA game, but at those events the artist had about 10 minutes to complete a painting.
“We don’t have 10 minutes during our games,” Navarro said.
Breaks between innings for OKC Dodgers games last 2 minutes, 25 seconds at most, creating unique challenges for securing in-game entertainment options.
Navarro reached out to Revel and asked if his work could be completed in two minutes or less.
After some careful consideration about the reduction in performance time, Revel agreed and the result was award-winning.
“I think it was a first for professional baseball to have something like this in such a short amount of time,” Navarro said.
“We liked it so much that we will have him back next season.”
