Minor League Baseball Reveals Full Schedule of Games and Date of Unveiling Day for 2019 Copa de la Diversión

Season-long event series returns more than doubling number of teams and game dates

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Feb. 18, 2019) — Minor League Baseball™ (MiLB™) today unveiled the 397-game schedule for its second annual Copa de la Diversión® (Fun Cup™) event series, taking place during the 2019 season.  The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders will host six Copa de la Diversión dates in 2019 as part of their first year in the initiative.

Following an incredibly successful 2018 campaign when Copa de la Diversión (“Copa”)-participating teams authentically connected with their Latinx communities, resulting in dramatic increases in attendance, merchandise sales and commercial partnership revenue, this year’s participating teams look to continue that momentum.

The 2019 season will see 72 teams transform their brands to join in Copa’s mission to authentically connect MiLB teams with their diverse communities, and embrace and celebrate the culture and values that resonate most with Latinx fans nationwide.

April 5 marks the first of the nearly 400 Copa-designated games scheduled for 2019, with Columbus officially debuting Copa’s sophomore season at 6:05 p.m. ET. Highlighting the 2019 schedule is the Copa home opener for 2018 Copa champion Mariachis de Nuevo México (Albuquerque Isotopes), on Saturday, April 6, against fellow Copa participant Abejas de Salt Lake (Salt Lake Bees).

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will host Copa de la Diversión games on June 9 (against the Syracuse Mets), June 22 (Durham Bulls), July 16 (Columbus Clippers), July 21 (Louisville Bats), August 4 (Lehigh Valley IronPigs) and on August 31 (Buffalo Bisions).  Themes for these six dates will be announced next month.

“The growth we’re seeing in team participation for Copa is outstanding,” said Kurt Hunzeker, Vice President of Marketing Strategy and Research for Minor League Baseball. “To see this authentic engagement with our Latinx fans  in MiLB communities across the country is very exciting. We like to say that you don’t attend a Minor League Baseball game, you feel it. To extend that feeling to a previously underserved fan base is remarkable.”

The Copa 2019 schedule release comes on the heels of announcements made in late 2018. In November, MiLB announced an agreement with ECHO Incorporated making it the “Official Outdoor Power Tool of MiLB” and

the “Official Outdoor Power Tool of Copa de la Diversión” (“Herramienta Oficial de la Copa de la Diversión”).

Additionally, MiLB announced in December a partnership with the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) to become an “Official Charity of MiLB Copa de la Diversión,” marking the first-ever philanthropic partner tied specifically to MiLB’s Latinx fan engagement initiative.

Copa “Unveiling Day,” slated for March 18, will showcase all 72 identities and logos via a coast-to-coast social media campaign as teams reveal their Copa-specific, culturally-relevant on-field identities. Additionally, full merchandise for each Copa team will be made available exclusively at each participating Copa team’s ballpark and on teams’ retail store sites. Visit MiLB.com the complete 2019 Copa de la Diversión schedule.

  

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Minor League Baseball is the governing body for all professional baseball teams in the United States, Canada, and the Dominican Republic that are affiliated with Major League Baseball® clubs through their farm systems. In 2018, Minor League Baseball attracted nearly 40.5 million fans to its ballparks to see baseball’s future stars and experience affordable family-friendly entertainment that has been a staple of Minor League Baseball since 1901. Visit www.MiLB.com, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.