Royals Highlight Monthly Promotional Features

‘New Beginning’ Kicks Off With Purple on Penn Street Pre-Game Party on Opening Night, Saturday, October 13

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, today announced a game-night promotional feature for each of the seven months in the upcoming 2012-13 ECHL regular season. The Royals will release the team’s full promotional calendar later this month. October – Home OpenerThe promotional calendar for the Royals—and the home schedule—kicks off on Saturday, October 13 (7:05 pm) when the Royals face the Trenton Titans at the Sovereign Center. The opening day festivities ‘hit the street running’ with the Purple on Penn Street Pre-Game Party right out in front of the Sovereign Center. Beginning at 4:00 pm, the street-wide festivities will include food and drink and music and plenty of relatively reasonably controlled ‘mayhem’—all intended to build the energy and excitement leading up to the opening face-off for the twelfth season of pro hockey in Reading. Fans can celebrate on the drive in, as well, as it will only cost $2.00 to park in the Reading Parking Authority garages for the Royals’ home opener courtesy of the RPA. When the doors do open at the Sovereign Center that night, fans will be greeted with a couple of classic giveaways including a ‘New Beginning’ T-Shirt courtesy of Capital BlueCross for the first 2,500 fans 18 and older. The first 5,000 fans on Opening Night will also receive a 32 ounce souvenir cup, which can be refilled with your favorite non-alcoholic beverage throughout the 2012-13 season at a special price, courtesy of Diamond Credit Union. And, if you still have some ‘gas in the tank’ after the Opening Night showdown between the Royals and Titans, the team will host a little post-game party, too. That’s right, all fans are invited over to the Outside – In (at the corner of Sixth and Penn Streets on the second floor) after the game to cap-off the kick-off for Royals twelfth home opener with a post-game party in which fans will have a chance to meet and greet the players they just watched give their all on the ice. November – Veterans WeekendThis year, the Royals, V&M Towing, and Classic Harley Davidson are joining forces to host Veterans Weekend, which will include a variety of activities designed to honor our country’s military veterans on Saturday, November 10, and Sunday, November 11, when the Royals take on the Trenton Titans in back-to-back games at the Sovereign Center. On Saturday (@ 7:05 pm), the Royals will kick the weekend off with ‘Veterans Night’ when the first 2500 fans in attendance 15 years of age and older will receive a special Royals adult camouflage jersey courtesy of V&M Towing, while the Royals themselves will decked out in red, white and blue flag-inspired special jerseys, courtesy of Classic Harley Davidson. On Sunday (@ 4:05 pm), in the team’s ‘Veterans Day’ game, it will be the kids (14 & under) who will score a Royals’ camouflage jersey courtesy of V&M Towing. The Royals will once again wear their special red, white and blue Veterans Weekend jerseys, which will be auctioned off after Sunday’s game with the net proceeds benefitting local veterans causes. Of course, Sunday’s game (as with all Royals game on Sunday this season), will also be a Berks Packing Dollar Day with hot dogs, soda, popcorn and nachos all going for just $1.00. December – Toys for Tots Teddy Bear TossIt just wouldn’t be the holiday season if you couldn’t throw something on the ice at a Royals game, and we encourage you do so on Saturday, December 15 (@ 7:05 pm), when the Royals will face the Orlando Solar Bears for the first time ever at the Sovereign Center. Of course, we only ask that you limit the objects you throw on the ice to warm-and-fuzzy stuffed animals—and we ask that you wait until the Royals’ score the team’s first goal that night—but otherwise feel free to ‘fire away’ in our annual Teddy Bear Toss. We also encourage you to bring a new unwrapped toy to the game that night, which we’ll collect (along with all of the stuffed animals thrown on the ice that night) and deliver them all to the U.S. Marines for their annual Toys for Tots campaign. In return, the first 1,500 fans in attendance that evening who are 18 years of age and older will receive a special holiday ornament as a present from us to you. January – Reading Eagle Wall of Honor Night: Jonathan QuickThere are guys who have gone on from the ECHL to play in the National Hockey League—almost 500 of them to be almost exact—and then there are guys who have gone on from the ECHL to win the Conn Smythe Award as the Most Valuable Player of the NHL playoffs—and there are two of those to be exactly exact…and we have one of them, Jon Quick. The Los Angeles King—and former Royal—goaltender certainly earned that big contract with a record setting performance in net for the Kings last season; and this year he will become the sixth former player to earn an induction into the Reading Eagle Wall of Honor, when the Royals face the Elmira Jackals at the Sovereign Center on Saturday, January 19 (@ 7:05 pm). Although Jonny Quick may not be able to make it to Reading in person that night (LA is actually playing in Phoenix that evening), the first 5000 fans in attendance at the Royals’ game against the Jackals will get a Quickie poster courtesy of the Reading Eagle. Now if we can all just figure out a way to get those things signed…. February – Pink in the RinkAlthough we love our purple, silver, and white, long-time Royals fans have come to know that our favorite color is actually PINK, not only because it’s symbolic of the effort to cure breast cancer, but also because the team has never been defeated in the five years that our real men have donned pink jerseys in our annual Pink in the Rink Celebration presented by Sweet Street Desserts—including last year when the Royals blanked the Wheeling Nailers (4-0). This year, the Royals will seek to tap into the power of pink when we face our arch rival, the Elmira Jackals, on Saturday, February 16 (@ 7:05 pm). As always, the night will be packed full of activities as we seek to raise funds for Breast Cancer Support Services of Berks County; and it’s a pretty safe bet that the Royals will proudly parade the team’s special pink jerseys that night, which will not only be a great source of fund raising for BCSS, but also a pretty strong source for two points in the standings. March – St. Hattrick’s Day CelebrationThere is one area in which the Royals have an undeniably well-documented track record of success: giving away cash money in our annual St. Hattrick’s Day Celebration. In fact, in two of the five years that we’ve hosted this promotion, a lucky fan has walked out of the Sovereign Center $10,000.00 richer. In 2008, it was Ned Lukacevic who won the big pay day for fan Julie Deam with his hattrick against the Wheeling Nailers; and last year, Mikael Bedard’s third goal of the night not only proved to be the over-time game winner against the Nailers, it also simultaneously struck gold for Royals’ fan Mickey Kerchner. Hey, this year it could be you! All you need to do to win the $10,000.00 is be one of the sixteen fans selected to participate in the contest—and then pick the guy who’s got magic in his stick that night. And, even if that doesn’t work out for you, as long as you’re one of the first 2,500 fans to show up to the Royals game on Saturday, March 16 (@ 7:05 pm), against the Cincinnati Cyclones, you’ll pick up a Royals’ hat courtesy of Quadrant/Lasting Image Promotional Products. The Royals open the 2012-13 regular season in Elmira, New York, on Friday, October 12, 2012, when the team will take on the Elmira Jackals at 7:05 pm. The next night, Saturday, October 13, 2012, the Royals open the home season when the Titans visit the Sovereign Center at 7:05 pm. Season Tickets for the 2012-13 Reading Royals are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 or visit www.royalshockey.com for more information.