April 30, 2019

VICTORIA, B.C. — The Victoria HarbourCats and Red Arrow Brewing Co. are, literally, knocking the beer out of the park.

“HarbourCats Ballpark Blonde” is the newest branded beer from Duncan-based Red Arrow, and under a new agreement between the HarbourCats and Red Arrow, will be available in beer stores and on taps in the region as of late May.

“We’re very excited to be able to take our brand beyond our home field, Wilson’s Group Stadium at RAP, and into stores across the Island and indeed across B.C.,” said Jim Swanson, GM and Managing Partner of the HarbourCats. “This is a perfect baseball beer, one that we think sports teams and campers will enjoy on a summer day. It will go down well watching a West Coast League game, that’s for sure.”

Red Arrow and the HarbourCats have entered into a multi-year agreement for Red Arrow to be the primary beer provider at Wilson’s Group Stadium, with the HarbourCats Ballpark Blonde, the Piggy Pale Ale and the Kustom Kolsch being featured at all HarbourCats games. The Harbourcats Ballpark Blonde is a lager style ale which will be the perfect stadium beer. Fans will also get the chance to take the ballpark home with them as it will be available for sale in liquor stores as well as on tap in select pubs and restaurants.”

The arrangement was recently detailed in the April-2019 edition of Business Examiner magazine.

“The HarbourCats do such a nice job of providing the best summer sports entertainment on Vancouver Island, and it’s going to be fun to work with them and see this Ballpark Blonde grow as a beer of choice for baseball fans and benefit the HarbourCats brand,” said Travis Peterson, Sales Manager at Red Arrow Brewing Company.

“With great crowds in Victoria — they reached 78,000 in total last summer — we know it’s a good opportunity for people to get to know our beers even more. We take pride in our beer, our community and in our branding and merchandise, and that fits well with the strengths of the HarbourCats as well.”

The HarbourCats open their seventh season in the West Coast League on June 1, with the team’s first Alumni Classic, before the International Series, presented by the Greater Victoria Sports Tourism Commission, sees Union de Reyes from Cuba take on both the Port Angeles Lefties and HarbourCats, 1pm and 6:35pm respectively on June 2 at Wilson’s Group Stadium. The regular season home opener for the HarbourCats is Friday, June 7, against the defending WCL Champion Corvallis Knights, presented by Castle Home Builders, with the Wilson’s Group Fireworks slated for Saturday, June 8.

On Sunday, June 9, in a 1pm game, the HarbourCats close out the Corvallis series with the team’s annual Bobblehead Giveaway game, sponsored by Vancouver Island Construction Association — Mr. HarbourCat, Alex DeGoti, is this year’s bobblehead.

The HarbourCats will also be bringing their game up-Island this summer, further promoting their brand and that of Red Arrow, with exhibition games slated for Friday June 28th at Serauxmen Stadium in Nanaimo and then again on July 2 at Evans Park in Duncan against the Ladysmith Pilots.   Last season’s game in Nanaimo was a huge success with over 1,000 fans in attendance and with the HarbourCats ownership group announcing plans for an WCL expansion team in the Harbour City for either 2020 or 2021, the interest will be high again this year to see what HarbourCats and West Coast League baseball is all about.