<\/p>\n
Tyler Thompson dreamed of working in baseball.<\/p>\n
One morning when he was 16 years old he got the call that would eventually send him to the major leagues. It wasn\u2019t a call from a team to come play, but from his grandmother, who saw an ad in the newspaper for a Spokane Indians job fair.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew I had been looking for a job,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cI\u2019d never put together a resume before in my life, but I put one together that morning,\u201d<\/p>\n
That summer 15 years ago, Thompson hawked baseball programs for $1 each at Avista Stadium. He had no idea that job would take him to the major leagues, where he currently serves as director of game entertainment and experimental marketing for the Seattle Mariners.<\/p>\n
Thompson, a Central Valley High School graduate, plays a big role in the Seattle fan base that cheered the Mariners to the brink of its first American League Championship this season, missing their first World Series in a heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.<\/p>\n
As one of the creative voices behind the Mariners award-winning game-day production team, Thompson oversees the in-game entertainment at T-Mobile Park \u2013 salmon races, hot dogs from heaven, everything that goes into the game behind the game.<\/p>\n
Every player, coach and executive lauded the support the team received throughout the historic 2025 season and postseason. <\/p>\n
A big factor in that fan support at T-Mobile Park is inspired by Thompson\u2019s programs.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
After selling programs in Spokane in the summer of 2010, Thompson quickly moved through just about every position available to a seasonal worker at Avista Stadium \u2013 including section leader, clubhouse attendant and press box manager. Thompson also worked for the Spokane Chiefs in the winter as a game emcee and running in-game promotions.<\/p>\n
All the while, he was studying and working in sports promotions at Eastern Washington, earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in business administration and eventually a master\u2019s degree in sports administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s where I learned by work ethic,\u201d Thompson said of his tenure with the Indians. \u201cI learned how to work with different personalities, dealing with players and coaches, (Texas) Rangers\u2019 executives who would come to town. It was the best learning experience of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not the only one to have started at Avista. The Mariners employ several former Indians staffers in capacities throughout the front office.<\/p>\n
After Thompson completed his education , he headed to Seattle to pursue his dream of working in the big leagues. He started in the Mariners\u2019 marketing department, worked his way up to a manager position, then in January was named director.<\/p>\n
The \u201cgame entertainment\u201d part of his job title is pretty self-explanatory. But \u201cexperiential marketing\u201d might be a little trickier to define.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main part of my job is game entertainment,\u201d he said. \u201cExperiential marketing is made up of stuff like activation marketing, or the events we put together outside of the ballpark \u2013 community events, our kids club, our mascot program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson oversees public address scripts, ceremonial first pitches, national anthems, and he\u2019s instrumental in developing and producing all the fun and creative things fans go crazy for during the games. He is the co-creator of the incredibly popular \u2013 and viral \u2013 promotion \u201chot dogs from heaven\u201d and the oversized mascot salmon run.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything here with the Mariners is a team effort,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cThe salmon run was kind of my brain child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important race in our region is the salmon migrating back to their fresh-water streams. It was a natural fit and being able to create four different characters as four different Pacific salmon and each take on a different personality navigating their ladders back to Seattle was a lot of fun. Seeing the fans take to it has been incredibly rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cHumpy\u201d mascot \u2013 slow, clumsy, wearing a life preserver \u2013 hadn\u2019t won a race in two seasons. But during the 15th inning of the deciding Game 5 of the American League Divisional Series against Detroit, Thompson said they \u201cdecided to go off script.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it goes that late, there\u2019s nothing really scripted,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cWhen the lights shown the brightest, Humpy found his speed. It totally re-energized the ballpark. It was the spark T-Mobile Park needed that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two batters later Jorge Polanco delivered a walk-off single to send the M\u2019s to the league championship series. Fans and players alike credited Humpy\u2019s win for the change in momentum.<\/p>\n
Thompson wasn\u2019t on the field, but his creative inspiration may have made a difference in the outcome of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly humbling and validating,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing a kid from Spokane and growing up watching the Mariners on TV at home, and now being here and putting together the show on the biggest television in the northwest on Marinersvision each night \u2026 I\u2019m just so proud to be a Mariner.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n