Pre-game Ceremony
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A pre-game ceremony or pre-match ceremony is an on-field
ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil ...
occurring before a sporting event. Such ceremonies may celebrate a past event, honour a retiring athlete, commemorate a deceased athlete, or promote a cause.


Celebrating past events

Ceremonies preceding a game may celebrate a past event, such as a team championship. Such ceremonies may include appearances from members from the championship team. For example, in the last weekend of May 2016, the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
hosted a 30th anniversary celebration of the 1986 World Series winning team. Among the invited participants were Davey Johnson, the team's manager in 1986, and all players of that team.


Celebrating athletes

A sport franchise may schedule a pre-game ceremony to celebrate the retirement of a popular long-successful athlete, to retire an athlete's uniform number, to honour a deceased athlete, or to celebrate an athlete's accomplishments.


Accomplishments

A pre-game ceremony may be held to celebrate the accomplishments of an athlete. On 30 September 2017, the Kansas City Royals hosted a pre-game ceremony preceding their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks to celebrate Mike Moustakas setting a team record for home runs in one season. Preceding the 11 December 2019 game in which the Toronto Raptors hosted the
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, former Raptors player Kawhi Leonard was presented with a ring to celebrate the Raptors championship in the preceding NBA season.


Death

After the death of Miami Marlins pitcher José Fernández in a boating accident in September 2016, a
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
executive announced that all games scheduled for that day would be preceded by a pre-game moment of silence to commemorate Fernández. Similarly, in the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
(AFL), after Adelaide Football Club coach Phil Walsh was murdered mid-season by his son in
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, Adelaide's next scheduled game was called off, and all other games for the round forgoed a banner and club songs; additionally, a minute's silence was observed, and all players wore a black armband.


Retirement

In September 2014, the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
hosted a ceremony preceding a game against the
Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...
for Derek Jeter, who retired from baseball at the end of the 2014 Major League Baseball season. The Yankees invited Jeter's extended family, numerous members of Jeter's charity Turn 2 Foundation, former teammates, Jeter's childhood idol Dave Winfield, and other athletes including Reggie Jackson, Cal Ripken Jr., and
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. The team even had astronauts on the
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performing the "RE2PECT" cap tip. The latter part of the ceremony was used to present Jeter with gifts and a donation to his charity. The
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
held a 40-minute ceremony for David Ortiz preceding the final game of the team's 2016 season against the
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...
. Announced during the ceremony was that his uniform number 34 would be retired by the Red Sox during the 2017 season. Invited guests included the President of the Dominican Republic Danilo Medina, the
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Charlie Baker, Boston mayor Marty Walsh, and 24 teammates from the Boston Red Sox
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, 2007, and 2013 World Series championship teams of which he was a member. He also received gifts, and the Red Sox Foundation and team owners donated $1 million to the David Ortiz Children's Fund.


Uniform number retirement

On 27 November 2008, the
Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...
of the Ontario Hockey League had a pre-game ceremony that lasted fifty minutes to retire the uniform number of Bobby Orr, a player who "left an indelible imprint on the franchise". Among attendees and speakers were Don Cherry, former Generals teammate Ian Young, and Wren Blair, the scout who signed him for the
Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
of the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
.


Opening ceremonies

In 1889, the original
Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...
in New York City was demolished, and for part of the 1889 season, the New York Giants were a vagabond team playing in various stadiums (including Oakland Park and the St. George Cricket Grounds), until the New Polo Grounds was completed. On 8 July, the new stadium was opened with a pre-game opening ceremony featuring a military band and a number of politicians.


Advocacy

Advocacy or promotion of charitable and non-profit programs may also be presented during pre-game ceremonies. For example, in November 2016 the Ottawa Senators held a ceremony to promote cancer research and patient care fundraising for The Ottawa Hospital.


Politics

Before the first game of the 1972 ice hockey Summit Series between Canada and the
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in
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, a pre-game ceremony was held in which there was an exchange of gifts. Before the eighth and final game of the series in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, by which time there was a tense relationship between the Canadians and Soviets, the Canadian delegation had intended on presenting the Soviet team with a totem pole in a pre-game ceremony; the presentation was cancelled by the Soviets, but later restored. After the 2001
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
hosted their first game in
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on 21 September, in which a pre-game ceremony included members of the New York Police Department and
New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is the full-service fire department of New York City, serving all Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs. The FDNY is responsible for providing Fi ...
, and featured
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singing " God Bless America" and a salute to the victims of the attacks and their families. Members of the New York Police Department and New York City Fire Department were also present at the first game of the New York Giants of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
following the attacks, on 23 September in Kansas City.


Law

Some pre-game ceremonies have been subject to legal challenges. Up to 1995, the Santa Fe Independent School District in Santa Fe,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
had the student council chaplain, an elective student office position, recite a prayer over the stadium public address system preceding each
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
game. School representatives stated that because the same student recited the prayer throughout the year, it was protected as private speech by the Free Exercise Clause of the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents Federal government of the United States, Congress from making laws respecting an Establishment Clause, establishment of religion; prohibiting the Free Exercise Cla ...
. In '' Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe'', the
Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...
decision stated that the school policy was invalid because it violated the
Establishment Clause In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The ''Establishment Clause'' an ...
of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Specifically, the school had not created a limited private forum for the prayer recital, and a majoritarian student body election to determine which activities are granted approval is "constitutionally problematic" since "minority candidates will never prevail".


See also

* Ceremonial first pitch * Ceremonial first puck


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Refend Ceremonies Opening ceremonies