'90 seconds of pure joy': Behind Seattle's 'Hot Dogs from Heaven' 

This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The Mariners’ intuitive in-game entertainment staffers have taken their efforts to another level, recently deploying fresh franks from the upper level to fans during Seattle’s last homestand. And making the moment sweeter was that “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” played on the loudspeakers.

“Belinda Carlisle was made for this moment,” said Tyler Thompson, Mariners senior manager of game entertainment and experiential marketing. “It's such a feel-good song for such an immersive moment for fans below. It's 90 seconds of pure joy.”

Per Thompson, the idea was birthed last offseason, when Hempler’s, a Mariners partner, said they were seeking a spectacle-type feature to run at the ballpark. A group led by Thompson, vice president of fan experience Malcolm Rogel, manager of corporate partnerships Andrew Scott and coordinator of in-game entertainment Nick Sybouts then began testing the feature well before Opening Day. They’ve done it twice now and intend to do so 15-20 times by season’s end.

“We are looking for large crowds and nights where we have enough staffing,” Thompson said. “It takes more people to prepare and throw hot dogs on parachutes than you might think.”

There’s surprisingly quite a bit of physics that goes into the parachuting, too. Thompson and his team tested several different parachutes, based on size, material, throwing trajectory and attachment to the hot dogs. They settled on a 36-inch parachute that has a single strap that attaches to the hot dog bag by carabiner.

As for ensuring they’re delivered fresh, the Mariners reach out to their concessions team at Sodexo in advance, then begin preparing the hot dogs in the fifth inning. They then have two innings to begin attaching the franks to the parachutes before tossing them over the side of the 300 level.

“We haven't seen any team in any sport dropping food by parachute, but have already had other teams reach out to us to get more information as they would like to borrow the concept,” Thompson said. “We think we've got a classic in-game element on our hands already, but have big dreams of continuing to elevate Hot Dogs from Heaven.”