Dollar Dog Night Drama

“BOGO” just doesn’t have the same appeal.

After 27 years, the Phillies have discontinued Dollar Dog Night.

The team recently announced promotional giveaways and events, including Hatfield Phillies Franks BOGO Nights. Fans quickly read between the buns – BOGO hot dogs meant no more dollar dogs.

The pushback was almost immediate.

There are hundreds of replies to the post on X, and an Inquirer article was published the same day. An obligatory change.org petition started collecting signatures (21,000+ at last count).

Here’s how Phillies Senior Vice President of Ticket Operations And Projects John Weber justified dropping Dollar Dog Night:

“We’ve been discussing a change for the last couple years. The unfortunate incidents last year of the throwing of the hot dogs plus the feedback from our fans post-game survey, the fans told us that it was time for a change.”

A Frank Decision

Unruly fans threw dollar dogs on the field last year, giving the Phillies a reason to rethink the promotion this year.

Still, the Phils likely anticipated some blowback, and the Inky article helped get ahead of some of that. But the social media post didn’t address the dearth of Dollar Dog Nights directly. And while there is a replacement, it clearly hasn’t drummed up the same kind of enthusiasm fans have for the original $1 tradition.

Dollar Dog Night has become a beloved institution. It began when the Phillies were struggling to win games – and fill seats.

Even as the Phils’ record improved, the club kept the promotion (always early in the season on weeknight games against less popular opponents). Until this year.

In explaining the change, Weber cites postgame data from fans. It’s a good reminder that when navigating changes, individual responses and survey data won’t always reflect a larger cultural response – or the way the media covers it.