Fun at the ballpark or political statement? ‘Right to Life’ day at Dragons game sparks debate

DAYTON — An advertised “Right to Life” day involving the Dayton Dragons was created without the team’s permission and the was not organized by the team, Dragons officials said Wednesday.

Officials for the minor league team took to social media after being made aware social media and website posts regarding a “Dayton Right to Life” promotion at Day Air Ballpark for an upcoming Dragons home game.

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“Someone has taken our marks, logos, and name without permission to create a false and misleading advertisement and relationship that does not exist,” team officials said in a statement.

On April 28, Dayton Right to Life added an event to their Facebook page titled “Dayton Right to Life Day at Day Air Ballpark” and used the team’s logo in the event image. The event, which remains on the Facebook page as of Thursday afternoon, has been scheduled for July 24.

“To be clear, there is no promotion involving this group or this issue at Day Air Ballpark or at any of our home games,” the Dragons’ statement read. “This is just an organization that purchased tickets for a group outing.”

Officials said the group bought tickets for their guests to attend the game.

“The Dragons are not a political organization and do not take positions with any advocacy, political groups, or causes - and that will continue to be the case,” the statement concluded.

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Thursday afternoon, Dayton Right to Life released a statement on social media and said the baseball team approached them in the fall of 2021 to host the organization staff, volunteers and donors to a game as they “have done in years past.”

“This was sold to us as a fun-filled ‘Dayton Right to Life Day at the Dayton Dragons.’ Just like many organizations and companies in the area, we jumped to the opportunity to support the Dragons in the endeavor and provide a day of fun for our organization,” Margie Christie, Dayton Right to Life Executive Director, said in a statement.

Christie noted that other organizations in the area promoted their “day with the Dragons” in a similar manner to how they did and that they had not heard any comments or criticism from the Dragons organization or public since they announced the event in April, until this week.

“Unfortunately, individuals who do not support our mission, took our images and created fake accounts on various websites to promote the game. No promotional information was authorized by Dayton Right to Life to use on any platform other than our website and Facebook page,” Christie’s statement continued.

While Christie said the organization was “disheartened” that some have taken this incident as an opportunity to “create mistrust and cast doubt on the integrity” of the organization, the group looks forward to cheering on the Dragons this weekend.

The Dragons take on the Fort Wayne Tincaps Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

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