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Legends Of The Game

Legends Of The Game

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How Did Your Business Get Started?

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Rick Mosley
"Legends Of The Game"
Negro and Latin Baseball Leagues

While travelling with his family over eight years ago Rick Mosley saw a souvenir cart commemorating the Negro Leagues. When he learned that his eight-year-old son knew nothing about the Negro baseball leagues, he became concerned that a vital part of American history, especially concerning the Negro and Latin leagues, was being forgotten. Realizing that children needed a fun and interesting way to learn history, he decided to create a game that taught American history through baseball, thus preserving an important part of history while at the same time illustrating how America's pass time reflected and led to critical social shifts in America's race relations.

Rick designed a board game based on the world's most popular board game ever produced - Monopoly . He named it "Legends Of The Game," using the names of Negro Leagues teams and Negro Hall of Fame Baseball players. Adding significant historical dates and events of American history from 1865 to 1955 such as Plessey vs. Ferguson and Brown vs. the Board of Education Supreme Court decisions, the Civil War, the 1929 stock market crash, the poll tax, the Scottsboro Boys trial, World War II, and Jackie Robinson's "breaking the color line" of professional baseball, Rick has incorporated historical important events that have impacted all Americans.

This block buster educational game utilizes custom designed deed cards, and tokens to elevate the game's quality. To add additional historical significance and realism to the product, Rick has already invested well over $40,000 into this project, primarily on licensing fees to obtain permission to utilize National Baseball Hall of Fame players such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Rube Foster, Buck Leonard and Jackie Robinson.

After developing several versions of the game and testing them with family, friends, home schooled families and acquaintances and receiving resounding approval of the concept, he decided to convert the game into a business venture, with the name Jabez Enterprises International Inc.

The next step was to create a professional look and feel for the game that would make it attractive to buyers. After reviewing several proposals from several national graphic design firms for the components, cost and packaging options, Rick selected a Board Game Design firm that had done projects for a major and toy game manufacturing corporation.

Just as he needed professional help with the graphic design Rick realized he now needed help with the business aspects of his project. He contacted SCORE for advice on converting his idea into a business. Over a two year period, counselor Chuck Christiansen assisted Rick in building a business plan, including cash flow, profit projections, pricing guidelines, and a marketing plan. SCORE assistance was instrumental in obtaining an Empowerment Zone loan administered by the Knoxville Area Urban League.

With design, production, and distribution in place, Rick turned his attention to marketing "Legends of The Game." He knew there were three primary target markets - 76 million baseball fans who attend Major League Baseball games, the Black & Latin population, and school systems. He decided to approach the most visible target first by finding the proper contacts in the various baseball leagues and asking them to place the game in their souvenir stores. He also began contacting black museums across the country asking them to stock the game in their souvenir shops and contacting public school systems in the Southeast to use his game as a teaching tool.

Rick has secured orders with one major league team and several black museums to sell "Legends Of The Game" in their souvenir shops. He also has agreements with at least two school systems to use it in their Middle and High school social studies & history curriculum. With limited financial resources for marketing, Jabez's is utilizing a gorilla marketing approach to obtain media coverage to spread the word about the game. This marketing plan is generating results: free booth space at the Negro Leagues conference in Portsmouth VA this past July, free articles in Black newspapers, and Southern Living Magazine national publication. The game will also be featured in six major airports gift shops this fall.

Rick's business plan calls for increasing unit sales in the second year by a factor of five. With the assistance of SCORE, he has secured funding to cover initial marketing and production costs, and is also expanding his gorilla marketing plan by pursuing arrangements to have the game placed on the shelves of national book store chains, box stores, Major League Baseball parks and Monopoly game collectors.

For Rick Mosley, the Games REALLY Have Begun!

To learn more about or to order "The Legends Of The Game, contact Rick Mosley via email at kjv55@comcast.net.

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412 N Cedar Bluff Rd Ste 450,
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Knoxville, TN 37923
(865)-346-1119

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Funded, in part, through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.

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