To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of APBA Baseball have been greatly exaggerated.

The classic baseball board game ­ which is based on actual major league player statistics ­ is on the cusp of its 50th anniversary. But for the better part of the last decade, few people knew the game was still being produced.

Bill Bordegon is in charge of changing that perception. A former executive VP at Fleer, Bordegon joined the group now known as APBA International as president and CEO in February with the task of expanding the game’s audience. He hopes to do so by expanding the game’s distribution into hobby shops nationwide.

Why target the hobby for the survival of a board game?

“There were a couple of key reasons,” Bordegon said. “I started talking to people in our industry about APBA and it amazed me how many were familiar with APBA and Strat-O-Matic and had such fond memories of playing those games. For a target audience, that indicated there was a familiarity with the product.  “I also knew dealers were looking for more product lines for their stores,”

Bordegon added. “It’s more of a natural for them to carry a sports-licensed game product than a fantasy-based product.”

APBA needed to reach new customers. The company’s line of sports board games were never available in retail stores. Instead, the company ran small direct response ads in monthly or annual baseball publications. It also solicited previous customers to buy updated sets via direct mail.

“It had been surviving off its existing customer base, but the mailing lists were getting smaller each year,” Bordegon said. “Although the game platform has always been solid, everyone agreed that the graphics and product marketing had not kept pace with the times.”

To attract new customers to a game many thought was a relic, the new APBA team developed three basic goals for the product line.

1. Modernizing The Look ­ much like today’s baseball stadiums are a combination of nostalgia and modern amenities, the new APBA design is a combination of tradition and convenience. The playing board and game cards are more colorful. The situational play charts ­ once a cumbersome aspect of the game ­ are now in an easy-to-use spiral notebook. There’s a storage box for the cards that features tabbed dividers.

“We got input from focus groups of long-time APBA players. We were able to create some design changes that the established players liked and would also appeal to new users,” Bordegon said.

2. Create A Wider Selection of Games ­ While APBA Baseball has been around since 1951, football, basketball and hockey versions have come and gone at various times through those years.  This year, APBA will introduce a line of games for all four sports. There will be the traditional strategy game, a children’s game (APBA Superstars) that is designed for ages 5-7, and a trial game (All-Star Edition) that comes with a limited player roster and is a basic version of the traditional game. Price points will range from $49.95 for the traditional game to $9.95 for the All-Star Edition.

In addition to the board games, early next year APBA has plans to introduce a CD-ROM version of the game as well as an Internet version that will allow players to compete online with others around the world.

“The board game will always maintain itself as the No. 1 way to play,” Bordegon said. “The electronic versions give us a stepping stone to introduce the product.”

3. Expand Into The Hobby ­ While board games as a category are enjoying record sales at the retail level, Bordegon believes APBA’s best chances for success are through hobby shop sales.

“Our $49.95 game doesn’t make sense as a mass retail product,” Bordegon said. “Plus, we want to establish the stores who sell our game as a kind of headquarters for the game players ­ a place where they can not only buy the game, but play against others and mingle with other players. APBA players love to talk about the game with other players. It’s a very sociable game.”

But is it a product that has hobby appeal? Bordegon firmly believes it does, in part because of the success of products like Pokémon and MLB Showdown, and also because of the response to the product from hobby distributors.

   “They believe the hobby is looking for more diversification and they believe a product like this makes sense in a hobby store,” he said. “When someone looks at this product in a store, they will get an image of a family-oriented game. MLB Showdown introduced playing a sports game to a broad audience. APBA was always marketed and sold to a narrow-focused audience. But we’ve got 50 years of heritage that reflects on the realism of our game.”

Bordegon added that the typical APBA game player is a good customer for a hobby shop to cultivate. “They tend to be a little older, they’re passionate about sports and they have money to spend,” he said.

To promote the game, APBA’s staff will be holding demo nights at several of its distributor locations. It will also help hobby retailers organize in-store events. Bordegon said the company has promotional tools available for hobby shops to promote APBA game nights in their stores, including a costume for the game’s official mascot ­ APBA Andy ­ that will be made available.

APBA shipped its redesigned 2000 baseball game (based on 1999 stats) at the end of August. It hopes to have its 2001 version (based on this season’s stats) ready in time for Christmas. A football game is slated for October release, with hockey and basketball scheduled for November and December, respectively.

Next year, APBA has big plans to mark its 50th anniversary, including the release of a Collector’s Edition Baseball product that will have photos on each game card, special promotions and a APBA Players Convention in summer.

The management of APBA is understandably proud of its long history. With its new marketing approach, however, it’s the future that has the company truly upbeat.