Conor McGregor Gives World Series Tickets To Boston Firefighters, Calls Them ‘True, Proper Heroes’
The Boston Red Sox are back in the World Series, and a group of lucky firefighters will get to be at Fenway Park to see it — all thanks to Conor McGregor.
The UFC star paid a visit to a Boston firehouse this week and brought a package of 10 World Series tickets with him. As Page Six noted, McGregor had some high praise for the firefighters after hanging out with them, sliding down the fire pole, and gifting them a bottle of whiskey.
“You guys are true, proper heroes,” McGregor said in his visit to the Back Bay firehouse. “It’s an honor to be here and see this true, proper fire station. We brought gifts — tickets to the World Series. That’s [out of] respect for you guys.”
McGregor was generous of his time during the visit as well. After several of the firefighters asked if McGregor could FaceTime with their kids, he took the time to speak to each one of them.
The visit was part of McGregor’s promotion deal with Proper No. Twelve whiskey, which is donating $5 from every case sold to first responders. McGregor posted several promotional pictures from the visit and from his other appearances for the liquor brand.
The donation to the firefighters got quite a bit of press this week, and shows that McGregor has plenty of appeal with sponsors even after getting into a bit of trouble outside the cage. As Verdict noted earlier this year, the UFC champion has been able to weather controversies like his arrest for vandalizing a bus prior to UFC 233 without losing his endorsement deals.
Conrad Wiacek, head of sponsorship at sports market intelligence company Sportcal, says sponsors know what they’re getting with McGregor.
“McGregor has created the ‘Notorious’ persona and so logically brands would have known what they were getting in any partnership – part of that persona is controversy which generates interest,” Wiacek noted.
Friday pic.twitter.com/hYnhvUdpel
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) October 20, 2018
It certainly helps that he can alternate the persona with a softer side, and actions like the World Series ticket donation seem to help. McGregor is already the highest-paid fighter in UFC history and has supplemented that with series of endorsements, including Monster Energy, Reebok, and Bud Light.
The Boston firefighters who received the World Series tickets will now have some hard decisions to make. As the fire chief told Conor McGregor, there are 40 men vying for the 10 tickets — so they may have to fight for it.
