Baseball team giving away free funeral

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas, May 15 (UPI) -- Officials with a Grand Prairie, Texas, minor league baseball team are giving away a free funeral at an upcoming game.

The Grand Prairie AirHogs announced the funeral, complete with a headstone, casket and burial plot, will be given away to a fan at the team's June 3 game, the Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.

"Even though it's going to be a funny promotion, on the flip side there is some seriousness to it," said Dave Burke, team vice president and general manager. "With funeral services you're talking about savings of thousands of dollars."

The funeral will be provided by Chapel of Roses Funeral Home in Irving, Texas, and Oak Grove Memorial Gardens.

Officials with the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball team said the promotion is just the first of what is likely to be many quirky marketing strategies.

"We're going to try to be a little edgy," said Mark Schuster, the AirHogs' managing partner. "The criteria is what will get people talking about us in general conversations around the water cooler."