Spectators at tonight’s Mankato MoonDogs game are in for something a bit extra.

Maybe a seat cushion with a backrest and drink cups. Maybe cookies in the shape of dog biscuits or MoonDogs pillows. Perhaps a raffle for who correctly predicts the inning in which the hometowners score their first run or a silent auction for autographed memorabilia.

The options are limited only by the minds of eight young business leaders participating in Minnesota State University’s first entrepreneurs camp.

“There will be a lot of trips to the store in the next 24 hours,” said camp director and MSU instructor Shane Bowyer.

The highlight of the three-day camp that kicked off Wednesday is the chance to develop and sell a product during tonight’s MoonDogs game.

Four teams — each made up of two junior-high campers from various area school districts and one member of MSU’s Entrepreneurship Club — were given full use of the MoonDogs’ trademarks and 24 hours. Brainstorming began Wednesday afternoon and teams had a few hours during the night and today to actually manufacture their product.

Mitch Roberts and Sam Oudekerk wanted to market a product to young kids. They thought about some kind of baseball souvenir but decided against it because they might be too ordinary. They thought about a customized jersey stand, but costs would be enormous.

And because the Mankato Area Smoke Free Coalition is sponsoring a bat giveaway to the first 400 hundred fans, they even thought about some kind of stamp or clip with a no smoking message.

“But it’s not really that fun,” Oudekerk said before Roberts could add: “And it’s not really for young kids.”

Back to the idea board.

“We want to give some exposure to entrepreneurship and how businesses create new products,” Bowyer said. “This is a fun project. It’ll be interesting to see what they come up with.”

But students won’t be going through the product development process blind. They’ll have plenty of mentorship along the way.

During the week, students will meet with area entrepreneurs such as Mike Nolan, who is involved in several business ventures, and representatives from Angie’s Kettlecorn, Inta Juice and TechPlus. Students also play a computer-based business game called “Titan” in which teams take a product in its conceptual phase and develop marketing and development strategies to maximize profits.

“We want to reach kids in junior high,” Bowyer said. “With the technology these days, these kids are the next generation.”

This is the pilot year of Bowyer’s program — made possible through a grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. He said he hopes to expand the program and include more students next year.