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Subway Series Query: Will Sponsors Ride Back? - Brief Article

Brandweek, Oct 30, 2000 by Terry Lefton

With the Subway Series dominating the conversation of sports enthusiasts, it seems appropriate to check in on the state of marketing at what no one seems to call our national pastime anymore. Having switched from a cadre of smaller shops to FCB, San Francisco, it's safe to say Major League Baseball's advertising will change dramatically especially with the upcoming re-launch of the MLB site.

"All I can tell you is that it will be a lot different and that we were really impressed with FCB's handle on what the MLB brand is and what it can be," said ad director Jacqueline Parkes. New creative could start as soon as early 2001, with the bulk pushing the Web site relaunch.

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On the corporate side, what appears to be less than automatic re-ups with Gatorade, Gillette, Anheuser-Busch and MasterCard loom. The payment card brand is looking for vastly expanded Internet marketing rights as part of its package, including smart card technology, a national ticket sales platform from MLB.com, where tickets purchased via MasterCard would get 25% off the handling charge, along with a family ticket package.

Still, with MBNA renewing for five years, it's hard to see MasterCard walking away from MLB when its biggest issuer hasn't. The larger question is whether and when MLB will appoint a senior exec to oversee corporate sponsorship sales.

MLB has been without a sponsorship chief since former vp Tom Worcester left for the Quokka/NBC joint venture in April 1999. Subsequently director of corporate sponsorships David Ball left for Pogo.com. As it ponders its next move, MLB is also working toward an integrated effort that would combine sales of events, sponsorship and interactive rights for the first time. So whoever gets the top job would oversee a much larger revenue pie. MLB evp Tim Brosnan has told individual team marketers that he intends to choose one from among their ranks; the Mets' Mark Bingham and the Padres' Mike Dees are among the names that have been whispered in the halls of MLB's Park Ave. offices.

On the international side of the house, insurer AIU and Japanese telecom giant N'IT are in as top sponsors of an eight-game MLB All-Star tour of Japan that runs Nov. 3-12 in Tokyo, Fukuoka, Osaka and Nagoya against Japanese All-Stars. Since the game is off American soil, uniform advertising is part of the package. NTT will get a logo on batting helmets, while AIU (which goes by AIG here) gets a sleeve patch.

ESPN2 will broadcast four of the games. Meanwhile, International chief Paul Archey says MLB will likely open outside the Continental U.S. again next season with games in an Hispanic market. MLB began the 2000 season in Japan with games between the Mets and Cubs.

Ticket trials: A brief poll of various MLB execs revealed that among the many people who came out of the woodwork to badger them for tickets during the Subway Series were "my third-grade teacher, the dentist that did my root canal, my accountant five years ago, Richard Dreyfuss and Britney Spears' brother". Enough said?

Miller is back as sponsor of SuperBowl.com for the second consecutive year on behalf of its Lite brand, in a deal sources said was a double-digit increase over last year's low seven-figure contract. SuperBowl.com, linked to Miller.com and NFL.com, is already up with a hard launch expected later this month. "The site was originally sponsored by technology brands, like Lycos and IBM, so we're hoping this means mainstream marketers are seeing how much value there is here," said NFL svp-new media Chris Russo. There will be more archival info and more video streaming ahead too. Last January, the site attracted 1.9 million unique visitors. In other sports interactive news, kids participatory sports site Myteam.com is scooping up competitors as the dot-coin squeeze continues. The Woburn, Mass., site bought sports instructional site Mysportsguru.com. The move gets it much-needed content and the services of a top sales exec in former Octagon head Harlan Stone. Myteam is also close to purchasing its biggest competitor, Eteamz.com.

Extra innings: Tom Richardson, president-NHL Interactive Cyber Enterprise, is leaving for a senior spot at SpencerStuart in Stam-ford, Conn., to helm an interactive unit ... Eric Schulz to vp-event marketing for the XFL. He was an independent consultant and worked for Coke on their 1996 Olympics efforts.

Advertising Industry

Subway Series Query: Will Sponsors Ride Back? - Brief Article

Brandweek, Oct 30, 2000 by Terry Lefton

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