After signing on as sponsor of the Boston Marathon for 10
years, the Boston-based company is "selectively chasing more and
more playing fields upon which to spread its famous signature,"
according to Michael Silverman in today's BOSTON HERALD. The new
sports exposure begins next June when John Hancock Financial
Services will be the primary sponsor of the U.S. Gymnastics
Olympic Trials at the new FleetCenter, and next summer, when it
sponsors the Junior World Baseball Championships at Fenway Park
and on Cape Cod. It all culminates in '96 with their sponsorship
of the '96 Games in Atlanta. The company is also considering
sponsorship of the '99 Ryder Cup, which will be held at The
Country Club in Brookline, MA, and is involved with efforts to
pry the Big East basketball tournament from Madison Square Garden
and bring it to FleetCenter. John Hancock Senior Exec VP/Retail
David D'Alessandro: "Hancock is focusing primarily on amateur
sports vs. professional. We try to do sponsorships that are
inclined towards helping athletes directly. ... We're much less
inclined to use corporate funds to make professional athletes a
lot richer. We'll do it of course, but that's not the primary
use." Last year, John Hancock spent about $15M on sports
sponsorships. For the same period, the No. 1 sports sponsor,
Philip Morris, spent about $110-115M. D'Alessandro, on Hancock
did not buy the naming rights to new Boston Garden: "We had a
chance to sponsor the FleetCenter and make it the Hancock Center,
but that didn't make any sense to us. It makes a lot of sense to
Fleet because they're a regional player. ... It makes no sense
for us as a national player because you get very little national
play out of it." As for not being involved with the Boston
Olympic Committee's efforts to bring the 2004 games to Boston,
D'Alessandro said their local strategy is to bring national
events to Boston on a regular basis, such as the NHL All-Star
Game or the Big East tournament, not just one big event (BOSTON
HERALD, 4/12).
