The St. Petersburg Times has struck a deal to be a
"major" sponsor of the Devil Rays, according to Mark
Albright of the ST. PETE. TIMES. The four-year joint
marketing deal gives the Times exclusive rights among all
Florida print media to "several marketing and product
distribution opportunities" both with the team and at
Tropicana Field. As part of the deal, the Times will put
its newspaper racks at the stadium, and copies of the paper
and sister publication Florida Trend Magazine, will be
distributed free in each of the 65 luxury suites. The Times
joins WFLA Radio, Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, First Union and
Tropicana as major sponsors. The team has signed three
other major sponsors that have not been identified (ST.
PETE. TIMES, 2/17). The Devil Rays, "taking a somewhat
unorthodox approach," have also hired eight telemarketers to
find buyers for thousands of unsold season-tickets. The
team had planned to sell 27,000 season-tickets, but has only
sold about 19,000 -- 15,000 of those to people who had been
on waiting lists. The team also has begun a joint marketing
effort with the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce in an
effort to sell more season-tickets to Tampa-based companies
(TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/17).
BRAVES: In Atlanta, the CONSTITUTION's Tim Tucker notes
possible reasons why the team's move to Turner Field has not
brought a surge of season-ticket-buying interest. He notes
the difficulty of selling a stadium that six weeks before
the Opening Day is a "mudhole and construction zone," a
"feeling of exploitation" over a 34% increase in ticket
prices and that the Braves, "for all their success on the
field, are not perceived as the most endearing organization
off it" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 2/16).
MARLINS: Marlins President Don Smiley is interviewed
in an extensive piece in the Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL.
The team projects it will lose more than $31.9M in '97, even
if attendance reaches 29,475 a game. Smiley: "We are
certainly willing to stick with this business and provide
the best baseball and the best experience that we can for
the fans. But it is not a bottomless pit where it can just
go on forever" (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 2/18).
PADRES: The Padres are "reacting to public opinion" by
bringing back their "popular 'Swinging Friar'" logo, which
will appear on warm-up jackets and the sleeves of alternate
jerseys (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/16).
