Coca-Cola "rejected the Yankees' demand for around $12
million over three years to continue as the club's official
soft drink," according to Stefan Fatsis of the WALL STREET
JOURNAL. The offer is "nearly five times as much" as the
company's current deal and "more than double" MLB's highest
soft-drink deal -- Coca-Cola's $1.6M per year pact with the
Braves. Coca-Cola VP/Marketing Steve Koonin: "[T]he math
just doesn't work at this level." Coca-Cola has already
made "significant cutbacks in sports," such as reducing its
NFL spending and dropping several MLB teams, including the
Mets and Angels. Coca-Cola has been "demanding more
visibility for its money," like the "giant Coke bottle atop
a company-themed outfield pavilion" at Turner Field. Coca-
Cola said the Yankees deal gives it "only the right to sell
its product and post billboards around Yankee Stadium."
Fatsis adds that if Coca-Cola opts out of the deal, Pepsi
"likely would fill the spot, as it did with the Mets and
Angels." Pepsi's All-Sport is already the Yankees' official
sports drink (Stefan Fatsis, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/19).
