Boston-based Fleet Financial Group has inked a
multiyear deal to become an official sponsor of MLB and the
'99 All-Star Game, making it the first bank to become a
national sponsor of any of the four major sports leagues
(See THE DAILY, 3/22). Fleet will continue its sponsorship
agreements with both the Red Sox and Yankees. To support
the partnership, Fleet will launch a marketing campaign
around the theme, "Fleet Keeps Baseball Going," which will
include TV, radio, print, outdoor, in-stadium and transit
ads. Fleet will bring a traveling baseball clinic featuring
former MLBers to communities throughout New England, NY and
NJ. Fleet will also launch a major marketing effort prior
to the July 13 All-Star Game in Boston. As part of its MLB
tie, Fleet also signed Red Sox SS Nomar Garciaparra as an
endorser of Fleet All-Stars, a program which rewards kids
for community service (Fleet Financial Group).
I'M BAD, I'M NATIONWIDE: In Boston, Gregg Krupa puts
the deal at $4-6M over three years and writes that Fleet's
"recently announced intention to merge" with BankBoston made
the MLB deal "more attractive." Fleet Chair & COO Terrence
Murray: "It makes even more sense now, having announced our
intentions with BankBoston. We are even more of a national
bank with national customers. Sponsoring [MLB] is more
evidence of how we are to play at that level." But "to
create exclusivity," Fleet and MLB "had to squeeze into a
niche adjacent to" John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance, MLB's
financial services sponsor. Observers said the John Hancock
deal "likely lowered, at least somewhat," the value and cost
of the Fleet deal, and the bank will not tout any of its
investment services via the MLB partnership (BOSTON GLOBE,
4/13). Fleet spokesperson James Mahoney: "We do a lot of
business across the country, so when people become aware of
the fact we are the official sponsor of [MLB] that has a
certain connotation to it that supports our brand." In
Providence, Lynn Arditi reports while Fleet will have new
signs in Fenway Park for today's opener, Hill Holiday, its
Boston-based ad agency, is "doing marketing research to
figure out whether ... Fleet should get a new name" after
the merger with BankBoston (Providence JOURNAL, 4/13).
