Talkin’ Baseball: Giants, Mariners Renew Major Partners

Giants Extend BofA Deal, Closing In On Visa

The MLB Giants and Bank of America have extended and expanded their longtime partnership under a new, six-year deal maintaining BofA’s status as the official bank of the team and SBC Park through 2010. The agreement increases BofA’s involvement with some of the Giants’ community programs and Hispanic marketing initiatives. The company will serve as presenting sponsor of Junior Giants baseball — the main program of the Giants Community Fund. Also, BofA will advertise on the Giants Spanish Language radio broadcasts, remain title sponsor of the Business Center at SBC Park, have nine ATMs around SBC Park, have increased signage presence around the ballpark, and sponsor various in-park promotions and game day events (Giants). Giants COO Larry Baer indicated that the deal is “significantly larger than the existing deal,” which sources said paid the Giants about $1M annually over the past five years. Meanwhile, SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL’s Russell Adams reports the Giants are also “close to completing a five-year extension with Visa.” Both Visa and BofA are among the 15 Winner’s Circle sponsors the team signed before it opened the new ballpark in ’00 (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/10).

SEATTLE SOUNDS: The Mariners have renewed sponsorship agreements with four corporate partners — Anheuser-Busch, Boeing, Redhook and U.S. Bank. All four of the renewals are for three years and include signage at Safeco Field. Other features include sponsorship of in-game programs, retail promotions and giveaways at the ballpark (Mariners).