Reds Struggling To Find Sponsors For Great American Ball Park

Reds Looking For Company To Sponsor Smokestack Towers

The economic recession's "grip on advertising budgets is playing out in the signs and sponsorships inside" Great American Ball Park, according to John Eckberg of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. The Reds said that ad revenues are "up 4[%] this year over last, partly because of multi-year deals signed" in '06. But "plenty of spots are still up for grabs," and advertisers "can choose from an inventory of options that's about 25[%] larger than when" Reds Owner Bob Castellini bought the team in '06. A 14-by-18 inch space on the wall behind home plate at the ballpark "may be among the top advertising opportunities in the Midwest." But the spot, which has an asking price of $500,000 for the season, is "still looking for an advertising sponsor." Media strategy agency Inside Media Founder Robert Riggsbee said that "each of 35 static signs in the seating bowl commands a six-figure commitment for the season." An additional six ad boards that "rotate and were created with television cameras in mind" are "sold by the half inning." Two smokestack towers in center field, which were formerly outfitted in Pepsi blue, also are available because Coca-Cola is the "official soft drink in the ballpark." Coca-Cola has "opted not to sponsor the towers," and Reds VP/Corporate Sales Bill Reinberger said that the team is "asking $200,000 to sponsor the iconic stacks." Meanwhile, the Reds' grounds crew has "found a sponsor: Scotts Lawn Care." Crew members will "wear Scotts uniforms and drag mats with the Scotts logo" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 3/1).

HOME IMPROVEMENTS: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Don Muret reports the Reds have "revamped a portion of their club seat program at Great American Ball Park, developing an all-inclusive ticket package for 1,650 seats." The project "includes $2.5[M] in physical improvements, paid for by concessionaire Delaware North Sportservice." The money "went to renovate and rebrand the ballpark's largest indoor hospitality space, a 13,000-square-foot lounge midlevel behind first base, and build outdoor club boxes down the right-field line." The lounge, which had originally been called the Fox Sports Ohio Club 4192, "has been rethemed and renamed the Fox Sports Ohio Champions Club to celebrate the Reds' five World Series titles" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/2 issue).