Yankees' World Series DVD Premieres To Sold-Out Crowd In N.Y.

(l to r) Cashman, Kearney And Girardi Pose With World Series Trophy At Premiere

MLB Productions last night premiered the '09 World Series film at 21 New York-area movie theaters, including a sold-out Ziegfeld Theatre in Manhattan, with the cinema distribution quadrupling that for last year's film in Philadelphia. The DVD of the film is now available at retail, and a larger collector's edition with each World Series game in full will be released December 15. MLB Productions developed the movie theatre screening component in partnership with cinema marketing outfit Screenvision and league sponsor MasterCard. "The fact we're in so many more theaters this year speaks to this market being larger, our relationship with Screenvision now in its second year and continuing to grow, and the fact we're desirable content for these theatres," said MLB Productions VP/Programming & Business Affairs Elizabeth Scott. "There are plenty of fans here who probably wish the (November 6) parade still wasn't over, and this is like adding a little coda to the parade." The movie theatre screenings, slated as a one-night effort for last night, sold more than 2,200 advance-sale tickets, and the per-screen average of more than 100 people is more than twice the typical turnout for the theaters on a Monday night. "Sports are a powerful draw, and it's programs like these, being in a big room with other people, that really recreate that feeling of being there," said Screenvision President & CEO Matthew Kearney. Screenvision in recent years has staged similar events around films for other recent sports team champions, including the Celtics and Steelers, has partnered with the Mets for its "Mets At The Movies" effort, and now has the capability to show live sports in more than 300 theaters through various exhibitors.

STAR-STUDDED EVENT: The Manhattan red-carpet screening of the film drew Yankees GM Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi, as well as several senior MLB execs, including President & COO Bob DuPuy and Exec VP/Business Tim Brosnan. The film itself covers similar ground as other World Series highlights films, though when chronicling the Yankees' early season struggles in '09, it does not mention 3B Alex Rodriguez's high-profile admission in February of steroid use while playing for the Rangers in '01-03 (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal). In N.Y., Jack Curry notes while no Yankees players attended the event, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, TV personality Barbara Walters and actor Timothy Busfield "walked the red carpet." MLB in '04 premiered the Red Sox' World Series film at the Wang Theater in Boston, and "since then, every championship team has held a similar premiere" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/24).