The “most notable” new sponsor for the D’Backs this season is Ram Trucks, which “takes over sponsorship of the high-profile swimming pool behind right field” at Chase Field, according to Max Jarman of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The automaker will sponsor “the RamTrucks.TV Pool, the 8,500-gallon tank and adjoining hot tub.” It replaces RideNow Powersports, a "boat, ATV and motorcycle dealer that sponsored the pool for the past three seasons.” This season there are “about 95 sponsors whose names are attached in various ways to the Diamondbacks organization,” and that is “significantly fewer than five years ago, when around 125 entities were officially connected with the club.” D’Backs President & CEO Derrick Hall said, "We were selling every corner of the ballpark and a few years ago decided it was too much." Jarman noted there are “now are 200 fewer signs at the ballpark than there were five years ago.” Hall said that by focusing on the bigger sponsors, the club “was able to boost sponsorship revenue even with fewer contracts.” He estimated that sponsorship revenue “is up 45 percent from five years ago.” Sponsorship agreements “account for about 20 percent of the club's $160 million in annual revenue.” Meanwhile, Jarman noted the Univ. of Phoenix “underwrote the Diamondbacks' Evening on the Diamond fundraising gala Friday, which raised an estimated $7.1 million for Arizona-based charities” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/1).
NEW DAY IS DAWNING: The D'Backs are entering their 15th season, and in Phoenix, Dan Bickley wrote the D’Backs “have momentum, likable players, restored credibility, great leadership and the best spring-training facility in baseball.” Their financial outlook also “has brightened considerably.” The D’Backs in ’09 and ’10 “lost 189 games and much of the public trust.” Hall said, "I blame myself. I was so extremely focused on the fan experience and the corporate culture that I was blind to what was happening on the field. Those two seasons were some of the worst baseball I've ever seen." But Bickley wrote, “After all the infighting and battle scars, a new day is dawning for the Diamondbacks.” Managing Partner Ken Kendrick “believes that Phoenix can emerge as a great baseball town, just like Boston, New York, Chicago and St. Louis.” Kendrick: "I'll tell you why. The NFL is going to face incredible challenges with the violence in their game, and the health hazards it has created for players. They have real problems. I don't want to say the NFL isn't dramatically popular. But if I was in the NFL, I would be a lot more worried about my sport than if I were in baseball holding the same position" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 4/1).
