Fox has "sold out its ad inventory in and around next week’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game, moving spots at a high single-digit percentile increase versus last year’s rates," according to Anthony Crupi of ADWEEK. Sources said that Fox has "priced in-game 30-second spots at around $550,000 a pop, this despite the formidable challenge of having to compete with NBC’s Olympics for sponsor dollars." The most active categories, as in previous years, are "automotive and financial services." QSRs "also played a key role in Fox’s All-Star sellout." The "usual suspects will be well represented throughout the broadcast," including official MLB sponsors A-B InBev, GM, State Farm, MasterCard, Pepsi and Taco Bell. Chevrolet will be the presenting sponsor of the pre- and postgame shows. In non-Olympics years, the MLB All-Star Game is "always the highest-rated television event of the summer" (ADWEEK.com, 7/2).
THROWING MUSCLE BEHIND ITS PROMOTION: In this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, John Ourand reports Fox is undertaking the "most extensive promotional push the broadcaster has ever put behind" the All-Star Game. The push includes promos in Fox entertainment shows and a "30-second roadblock" across most of Fox' networks just before 8:00pm ET on July 10 that alerts viewers to the start of the game. Fox News, FX, Speed, Big Ten Network, Fuel TV, Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus and FoxSports.com "have committed to be part of the roadblock." All of Fox' live events, "including UFC matches, NASCAR races and soccer games, are carrying billboards that say, 'Presented by the MLB All-Star Game.'" Fox will add All-Star Game watermarks "to its prime-time shows this week" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/2 issue).
