Fox Sports Media Group Exec VP/Marketing Robert Gottlieb said that Yankees SS Derek Jeter was "a natural to star in a new national ad campaign urging viewers to tune in" for FS1's live coverage of MLB games every Saturday, according to Michael McCarthy of AD AGE. The new spot starring Jeter will "air heavily this week around coverage" of Opening Day. The spot, created by FS1's creative agency, Pereira & O'Dell, N.Y., likens Jeter "to another famous captain -- William Shatner of Star Trek -- and features fellow MLB superstars" such as Red Sox DH David Ortiz. Rather than the "usual game footage of stars bashing baseballs or making great catches, the ads take a humorous approach." Viewers see Ortiz "eating cookies baked by Grandma in the stands," Angels CF Mike Trout "grinning in the dugout" and Angels LF Josh Hamilton "tipping his cap." The theme of the spot is that the "best day of the week just got better with the Saturday baseball games on FS1." Gottlieb said the FS1 ads will serve primarily as an "awareness campaign." He added, "People don't know, necessarily, that Fox Sports 1 is going to be broadcasting baseball. So we really wanted to make something that communicated, very clearly, Saturday Baseball on Fox Sports 1 as a destination. We definitely wanted to use baseball star players to help carry the mail for us and deliver the message. But we wanted to cut through the clutter. And do something other than clips of baseball players, which can kind of get lost in the wash." Gottlieb said that Pereira is "working up two other new commercials in the same light-hearted vein." The future spots will feature other stars, including Rangers 1B Prince Fielder, Blue Jays RF Jose Bautista and Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia (
ADAGE.com, 3/31).
