The champagne bottles used by the Pirates Tuesday night to celebrate clinching their second consecutive playoff berth will "soon be up for sale to fans who want to own a piece of the celebration," according to Michael Sanserino of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Pirates Senior Dir of Communications Brian Warecki said that the bottles and corks "were authenticated" by MLB and will be "sold as collector's items within the next week." The Pirates "did the same thing last season." Warecki anticipates this year’s bottles "will retail for about $50 and the corks will retail for about $15." He said that the Pirates "plan to remove all brand logos from their bottles and attach a commemorative postseason logo." The items "will be available at Pirates.com/authentics or, if the Pirates play host to a playoff game, at the Hunt Auctions booth on the lower concourse of PNC Park." Elsewhere, the Orioles are "auctioning empty bottles of Cook’s brut" from their AL East Championship celebration starting at $100, with the corks going for $25. The Angels are "auctioning empty bottles from their AL West party for $180" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 9/25).
CHARMED LIFE: Orioles VP/Corporate Partnerships Marco Gentile said that the team is "generating triple the sponsorship revenue" for next week's ALDS compared with '12. In Baltimore, Sarah Meehan noted many of the sponsors that have "signed on to advertise during the playoffs are local -- a mix of companies that previously sponsored the Orioles and newcomers." Most of the deals for playoff sponsors are "already in the works, and sponsors have contingency plans based on how far the team goes" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 9/24).
