With the postseason in full swing, Major League Baseball’s corporate partners are finalizing their activation efforts.
This time of year is also important off the diamond, since it’s the first inning of MLB’s sales season. Pending renewals include Firestone, in the fifth year of its original deal; Taco Bell, a sponsor since 2004; and Bayer, a corporate sponsor since 2008. We’ll be surprised if the first two don’t get completed, but Bayer seems iffy. Its MLB activation has been scaled back of late, and it’s still struggling with the $14.2 billion acquisition of Merck’s consumer brands, like Claritin (a former MLB sponsor) and Coppertone.
On the new-business front, Chris Marciani, MLB vice president of national sales, said the league is looking hard at new categories, including packaged goods, travel, insurance, personal care and home improvement.
Among the existing sponsor base, as has been the case for the past two years in which they have been a sponsor, T-Mobile looks like one of the most active. New advertising from the cell carrier includes a spot with reigning National League MVP Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates. T-Mobile is presenting sponsor of the ALCS coverage on TBS and will pay off its seasonlong “Game Changer Award,” determined by a seasonlong fan vote. Chevrolet will have vehicles on display at many postseason ballparks, and it also sponsors the World Series MVP award and the Roberto Clemente Award for sportsmanship and community involvement.
 |
| Majestic’s “Always October” dugout hoodie |
Anheuser-Busch has ad buys across all MLB rights holders and will devote some of its MLB postseason air time to the new “Friends Are Waiting” responsible drinking spot. Otherwise, there will be the usual Budweiser branding and product integration within championship locker room celebrations, and the Clydesdales will be on-field during pregame at some postseason games.
Bank of America is sponsoring a mini-American flag giveaway at Game 1 of the World Series, to be used as part of a televised “Express Your Thanks” military appreciation moment. Taco Bell is sponsoring a wristband giveaway at Game 2 of the World Series.
International growth of the game (13 languages and 200-plus countries for the coming World Series telecasts) is catalyzing more postseason activation outside of the United States. Paul Archey, MLB senior vice president of international business operations, said the World Series will have five or six feeds with customized virtual signage. Among this year’s playoff teams, Detroit and San Francisco combine to feature 14 Venezuelan players, so BBVA is activating across thousands of locations there. Pepsi Mexico has an MLB promotion in 200 retailers across 57 cities. There also will be sponsored World Series viewing parties there along with in Brazil (for the first time), Australia, China, Japan and the Dominican Republic.
 |
| Ramp Sports’ licensed skis |
Archey said two names generating excitement in MLB offshore are Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher
Hyun-Jin Ryu, a South Korea native, and Baltimore Orioles pitcher
Wei-Yin Chen, who’s from Taiwan.
On the licensing side of the house, Howard Smith, senior vice president of licensing, said that sales bounced back from last year’s drop, aided by a Derek Jeter sales bonanza and banner merchandise years from the Orioles and Washington Nationals, as well as continuing improvement from the Pittsburgh Pirates. “All of those teams have become part of the national conversation,” Smith said.
New Era will continue with a patch on the side of on-field caps. Majestic’s dugout hoodies carry a variety of postseason tags, including the somewhat ironic “Always October” label when applied to postseason relative newcomer Kansas City.
> INCLINED TO LICENSE: They are unlikely to be used before the postseason ends, but the skis and snowboards from new MLB licensee Ramp Sports are an intriguing new use of MLB indicia, a product idea we expect will be borrowed by other large sports properties before winter comes and goes. Prices are $649 for the skis and $549 for snowboards. They initially will be available on both Ramp’s website and MLB.com sites, with availability within two to four weeks depending on the teams.
Mike Kilchenstein, who refers to himself as president and “CESnow” of the Park City, Utah-based company, said his company’s domestic manufacturing was key in securing the license, adding that he has some pending agreements via Collegiate Licensing Co. for college trademarks. Ramp previously had manufactured skis carrying the logos of popular consumer brands, like Budweiser.
“Baseball seemed natural, and we think there’s a potential for people that would use them as a decoration in a ski house,” Kilchenstein said, adding that he’s looking for distribution in ski shops and MLB team fan shops.
 |
Blaise D’Sylva, formerly of A-B, is now at the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
Photo by: MARC BRYAN-BROWN
|
> COMINGS & GOINGS: Former Anheuser-Busch entertainment and sports chief
Blaise D’Sylva has quietly resurfaced at another national beverage brand. He recently signed on as vice president of media and content planning at the
Dr Pepper Snapple Group in Plano, Texas, which owns the
Dr Pepper,
Snapple,
7Up,
RC Cola and other beverage trademarks. The group’s sponsorship portfolio includes a NASCAR team, MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL teams, and a presenting sponsorship for the new College Football Playoff championship trophy. D’Sylva’s compendium of media experience includes titles at ESPN, Allstate and Starcom. … Former NFL marketer
Eric Petrosinelli leaves
GroupM’s Entertainment & Sports Partnerships division, where he was executive vice president for the past two years, to join
Zebra Technologies as general manager for its Zebra Sports business. He’ll be based in New York City. Not coincidentally, Zebra’s RFID-based player-tracking systems are being installed at 17 NFL venues this season.
Terry Lefton can be reached at tlefton@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
