MLB posts a fat offseason batting average

This comes as we’re not quite sure what constitutes a sponsorship deal at “Our National Pastime” these days in terms of the ratio of traditional and digital media to intellectual property and other intangible assets. But this offseason’s haul was strong, and includes some of MLB’s largest and most tenured corporate patrons.

MasterCard has been an MLB corporate sponsor since 1997, when it broke the “Priceless” campaign with a baseball-themed spot on the World Series; Bank of America has been on the league’s roster since 2004, or since 1997 if you count MBNA, which BofA acquired in 2005. Chevrolet has been on board since 2005.

MasterCard, shown being used for Apple Pay at the ballpark, has been with MLB since 1997. Photo by: GETTY IMAGES

At press time, we were told that while some of the digital and MLB Network media with which MLB deals are laden these days are still being completed, all the other deals are essentially done, with BofA and Chevrolet committing to another five years each.

Chevy’s pact includes MLBAM assets for the first time, something that’s de rigueur under the current “one baseball” regime.

MasterCard, which recently activated its national rights largely as a cause-related platform, will join with BofA to promote its affinity payment cards. MasterCard also gets presenting sponsorship to the All-Star Game on July 12 in San Diego, which tells us its marketing support of the Midsummer Classic will be more robust than it has been in some time.

Since the financial meltdown of the late 2000s, BofA has also used its national rights for cause-related platforms, including an “Express Your Thanks” campaign aimed at the military. Under the new deal, there will be more direct commercial exploitation, and we’re told that the financial institution’s nostalgia-laden “Memory Bank” campaign will continue.

While in recent years MasterCard’s domestic sports strategy hasn’t been very clear, it’s not lost on us that BofA is one of MasterCard’s biggest issuers.

Jack Morton is Chevrolet’s longtime sports sponsorship agency. Octagon has handled MasterCard and BofA’s sports marketing efforts for decades.

> APPLE WATCH: The presence of Apple iPads in MLB dugouts, which we first observed during the end of the 2015 regular season and in the postseason, will roll out across baseball this season, including some franchises adopting use of the tablets widely across team operations. In purest sponsorship terms, that means Apple will have wireless exclusivity across dugouts and bullpens.

For most other brands, we’d expect the commercial quid pro quo to be branded dugouts and bullpens. Since the last thing Apple needs is branding, expect some digital and media storytelling as the season progresses. From a larger perspective, the virtual ties that bind Apple and MLB are surely no ordinary property/sponsor relationship.

Consequently, tracking them will present a template for the sponsorship strategy of the new MLB regime. As the tech-fueled sponsorship strategies play out, it will be interesting to keep an eye on the success and acceptance of iPads within MLB versus Microsoft’s massive deal with the NFL, which put Surface tablets on pro football sidelines in 2014.

> COMING & GOINGS: Eric Gelfand departs Legends, where he’s been senior vice president of communications and brand strategy since 2012, for a similar role and title with the New York Jets. Gelfand also worked for SCP Worldwide and MSG. … Brian Corcoran’s Shamrock Sports & Entertainment is moving firmly into the cause-related space with the installation of original board member Carl Hansson as president and chief operating officer, while Corcoran moves from president to CEO. “Cause is where a lot of the sponsorship industry is heading,” Corcoran said, noting Shamrock’s agency-of-record work for the Invictus Games, a Paralympics-style event for injured or sick military personnel and veterans, which will be held at Disney’s ESPN Wide World Sports Complex in May.

Terry Lefton can be reached at tlefton@sportsbusinessjournal.com.