A-B, MasterCard Among Those Dropping WBC Sponsorships
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MasterCard, An '06 WBC Global Sponsor, Not
Renewing For '09 |
Anheuser-Busch and MasterCard, two official sponsors of MLB, "won't return as sponsors" of the '09 World Baseball Classic (WBC), according to Danielle Sessa of BLOOMBERG NEWS. MasterCard had been one of two global partners of the inaugural WBC in '06, along with Japan-based video game company Konami, while A-B was a partner in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. A-B VP/Media, Sponsorship & Activation Dan McHugh in an e-mail said that the company in lieu of sponsoring the tournament chose "instead to focus on its existing deals including ones with MLB and 26 individual clubs." McHugh: "We've taken a hard look at every sponsorship in our portfolio as part of a larger plan for long-term, strategic growth." MLB VP/Business PR Matt Bourne said that instead of A-B, the event "will have five beer sponsors, with Asahi in Japan, Presidente in Latin America and three more to be named." Bourne: "We are very satisfied with our sponsorship in the beer category. Our strategy from the start has been to focus on regional sales in certain categories.” Sessa reported PepsiCo, also an official MLB sponsor, "may also skip the second edition of the tournament," as the company "targeted Venezuela in the first tournament and may not return." PepsiCo's Catherine Marquette, who handles Pepsi's MLB partnership, said of the '09 WBC, "I don't believe it's in our plans. It's not been one of the priority points." Meanwhile, Konami will "return next year as a sponsor in Asia." But Burger King spokesperson Lauren Kuzniar said that the company, which is not an official MLB sponsor, is "not coming back" for the '09 WBC. The '06 WBC had "at least 26 sponsors," but Bourne said that sponsorship revenue "is up" from the inaugural event (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 12/22).
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