MLB, GM Officially Announce Three-Year Partnership

By Terry Lefton, Editor-at-Large, SportsBusiness Daily

General Motors’ Dewar (l) & Tihanyi With MLB’s DuPuy & Brosnan (r)

MLB officially took the lid off a three-year sponsorship for General Motors’ Chevrolet brand at a press conference Wednesday in N.Y. The deal, under which Chevy becomes the official vehicle of MLB, includes media on MLB TV rights holders ESPN and Fox. Neither MLB nor GM execs would confirm or deny the $50M figure for the deal supplied by two agencies associated with the auto manufacturer. Chevrolet was an official MLB sponsor from ’85-96. Currently, GM has MLB team deals with the Cubs, Reds, Tigers, Mets, Phillies, Pirates and Padres, and a local spend requirement will have it with 13 total team deals later this year. As part of the agreement, Chevrolet will underwrite a grass-roots program starting around the All-Star Game, supporting baseball and diversity. Chevy will also be the presenting sponsor of MVP awards at the All-Star Game and World Series. As with the sponsorship GM’s Cadillac brand has with the NFL, the winners will be presented with a car following those games and Chevy cars will have presence on field following the games. This year, the MLB All-Star Game is in Detroit. “That wasn’t what drove the deal, but it’s nice the stars aligned,” said GM Dir of Marketing Alliances Steve Tihanyi.

NO IMPACT FROM STEROID HEARING: While MLB has been dragged through the muck lately with steroid allegations and last week’s Congressional hearing, all commercial indicators are up. MLB Exec VP/Business Tim Brosnan said total ticket sales are up 8% from a year ago, and 28 of 30 clubs are experiencing increases from last year. GM is the latest in a series of new sponsors that are showing their faith in MLB as a marketing platform. Also new to the fold are Wheaties, The Home Depot and DHL. “To have GM, one of the biggest companies in the world, put their support behind us and say we believe in the strength of Major League Baseball, speaks volumes,” said MLB President & COO Bob DuPuy. Added Tihanyi, “We’re very confident Major League Baseball has taken the steps to do what it needs to do with respect to its players. ... We didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about that.”

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