MLB, the Mets and the city of N.Y. today announced a series of plans for the July 16 All-Star Game at Citi Field, including the beginning of fan balloting and the Chevrolet-sponsored Red Carpet Parade that will traverse about six blocks on 42nd Street in Manhattan. Firestone returns as the exclusive sponsor of in-stadium fan balloting for the All-Star Game, while freecreditscore.com is a new entrant as the sponsor of the online balloting. Last year's All-Star Game balloting drew a record 40.2 million ballots, and league execs expect to surpass that number this year.
Also today, MLB announced plans for more than $4M in charitable initiatives related to the All-Star Game, in line with prior years. Mets 3B David Wright was named the official spokesman for the T-Mobile All-Star Game FanFest, while former Mets John Franco, Mookie Wilson and Edgardo Alfonzo were named MLB All-Star Ambassadors. A statue program similar to the Statue of Liberty figurines placed around the city for the '08 ASG at Yankee Stadium and re-imagined several times since in other ASG host cities, will be announced in the coming weeks.
N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the forthcoming MLB All-Star Game will be another in an accelerating run of major sports events in the N.Y. area, including Super Bowl XLVII, the NFL and NBA drafts, the '15 NBA All-Star Game, the opening of Barclays Center and the recurring U.S. Open and ING N.Y. Marathon. "This is further validation that New York is the sports capital of America," Bloomberg said. The mayor added he is not overly concerned about security threats, even with the inclusion of more open fan events such as the Red Carpet parade.
