While advertisers "have mostly been asleep" during the
pursuit of Roger Maris' single-season HR record, MLB
sponsors MasterCard and Pepsi are "maneuvering" to get Cubs
RF Sammy Sosa and Cardinals 1B Mark McGwire in the same ad
campaign, according to USA TODAY's Bruce Horovitz.
MasterCard has "big plans" for a TV spot about the HR chase,
featuring film footage of both McGwire and Sosa, but it has
been "unable to obtain the litany of approvals it needs to
air the spot." Pepsi began airing a national spot this past
weekend featuring Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr., but not McGwire
since he "hasn't given his approval." Horovitz adds,
however, that Pepsi does have a McGwire spot "ready to roll"
(USA TODAY, 8/31). Whoever breaks Maris' HR record could
land more than $25M in single-season endorsements, according
to Rick Burton, Dir of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at
the Univ. of OR. Burton adds that if the run "stalls at 58
or 59 homers ... McGwire will still have a strong position
in the corporate endorsement game," and that Sosa will also
"do well, particularly in Latin America" (THE DAILY).
ON THE BALL: The Shop At Home network has offered the
fan who catches the baseball that breaks Maris' record
$250,000. Shop at Home President & CEO Kent Lillie said the
company will use the ball for "business purposes" and then
donate it to the Baseball Hall of Fame (ST. LOUIS POST-
DISPATCH, 8/30). Also in St. Louis, All-Star Sportscards
Owner Howard Soll estimated the value of the record-breaking
ball will "start at around" $1M, while "some have said" it
could be closer to $2M (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/30).
NO BIG MACS: In Orlando, Dave Cunningham reported that
McGwire has never eaten a McDonald's Big Mac. McGwire: "I've
never had one in my whole life. I've never touched one."
He hasn't eaten at a McDonald's since high school (ORLANDO
SENTINEL, 8/30)....In Chicago, Mike Kiley reported that Sosa
may "appear on the Howard Stern radio show," but that he
"has concerns about Stern probing into his personal life"
(SUN-TIMES, 8/30). For more on the HR chase, see (#7).
