The D'Backs Thursday "will hold the club’s first Most Valuable Partner Awards, a black-tie gala complete with song-and-dance numbers, a red carpet and celebrity award presenters," according to Eric Fisher of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The event, "patterned after the Oscars," will be emceed by D'Backs President & CEO Derrick Hall. Awards "will be presented to team sponsors in seven categories, including marketing activation, brand integration, top new partner and community involvement." The winners’ trophies, called the DBs, "will be presented in part by a group of current and former players, including Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grace and Chris Young." The event is scheduled to be held at the Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino in Chandler, Ariz., just outside Phoenix. About 300 people are slated to attend, "roughly twice the turnout for the team’s prior annual sponsor summits." D'Backs Exec VP/Business Operations Cullen Maxey said, "We're getting people for this we simply wouldn't have otherwise." Fisher reports the event "will showcase top examples of sponsor activity during the past year, not unlike what prior summits would have covered." But by "turning the gathering from a corporate retreat into an awards ceremony, the Diamondbacks are introducing a competitive element the team hopes will motivate sponsors to pursue more aggressive activations." Hall: "We want the DBs to be something that our sponsors want to win" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/16 issue).
