Facebook games are an expansion of an existing three-year sponsorship the brand has with the CubsGETTY IMAGES
The Cubs have signed a deal with Biofreeze in which the pain reliever brand will be the exclusive sponsor of the club’s upcoming 10-game slate of games shown on Facebook. The package of games, beginning tomorrow, are simulcasts of over-the-air broadcasts with WLS-ABC. The 10 Cubs Facebook games, geofenced to the Chicago market, are an increase from four such games last year and are separate from MLB’s national-level deal with Facebook. Financial terms for the Biofreeze-Cubs agreement were not disclosed, though team execs called it a “significant partnership.” The sponsorship of the Facebook games are an expansion of an existing three-year, multi-million dollar sponsorship the brand has with the club. The agreement was brokered between the Cubs’ Marquee Sports & Entertainment and Biofreeze. “We see this effort on Facebook as a next generation of Cubs programming, and are really pleased to have Biofreeze step up like this,” said Cubs President of Business Operations Crane Kenney. Biofreeze has produced creams, sprays and gels for pain relief for 25 years, distributing through health care professionals, but only started selling its products at retail in late ’16. The brand has relationships with the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Giants in addition to the Cubs, and has eyed sports as a key component of its marketing strategy. “These team relationships, and this Facebook initiative with the Cubs in particular, really hit the bullseye of our consumer targets of active doers, people who are have out-of-home experiences and are consuming media out of the home,” said Mike McGoohan, CMO for Performance Health, parent company of Biofreeze. “We’ve already seen big jumps in our brand recall.”
