The Milwaukee Brewers have renewed 95 percent of the club’s business sponsors for the coming season — compared with 80 percent in recent years — and have added several new sponsors to the lineup.
In addition, the team is close to finalizing a new agreement with its largest sponsor, Miller Brewing Co. The Milwaukee brewer, which paid $40 million for the naming rights of Miller Park, is expected to sign a seven-year agreement that would significantly increase its sponsorship.
Brewers management also is negotiating with several local companies for the naming rights to the new right-field picnic area opening this season, said Rick Schlesinger, executive vice president of business operations. He expects to complete the deal by early in the season, which starts in April.
The buzz created by the team’s success in 2005, its first non-losing season in more than a decade, has ignited interest in the local and national business community, he said.
“We’re seeing the strongest interest in being involved with the team since I’ve been here,” said Schlesinger, who joined the Brewers in 2003. “We are working on some national accounts that normally only look at Chicago or Minneapolis.”
The team also expanded its marketing department, adding Tom Hecht, who was hired as vice president of marketing after being director of corporate sales for the Phoenix Suns for three years, and two others.
The sponsorship renewals include Badger Mutual Insurance Co., Northwestern Mutual, Goodwill Industries and M&I Bank, all of Milwaukee; Kohl’s Corp., Menomonee Falls; and Ashley Furniture, Arcadia.
New sponsors include McDonald’s Corp., Deerfield, Ill.; West Bend Mutual Insurance Co., West Bend; Milwaukee County; and Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Madison.
Schlesinger declined to disclose the financial details of the sponsorships. In a typical Milwaukee-area deal, the annual cost of the sponsorships ranges from $25,000 for a small signage package to more than $800,000 for a major sponsor deal.
Mark Kass writes for The Business Journal in Milwaukee, an affiliated publication.
