MLB this season is sporting 34 sponsors at the league level, including four new brands for the 2024 season (plus GEICO returning for a full season deal), reports SBJ's David Broughton.
BlueForge Alliance, BlueTriton, New York Life and WM (signed earlier this week) are the new brands this year, taking on the submarine manufacturing, water, financial guidance and sustainability categories, respectively.
Gone from MLB’s sponsor roster this year is Taco Bell, who has run the “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” promo during the World Series for years. Taco Bell had been with the league since 2004 (the brand only had postseason QSR rights; Dairy Queen remains with the league with regular-season QSR rights).
Also not returning this year are Scotts (lawn care since 2010), Hankook (tires since 2018), Hyperice (recovery tech since 2020), Constellation Brands' Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi (wine since 2020) and Citrix (workspace/app delivery since 2021).
A-B InBev (Budweiser) remains MLB’s oldest sponsor, dating back to the 1980 season.
The addition of a new sponsor in a "non-traditional category" is also "imminent" for MLB, a source tells SBJ. The source added that MLB sponsorship revenue is "up again" year-over-year, primarily due to almost all of the new deals this year having a higher average annual value than the brand deals that did not return.
