What happens when you put the MLB All-Star Game in the largest market in the U.S. as well as Yankee Stadium’s final year? Look for the All-Star festivities to go down in history as the largest revenue making ASG in history.

As it currently stands, the entire six-week schedule encapsulating the All-Star Game is running at levels never seen before. When you throw in Jon Bon Jovi playing in Central Park as part of the All-Star Game (a prime sponsorship opportunity), and that fact that MLB is working to have every living member of the Hall of Fame attend as part of the pre-game ceremony, MLB may not see an opportunity like this for decades to come. As reported by the Sports Business Journal (subscription required):

The heavy hype is driving virtually all of baseball’s businesses to record-high revenue for the game in ad sales, merchandise, licensing and ticket sales.

For example, Fox’s ad sales inventory for the game is 85 percent sold and pacing 25 percent ahead of last year.

The highest price point for 30-second spots — the ones non-MLB sponsors pick up as one-off ad buys — has hit $550,000. Some of the remaining inventory could bring in as much as $600,000.

As reported prior, FOX and Turner are nearly sold out of their ad inventory leading up to the game, and are actually holding back inventory in some markets.

As for attendance for the multi-day event, MLB is expecting FanFest attendance to be in at approx. 150,000. SBJ reports that, “Tickets for the FanFest are selling 70 percent ahead of last year’s pace amid substantial price increases that pushed admission this year to $30 for adults and $25 for kids.” Thus showing that pricing tickets at between $150-$725 was well within the supply and demand market.

Thinking of picking up tickets on the secondary market? Get ready to shell out the greenbacks. StubHub reports that total dollar volume is running 100 percent ahead of what it was last year, and “a recent sale of field championship level tickets for the July 15 game — at $14,500 each — was the one of most expensive single transactions in company history.”

As we reported... Can MLB Weather the Recession? The answer appears to be a very easy, yes.

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Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

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