For several years now, I have been writing that it was a matter of when, not if, we’ll see corporate advertisements on jerseys in Major League Baseball, by looking at the corporate advertisement during the World Baseball Classic, and Opening Day games in Japan. As I reported in March just before the start of the WBC:

The idea of finding unobtrusive ways of engaging more sponsorship activation may never have been closer.

The reason is, of course, the gloomy economy.

When times are tough, you can always count on reevaluating old taboos. As the need for the almighty dollar makes owners and league executives redefine what is pure and what is not, aspects like uniform advertisement, or revisit the sacrilegious idea of ads on the sides of bases, become more likely.

Given that baseball is slow to move against its traditions (the hullabaloo over the Spiderman 2 6"x6" logo on the top of the bases that was to occur for all of two days in June of 2004 during interleague is the best example), it’s not surprising that other U.S. sports leagues finally have broken through the barrier.

Certainly MLS is not new to this, but the Big-4 had not done so. And while the WNBA is by all accounts a distant cousin to the NBA, it is the women’s pro basketball league that jumped out with not one, but two deals over the past week, with more on the horizon

On Monday, the Phoenix Mercury announced that they had reached a sponsorship agreement with identity-theft protection company LifeLock to have a 10-inch-by-4-inch version of their logo displayed across the front of their jerseys. Today, the LA Spark announced a similar deal with Farmers Insurance. The Fever and Storm have both been reported to be the next WNBA teams to go the jersey sponsorship route.

As mentioned, this is the WNBA, and not one of the Big-4, but ever so quietly, the NFL has jumped into the mix.

The Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys are reportedly close to deals that would place corporate advertisement on practice jerseys.

With these deals moving quickly, and sponsors a limited pool, baseball is assuredly eyeing these events. It may be that baseball starts with logos on jerseys worn during batting practice, or possibly during Spring Training. As the bar continues to inch forward, in the not too distant future, all sports leagues are bound to see some form of advertisements on jerseys during games, such as the WNBA is doing.

But, as with everything, it isn’t always as easy as it seems. What happens if a stadium has pouring rights for Pepsi and Coca-Cola wants to do jersey sponsorship? What if adidas is looking for uniform ads, but Nike is a key sponsor in the ballpark, such is now the case with the Yankees? All of this will be played out over the course of the next few years. Bank on it. Or, maybe I should say, look for a bank advertisement on a jersey for your sports team near you. Remember, money is hard for owners to say no to, and here’s one more revenue stream to collect from.

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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Major League Baseball will begin its second year of national fundraising and awareness initiatives for Welcome Back Veterans, a program which addresses the mental health and job needs of returning American Veterans.

At three key points of national reflection during the baseball season -- Memorial Day (May 25), Independence Day weekend (July 4) and Patriot Day (September 11) -- all clubs will participate in a number of initiatives to support Welcome Back Veterans.

For games on Memorial Day, all Major League Baseball Clubs will wear special “Stars & Stripes” caps. The caps will have the American flag etched into the team’s logo and for the first time, will be red in color (the Toronto Blue Jays hat will incorporate a Maple Leaf design instead of the “Stars & Stripes”). These MLB Authentic Collection caps, produced by New Era, are available for sale to the public at www.mlb.com. Major League Baseball Properties, Inc will donate all of the proceeds it receives from the sale of the caps to Welcome Back Veterans. In addition, MLB.com will donate an additional $1 to Welcome Back Veterans for each cap purchased through www.mlb.com.

Pictured are the caps to be worn by the 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies and American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays.

Source: Major League Baseball

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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Six New York Mets players, along with the MLBPA, Majestic Athletic and Twins Enterprises held a design session yesterday in what would become the first line of player-designed line of merchandise with MLB player input. The products will be sold in the new MLBPA created Players Clubhouse store at Citi Field (see images and more on the unique store created by the MLBPA and Mets). As reported by Eric Fisher of the SportsBusiness Daily/Journal:

Pitchers J.J. Putz, John Maine and Bobby Parnell, LF Daniel Murphy, RF Gary Sheffield and C Omir Santos -- and have the new product on the shelves around the All-Star Break in July. Products being designed include T-shirts, jerseys and hats that will incorporate the players’ choices for colors, styles, as well as their names, and in some cases, their likenesses and signatures. Twins Enterprises VP/Sales Eddie Miller said, "This is the first time we’ve done anything like this. But nobody’s closer to the game than these guys, and we think they can bring in some new energy and push us toward some different looks. The more we get off the wall and get away from standard name-and-number type of stuff, the more we create a different market."

According to Fisher, the PA is considering the creation of a “jock tag” that would let consumers know that the products were designed with player input.

“This was nothing like I expected, but I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes out of this,” Putz said. "I started with a basic orange-and-blue camoflage type of thing, but as we kept talking, I ultimately got to a military camo shirt, but with an Affliction-style print, and red, white and blue lettering. But it was fun to bounce ideas around like that and see where it went.”  

The question is, how will it look? While the likes of LeBron James and others have embraced fashion, for the most part, ballplayers don’t exactly personify style. Let’s see if Majestic Athletic and Twins Enterprises can work on the process and come up with something (bad baseball pun) striking.

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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MLB.com and MasterCard Worldwide unveiled today an online ticket savings program exclusively available at MLB.com/MasterCard. This program represents an extension of the Commissioner’s Fan Initiative by bringing fans additional ticket price savings of 10 percent or more for select games in 2009 when they use their MasterCard card to purchase select tickets online at MLB.com and participating club websites.

Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig launched the Commissioner’s Fan Initiative, including the Fan Value Corner on MLB.com, earlier this season to make fans aware of the affordable ticket and event promotions offered by the 30 Major League Clubs.

“MasterCard is a fan of the baseball fan,” said Robert Steeger, VP, US Sponsorships, MasterCard Worldwide. “Offering discounts to Major League Baseball game tickets is another way for us to thank our cardholders for simply choosing to pay with their MasterCard cards.”

“The long-standing service MasterCard has given to baseball fans created the ideal collaborative opportunity for us to extend Commissioner Selig’s commitment to making our games more affordable,” said Bob Bowman, CEO, MLB.com.

Highlights of the MLB.com/MasterCard initiative include:

• Arizona Diamondbacks: Every Tuesday home game will feature $10 discounts off Baseline Reserved seats.
• Atlanta Braves: Beginning May 19, Golden Moon Casino Pavilion level tickets will be offered at a $10 discount for select home games.
• Boston Red Sox: Beginning June 5, select June and July home games will feature a 10% discount for Outfield Grandstand tickets.
• Chicago White Sox: Offering $10 savings off Upper Box and Upper Reserve seats for a select home game every month, beginning April 28 against Seattle Mariners.
• Cincinnati Reds: Offering half-price tickets for View Level seats at every Tuesday home game.
• Cleveland Indians: Every Tuesday home game and other select games will feature $10 discounts off Lower Reserved and Upper Box seats.
• Colorado Rockies: For every Value and Premium designated home game through May 31, there will be discounts of $8 and $10, respectively, for Pavilion, RF Mezzanine and Upper Reserved INF seats.
• Kansas City Royals: Select home games will feature $10 discounts off Field Box, Field Plaza, Outfield Box and View Level Infield tickets.
• Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Offering half-price tickets for Field Box, Terrace Box, Terrace Box WC and View MVP seats for a select home game every month.
• Los Angeles Dodgers: Every Tuesday home game will feature 15% discounts for Field Box and Infield Reserve seats.
• Milwaukee Brewers: Offering at $10 discount for Club Outfield seats at select Tuesday home games, and other select games this season.
• Oakland Athletics: Field level tickets for more than 30 select home games are available for $10 off the regular price.
• Philadelphia Phillies: Offering discounts of at least 50% on Pavilion Deck seats for select home games in July, August and September.
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Every Sunday-Thursday home game will feature a $10 discount off Outfield Box seats.
• St. Louis Cardinals: All weekday home games will feature a $10 discount off available individual tickets in all seating locations.

The Biz of Baseball notes that the Yankees and Mets are not listed within this program. Those organizations should see the results of latest Biz of Baseball poll question.

Source: MLB.com

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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The Los Angeles Dodgers have marketed nearly everything around Manny Ramirez in the 10 months he’s been in Dodger Blue. But, with his 50 game suspension this past week, the question was whether that marketing campaign would be shelved entirely, as the club worked to distance themselves from Ramirez.

While the Mannywood section of Dodger Stadium will be renamed 90090 while he is serving the suspension (the number is in reference to the new zip code that serves just Dodger Stadium), according to the New York Times, the Dodgers are, for the most part, standing pat, going the supply and demand route. The club will continue to sell all manner of Ramirez marketing elements, from selling merchandise such as signature dreadlock wigs, to jerseys bearing 99 and his name, to billboards around the Los Angeles area that have gone up just after his 2-year, $45 million contract that read “Manny’s Back”. As reported by the New York Times:

The Dodgers sold 30,000 tickets the day after Ramirez arrived from Boston in a trade, the highest 24-hour period in franchise history. At Dodger Stadium this year, they have sold 850 of his jerseys and 5,000 Ramirez T-shirts, the team said.

[...]

“We’ll continue to sell Manny product,” [Dodgers president, Dennis] Mannion said. “It will be a supply-and-demand situation.”

No one canceled season tickets after the suspension was announced, he said. About a dozen of the 3,100 people with future seats in Mannywood asked for a refund, according to the team, and no corporate sponsors backed out of agreements.

In a further sign that Ramirez’ personality might transcend the stigma that other players caught in baseball’s drug policy have endured (at least at Dodger Stadium), fans wearing “99” jerseys seems to outnumber all other player jerseys combined at the first game after the start of the suspension, fans chanted “Manny” throughout much of the game from the upperdeck, a banner in support of Ramirez was unfurled in the seventh inning, and at least one fan was reported to be wearing a “Free Manny” tee-shirt in support of Ramirez.

While the Dodgers made it clear they support MLB’s drug policy, they also understand what Ramirez does to help the Dodgers win and how he makes cash registers ring.

“You’re thrilled to have a Manny Ramirez,” said Charles Steinberg, the team’s executive vice president who oversees a wide range of the marketing. “And we’re still thrilled to have a Manny Ramirez.”

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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