MasterCard Fields a Full Lineup Keying on Baseball's All-Star Game - several professional sports marketing briefs - Brief Article

Brandweek, June 25, 2001 by Hilary Cassidy

MasterCard will stage a slew of baseball-themed marketing activities around Major League Baseball's All-Star Game July 10 at Seattle's Safeco Field. Leading the charge is a national sweeps offering a winner the chance to play a baseball game in an MLB ballpark with 11 friends against retired pros.

The summer-long "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" promotion, which consumers enter online at mastercard.com, will be tagged on a new ad in the "Priceless" baseball road trip series debuting during the All Star Game telecast on Fox. The spot shows buddies Nate and Rick visiting Camden Yards in Baltimore.

"We want consumers not only in Seattle but across the country to know that when July comes, it's All-Star Game time," said Tim Brosnan, MLB evp-business. "It's activation like this from MasterCard that will get us a long way toward that happening."

The road trip ads (Brandweek, April 23) have proved so effective that MasterCard has opted to incorporate the creative across all its All-Star programs.

"We have a lot of things scheduled and wanted to communicate one consistent message under this umbrella...pulling out the iconography of the ads," said Bob Cramer, MasterCard vp-global sponsorships and events.

At the John Hancock All-Star FanFest, every visitor will receive a MasterCard-branded chip card that can be used at 10 pedestals, each themed as a different stadium. Fans are directed to their own mini-road trip, swiping their card at each pedestal to see if they win a prize, which can be picked up at an on-site "Master-Card clubhouse." Prizes range from a VIP trip to Safeco Field to licensed merchandise.

The road trip theme also appears in signage supporting a retail promotion. Fans who use a MasterCard at the FanFest store, at All-Star stores in Seattle hotels, at the Seattle Mariners' team stores or anywhere in Safeco Field will be entered to win prizes including the VIP trips. Buyers at the Fan Fest store may instantly win $50 off their purchase.

MasterCard also will have two signs in the outfield at the Century 21 Home Run Derby; if a player hits one, a randomly selected fan in the stands will win $1 million.

For the first time, MLB is designing multiple covers of its All-Star Game program. Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki and former game MVPs Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, Pedro Martinez and Mike Piazza each will be featured. Starting June 28, RadioShack stores nation wide will offer a free poster of the covers, with tune-in messaging, as a gift with purchase.

Also, MLB will distribute a commemorative Century 21 Home Run Derby patch to fans during Claritin All-Star Workout Day. Each comes with a hologram and serial number; fans can log on to MLB.com to see if their number has been selected as a winner of one of 72 prizes, including World Series trips.

A&P, suffering from a drop in its earnings and stock price, is out as title sponsor of the A&P Tennis Classic. The 24 year-old annual Mahwah, N.J., women's tennis event is locally popular and, under owner/director John Korff, combines a unique mix of tennis, concerts and family entertainment.

Korff's model is notable for his willingness to develop auxiliary events, many of which a grocery chain or mass merchant can offer to vendors (such as the Pepcid AC Chili Cookoff). The mix helps draw attendees even if top players lose early or pull out.

Korff, who has Jennifer Capriati scheduled to headline this year's July 16-22 non-tour event, said the pro tours' rigidity on sponsor pro grams is one thing that has made their properties a tough sell despite the surge in player popularity." Clearly, having your name on the net post is not the be-all and end-all of [sponsorship]," he said. "You need to create more product extensions for sponsors and ... events someone can wrap their arms around and own"