World Baseball Classic Commercial to Run in Super Bowl XL; Ad Part of Ongoing Promotional Campaign for the Inaugural Tournament

Business Wire, Feb 3, 2006

NEW YORK -- World Baseball Classic, Inc. will run an advertisement created exclusively for Sunday's Super Bowl XL broadcast as part of a comprehensive promotional campaign for the inaugural baseball tournament, it was announced today.

The 30-second spot features seven Major League Baseball players and creatively identifies them with the countries they will represent in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Included in the commercial are Derek Jeter (United States), Albert Pujols (Dominican Republic), Andruw Jones (Netherlands), Carlos Delgado (Puerto Rico), Mike Piazza (Italy), Ichiro Suzuki (Japan), and Roger Clemens (United States). The spot brings to life the "face-the-world" theme which is featured prominently in the overall campaign for the tournament.

"The Super Bowl broadcast is the perfect platform for us to showcase the World Baseball Classic," said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. "The tournament was designed to promote our game to the widest possible audience and this commercial will help drive excitement for what will be a truly captivating international competition."

Scheduled to run during the fourth quarter, the ad is designed to inspire a sense of nationalism and encourage sports fans to make the March tournament a must-see event. Clemens, the only player with a speaking role, issues a challenge to all viewers by using the tournament's promotional tag line: "I'll be there for my country. Will you be there for yours?"

"We wanted to celebrate the nationalistic pride and competitive nature of the World Baseball Classic in this new creative," said Maureen Maldari, Executive Vice President of Grey Worldwide, agency of record for World Baseball Classic, Inc. "This new ad will help build momentum for an event that will showcase some of the greatest baseball players in the world."

The ad is part of a campaign that will run during the next two months and will include both national and local broadcast and print advertising. The World Baseball Classic Super Bowl commercial will be available for viewing on MLBPressbox.com and WorldBaseballClassic.com.

THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

The World Baseball Classic, a 16-team tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) which runs from March 3 - 20, will feature many of the best players in the world competing for their home countries and territories for the first time ever. The 16 teams invited to participate in the event have been divided into four pools of four teams for the first round of play. The four Round 1 pools will be played at venues in Japan (Tokyo Dome - Tokyo), Puerto Rico (Hiram Bithorn Stadium - San Juan) and the United States (Chase Field - Phoenix, Arizona; Scottsdale Stadium - Scottsdale, Arizona; The Ballpark at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex - Orlando, Florida). Round 2 will feature two pools of four teams each and is scheduled to be played in Puerto Rico and Anaheim (Angel Stadium). The Semifinals and Final will be played at PETCO Park in San Diego.

The World Baseball Classic will feature a bracket-style format with the 16 teams competing in four groups: Pool A - China, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Korea; Pool B - Canada, Mexico, South Africa and United States; Pool C - Cuba, Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico; Pool D - Australia, Dominican Republic, Italy and Venezuela.