With Terry Lefton on leave, SBJ Research Director David Broughton will tonight announce who will be on MLB's sponsor roster this season and who will be leaving.
MLB has 34 sponsors at the league level this season, including four new brands for the 2024 season (plus GEICO returning with a full-season deal), according to SBJ's David Broughton. reports.
BlueForge Alliance, BlueTriton, New York Life, and WM (signed earlier this week) are new brands this year, covering the submarine manufacturing, water, financial guidance, and sustainability categories, respectively.
Taco Bell, which has long run a “Stolen Bases, Tacos” promotion during the World Series, is missing from MLB's sponsor list this year. Taco Bell has been in the league since 2004 (the brand only had postseason QSR rights, while Dairy Queen remains in the league with regular season QSR rights).
Also not returning this year are Scotts (lawn management since 2010), Hankook (tires since 2018), Hyperice (recovery technology since 2020), Woodbridge from Constellation Brands by Robert Mondavi (wine since 2020), Citrix (Workspace/app distribution from 2021). ).
AB InBev (Budweiser) is MLB's oldest sponsor, dating back to the 1980 season.
Adding new sponsors in “non-traditional categories” is also “imminent” for MLB, sources told SBJ. The official added that MLB's sponsorship revenue is “on the rise again” compared to last year, primarily because nearly all of this year's new contracts had a higher average annual value than the branded contracts that did not return. added.
Premium hospitality continues to gain traction, and it's not just in the US, notes SBJ's Rachel Axson.
On Location, which will make its debut as the sole hospitality provider for the Paris Olympics by signing contracts for the next three Games in 2021, has sold the majority of its inventory and is working toward a sellout, according to On Location's Vice President of Olympic and Paralympic Affairs. It is said that there is. Will Whiston.
Whiston said his company's hospitality packages for equestrian, judo, fencing and beach volleyball (the latter being held at the Eiffel Tower) are sold out or nearly sold out, and its 2016 swimming program is also nearly sold out. He said that It is the only new competition venue built for these games.
For events held in temporary venues, On Location is considering adding more capacity to accommodate interest. “The demand was there from the beginning,” Whiston said. “And now we're starting to see that really accelerate.”
On Location announces single-day ticket sales for Team USA House. Prices are approximately $347 for the Olympics and $160 for the Paralympics. This will give fans access to the ground floor of the Palais Brongnard, an event center built in the 1800s, where tickets can also be purchased with other hospitality packages.
“It's going to be a watershed moment,” Whiston said. “It's going to be like '84 was for the commercial side of the Olympics.”
- SBJ's Terry Lefton reports that Pepsi is pulling out and credit rating agency Moody's is on board as the underlying sponsor of MetLife Stadium. But Pepsi has extended other assets at the venue, including water rights, “well into the future,” the people said. MetLife's other gate sponsors are HCLTech, Verizon, and Bud Light.
- Kroger could join NASCAR after this year as part of a shakeup at JTG Daugherty Racing, with America's largest supermarket chain potentially switching to a new team in 2025, sources tell SBJ's Adam Stern told.
- Pickleball star Tyson McGuffin has signed a one-year sponsorship deal with Cosmic Crisp, which will see the Enterprise/Honeycrisp hybrid apple integrated into McGuffin's pickleball camps and homegrown web content. SBJ's Rob Schaefer points out.
