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Thread: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

  1. #1
    Maple SERP savafan's Avatar
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    Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/busin...lash-financial


    By BRIAN STEINBERG
    The Associated Press
    5/5/04 9:08 AM


    and

    STEFAN FATSIS

    The Wall Street Journal

    Who's on first? That old baseball question has a new answer: Spider-Man.

    In a move that has purists howling, Major League Baseball has agreed to decorate its bases -- and pitching-mound rubbers and on-deck circles -- with a spider-web pattern as part of a promotion for the release of Sony Corp.'s "Spider-Man 2" next month.

    The superhero sequel is set to open in theaters June 30. "'Spider-Man 2' Weekend" will start Friday, June 11, and all 15 MLB teams playing at home have agreed to participate for one or more games.

    The deal is baseball's latest attempt to develop a splashier national marketing image. "In an ultracompetitive sports-entertainment environment, you have to take risks," says Tim Brosnan, MLB's executive vice president for business.

    Outfield walls have been billboards since the 19th century. In the 1990s, the Florida Marlins painted their stadium's foul poles to look like pencils for a Office Depot sponsorship. But the Spider-Man promotion is believed to be the first time ads will appear on the bases. "It's not something we've ever come across," says Claudette Burke, a reference librarian at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

    Under a design nearing approval by MLB, the center of the top of first, second and third bases will be adorned with a 7.5-inch-square "Spider-Man 2" logo consisting of black and yellow webbing against a bright red background. Home plate will remain white.

    The move is sure to alienate fans who view the baseball diamond as hallowed ground. Baseball historian John Thorn calls the field "a sort of a magic circle to which rules accrue and adhere. And if you violate the terms, you run the risk of offending the gods."

    NBC Sports and HBO broadcaster Bob Costas says ads on the bases will "take away that whole beautiful vista of a ballpark" -- and also reflects baseball's schizoid relationship with its past. "On the one hand they sell history whenever it suits them, and on the other hand they disrespect it," says Mr. Costas, author of "Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball." "It isn't a matter of treating the game like it's religion. But I think people have lost the understanding of what the dignity of something is. Not everything is for sale."

    The National Hockey League lets teams sell ads embedded in the ice. But neither the National Football League nor the National Basketball Association has given field or court space to advertisers. "The game itself is sacred, and we're not going to tinker with how it is played or perceived," says an NFL spokesman, Brian McCarthy.

    MLB executives say they respect baseball's traditions but need to attract younger fans. As for the critics, MLB President Bob DuPuy says, "These are the same people that didn't like interleague play and didn't like the wild card" playoff format. Having decorative bases "really doesn't have an effect on the game within the foul lines," he says. "It's not like we are going to have a red-and-black ball. The game itself won't be affected."

    MLB's willingness to alter the field is part of the larger pressure across sports to accommodate sponsors. MLB has been viewed as lagging in pop-culture sponsorship, especially compared with the NFL and NBA. "Baseball is recognizing they have value in being a selling tool for these big sponsors," says Tom Boyd, an associate professor of sports marketing at California State University at Fullerton. In addition to promotional bases, pitching rubbers and on-deck circles, the Spider-Man deal includes stadium signage, movie trailers on scoreboards, Spider-Men climbing light towers and giveaways like masks and foam hands.

    Geoffrey Ammer, world-wide marketing president for Sony's Columbia/TriStar Motion Picture Group, says executives originally wanted to outfit the netting behind home plate with Spider-Man webbing. That was scrapped because it would have distracted pitchers and fielders, and the idea was expanded. According to a person familiar with the deal, Columbia/TriStar is spending $3 million to $4 million on the promotion, including television ad time. Mr. Ammer declined to discuss spending.

    Teams' participation in the promotion is voluntary. Initially leery, some team marketing directors called other clubs to gauge whether the spider-web bases crossed a line. "We all wondered about that a little bit," says Patrick Klinger, marketing vice president for the Minnesota Twins. But, he says, "it's coming from Major League Baseball. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for us."

    Columbia/TriStar insisted on participation by big-market teams. One factor that helped persuade clubs to play ball: more money. Teams such as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will receive more than $100,000 each, while those in other markets will get around half that, club executives say. Jacqueline Parkes, MLB's senior vice president of marketing and advertising, says payments depend on the level of participation and the value of the markets to the studio.

    As a result, the deal will contribute to revenue disparities among teams, one of baseball's biggest problems. Still, a prepackaged promotion with guaranteed cash was a big draw. "It's found money," says Jim Bloom, consumer-marketing director for the Toronto Blue Jays.

    Another plus: Teams in smaller towns get to be part of a national event. "We don't get a lot of lights in the sky for movie premieres in Kansas City," says Charlie Seraphin, the Kansas City Royals' vice president for sales and marketing.
    My dad got to enjoy 3 Reds World Championships by the time he was my age. So far, I've only gotten to enjoy one. Step it up Redlegs!


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  3. #2
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    The Reds are in Cleveland that weekend. So, does that mean only Cleveland gets the extra dough?
    All three games are on the TV. I am interested to see what it looks like. I don't kow if I am totally against the concept, but I definitely hate the fact that some teams will receive more money for doing the same exact thing. It would have been real easy for Bud to just say 'how much is it worth to you overall'. The movie people say 4 million, and then Bud could just split it up among the teams. I don't understand why everything in baseball has to be economically unfair. Its almost like MLB tries hard to make it this way.

  4. #3
    Mod Law zombie-a-go-go's Avatar
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man



    Why not just have all the players dress up in spider-man costumes?

    "It's easier to give up. I'm not a very vocal player. I lead by example. I take the attitude that I've got to go out and do it. Because of who I am, I've got to give everything I've got to come back."
    -Ken Griffey Jr.

  5. #4
    I rig polls REDREAD's Avatar
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    I think Doc Octopus would be a killer addition to our bullpen. The Green Goblin would
    also cover a lot of ground in the OF

    I really not too offended. In fact, I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened sooner. It's still fun to watch/listen to the games, but it's not like it's a religion or anything. So I really don't see it as a descration issue.
    [Phil ] Castellini celebrated the team's farm system and noted the team had promising prospects who would one day be great Reds -- and then joke then they'd be ex-Reds, saying "of course we're going to lose them". #SellTheTeamBob

    Nov. 13, 2007: One of the greatest days in Reds history: John Allen gets the boot!

  6. #5
    Be the ball Roy Tucker's Avatar
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    I guess I'm a purist, whatever that means... My first thought was "Selig is a *****". But I guess it's all just part of the changing times.

    Baseball historians will have fun with trying to figure out why there were spider webs on the bases in the early 2000's.

    I can't wait for "Casey beats the throw to first. First base, brought to you by Visa".
    She used to wake me up with coffee ever morning

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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    This will be dumbest event in the history of baseball. Can Bud give me some advetising space for my home made porn movie i want to sell. lol
    This completely useless post was brought to you by Nick5.

  8. #7
    Rally Onion! Chip R's Avatar
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    Quote Originally Posted by NICK5
    Can Bud give me some advetising space for my home made porn movie i want to sell. lol
    Uh, I didn't really need to hear that.
    Quote Originally Posted by Raisor View Post
    I was wrong
    Quote Originally Posted by Raisor View Post
    Chip is right

  9. #8
    You know his story Redsland's Avatar
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    Well, like Bob DuPuy said, it isn't like they're going to use a red and black ball. Although…that gives me an idea… :idea:
    Makes all the routine posts.

  10. #9
    Big Red Machine RedsBaron's Avatar
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    Could Jimmy Haynes be equipped with Spiderman's "web-shooters" so he could grab back some of the gopher balls he throws?
    "Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."

  11. #10
    RZ Chamber of Commerce Unassisted's Avatar
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    I won't complain until Bud arranges to put Jim Carrey's face on the ball. They can load the bases and the pitching rubber up with as many logos as a NASCAR team and it won't bother me.

    The camel's nose came under this tent when MLB started putting those ads behind the batter. This will be much less conspicuous.

  12. #11
    I wear Elly colored glass WrongVerb's Avatar
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    Quote Originally Posted by NICK5
    My manhood is 5,423 divided by 603. Yes it is sick I know that, but it is even worse if you did the math.
    Your manhood is only 9 years old? :mhcky21:
    Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)

  13. #12
    You know his story Redsland's Avatar
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    Actually, I really like the idea of making the backstop's net look like a web. Too bad they couldn't pull it off.
    Makes all the routine posts.

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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    How about Electro and the Shoker for the bullpen?

    Their arms are electric!

  15. #14
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    Re: Selig sells out to Spider-Man

    Ironic... some players may be caught in a spider's web of lies. BALCO.

  16. #15
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    New ideas

    I have an idea how about promoting the movie Dumb and Dumber , maybe Selig and Lindner could do something with that.

    Maybe make a season long theme for the Reds season , maybe call it Conspiracy Theory .

    Or a short list

    Artificail Intellegence

    Is their a movie called "The Fraud" ?

    High Crimes or finally


    The Jerk


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