As many as 200,000 people are expected in Pittsburgh for the festivities around the All-Star Game next week. More than 100 million are expected to listen to radio talk shows on it, check in on the Internet or watch television coverage, according to Major League Baseball estimates.
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"We love the All-Star Game," said Debbie Myers, vice president of media services for Taco Bell, the designated quick-service restaurant of Major League Baseball. The restaurant chain has invested millions in a campaign that covers all the bases.
Employees at Pittsburgh-area Taco Bells are wearing All-Star caps. Chances to Swing for a Million (dollars) on game day were offered to their customers. People attending events next Sunday at PNC Park will receive a promotional gift, and Taco Bell ads will appear in the Fox broadcast of the game pushing the new Spicy Chicken Crunchwrap. Fans at FanFest will be served free tacos and burritos.
Local advertisers will be in the lineup, too. Sales staff at Comcast Spotlight, the Green Tree advertising division of the cable giant, have contracts with at least 45 clients for spots during the Home Run Derby telecast, each one targeting particular geographic zones. Since everything is in Pittsburgh, the local television audience is expected to be four or five times larger than usual for All-Star events.
Even small outfits are stepping up to the plate. A&L Motors, of Monroeville, is spending about $50,000 on 10 days of advertising, including a cable TV spot, to let the world know it can ship Jaguars, BMWs and other luxury cars.
Cable viewers also will see a new 30-second spot from the Builders Guild of Western Pennsylvania. Kevin McClatchy, Pirates managing general partner, will be seen on the two ESPN channels talking about building PNC Park and how construction unions and associations made it possible.
A&L General Manager Terry Eberhart figures the world is coming to Pittsburgh. If a few well-heeled visitors in hotel rooms see the luxury car dealer's ads and seek it out later on the Internet, the investment will have been worth it. As he put it, "Let's attack the global market."
Getting attention doesn't always require making a TV commercial.
Signs around the ball field and even around Detroit helped General Motors and its various divisions tally up more than $14.6 million of in-broadcast exposure during TV coverage around last year's All-Star Game, according to Ann Arbor consulting firm Joyce Julius & Associates Inc.
The company's logos were seen on the air for more than 16 minutes, and broadcasters dropped its various names 58 times during broadcasts on Fox and ESPN.
Major League Baseball has the assignment of keeping sponsors from stepping on each others' toes.
PNC Park may be named for Pittsburgh's PNC Financial Services, a banking organization that paid millions for the honor, but the only bank with TV commercials during the All-Star telecast will be Charlotte, N.C., giant Bank of America, the Official Bank of Baseball. The no-fee ATMs at FanFest will be supplied by the national sponsor, even if many visitors have PNC debit cards in their wallets.
And, don't expect to see the smiley cookie of Eat'n Park bouncing along with "Take Me Out To the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch. Anything shown on the Jumbotron screen during the All-Star Game will be put there by Major League Baseball, not the Pirates.
On the field, foul territory -- signs behind home plate and along the first and third baselines -- will belong to Major League Baseball's national sponsors.
Local companies whose signs are in fair territory, including those on the outfield wall and the permanent signs around the Jumbotron, get to stay, although national sponsors are expected to drape their logos in the green spaces in between.
"We are very respectful of the Pirates' partners," said John Brody, MLB's senior vice president of corporate sales and marketing.
Those who picked the right spots when they signed their deals months or even years ago could get a little extra marketing juice when the cameras pan over their names, showing them to fans in Kansas City, Mo., and in Tokyo.
"We invested in the All-Star Game four years ago when we signed the contract," PNC spokesman Brian Goerke. said
Although 84 Lumber's outfield sign will stay, there's enough concern about the Washington County building supply chain conflicting with MLB sponsor Home Depot that a broadcast of ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike" show with Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg, being co-sponsored by 84 Lumber, will be done discreetly indoors.
It's complicated, but that's OK, 84 Lumber spokesman Jeff Nobers said. "You work around that stuff and you get it done."
Major League Baseball has a lot riding on keeping the sponsors happy. This year alone, four new sponsorship agreements worth more than $110 million in rights fees and media spending were worked out with Wheaties, Chevrolet, DHL and Home Depot. Two years ago, the league estimated first-time, multiyear sponsorship agreements with Ameriquest, Taco Bell and Bank of America were worth $225 million.
Sponsors are involved in more than just All-Star week, but it's an important piece of the total deal. Just check the schedule of events.
There's Taco Bell All-Star Sunday, featuring the XM Satellite Radio All-Star Future Games and the Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game.
July 10 will bring Gatorade All-Star Workout Day, including the Pepsi Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit and Run event, and the Century 21 Home Run Derby. July 11 will include the Wheaties All-Star Box Unveiling and the All-Star Game Red Carpet Show Presented by Chevrolet.
FanFest, which the league hopes will draw more than 90,000 people to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, offers more mingling of national and local marketers.
Pittsburgh-area companies sponsoring booths and events include Dick's Sporting Goods, the Gateway Clipper, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, West Penn Allegheny Health System and several media outlets, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. No matter what tactics businesses use to get their message out, they shouldn't let this opportunity pass them by, according to Mr. Eberhart at A&L Motors. "If they don't take advantage of an All-Star Game being in the city, they're absolutely crazy."