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PNC is hoping to make 1 billion good impressions this week.

Pittsburgh's largest bank expects its name to be repeated or viewed that many times during the lead-up to baseball's nationally televised midsummer classic Tuesday night -- a priceless marketing opportunity that could raise PNC's national profile and justify the bank's 20-year, $30 million decision to attach its name to the Pirates' North Side home, PNC Park.

"This is an opportunity to get our name out there," said PNC Financial Services Group spokesman Brian Goerke.

The All-Star Game, carried nationally by Fox, and tomorrow night's Home Run Derby, carried on ESPN, could mean $750,000 to $1 million in free exposure for PNC, based on a prediction of 1 billion "impressions" -- a marketing term that describes the times people see, hear or read the company's name on television, the radio, in newspapers or the Internet.

For PNC, the national spotlight is what it wanted in 1998 when it decided to put its name on the new ballpark. That need diminished a bit when PNC sold its nationwide credit card operations to MBNA Corp., but it is still chasing treasury management business in big cities on the West Coast and it has retail branches in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Delaware.

PNC calculated in 1998 that its relationship with the Pirates would give the company at least 1.5 billion impressions annually, and, despite the Pirates' lousy performance since the park opened in 2001, PNC claims its initial investment of $1.5 million a year is working out nicely, with the bank receiving more than $1.25 in marketing exposure for every dollar spent, according to Mr. Goerke.

"I feel confident, yes, we are getting a better return on our investment than we initially estimated we would."

The All-Star game, he said, is "gravy."

PNC, already enjoying record profits and a dramatic recovery from accounting mistakes and regulatory scrutiny four years ago, is going all out to ensure maximum exposure tomorrow and Tuesday night. Clients and customers will be entertained the day of the game inside PNC's ballpark branch, which will be closed to the public. PNC Chief Executive Officer James Rohr is trying to line up a live interview with CNBC, the financial news channel.

PNC marketing officials are providing talking points to Fox and ESPN about the size of the bank (the largest in Pennsylvania), the number of environmentally-sensitive "green" branches it has around the country (25), the fact that Mr. Rohr threw out the first pitch at PNC Park and that the first pitch this season was thrown by Pittsburgh-born actor Michael Keaton.

The hope is that these "tidbits" could be used during the broadcasts -- but only if they "fit and made sense," according to Mr. Goerke. Of course, a casual mention from Fox's Joe Buck or Tim McCarver could be extremely valuable. Last year's All-Star Game in Detroit generated an estimated $6.8 million in game-night exposure for Comerica Bank, which paid $66 million to put its name on the Tigers' new ballpark for 30 years.

During the three-hour broadcast, Detroit-based Comerica received 8 minutes and 56 seconds of exposure, according to Philadelphia-based Front Row Marketing Services, a group that calculates the monetary value of such exposure. The total count included seven minutes and 47 seconds of stadium-sign shots bearing Comerica's name, 19 seconds of on-screen graphics referring to Comerica and four "verbal mentions" during the broadcast. With a 30-second ad costing $390,000, according to Comerica, almost nine minutes of air time equated to almost $7 million in free advertising.

On top of that, Comerica also tracked about 1,200 mentions in print publications around the country and more than 800 mentions on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN during All-Star week. The coverage helped Comerica gain recognition in other key markets -- California, Texas, Arizona and Florida -- where it was trying to build market share. The game "provided an opportunity to open new doors to new relationships," said Comerica spokesman Wayne Mielke.

While Comerica, which is about two-thirds the size of PNC, does not have data showing a correlation between the broadcast exposure and any new business, lenders in field offices around the country "were amazed at the recognition of Comerica whereas a year ago that recognition was not there in markets outside Michigan," Mr. Mielke said. The game "provided immediate awareness."

For PNC, the monetary value of this year's game may be less than what Comerica received, but only because PNC uses a different, more conservative methodology to arrive at a marketing value. While Comerica equated a 30-second shot of the company's logo inside Comerica Park to a 30-second ad, PNC accounts for the possibility that "30 seconds of a logo on a screen is not as valuable as a 30-second message ad," said Rob Vogel, president of The Bonham Group, which assisted PNC with its ballpark naming rights deal and helped the bank consider how it could leverage its purchase for maximum exposure,

What's more, PNC decided this year not to pay for any televised ads during the game (a 30-second spot runs $375,000) because the bank believes such an expense is not needed. "We feel like we made our investment six years ago," Mr. Goerke said. "Now we will reap the benefits of it."

Other advertisers will be competing for that valuable game-night exposure, crowding out at least one PNC marketing opportunity behind home plate, where the bank's name is normally to TV viewers visible on every pitch. Tuesday night, Fox will block out PNC's home plate turf with a series of "virtual" ads paid for by national advertisers -- including PNC rival Bank of America, the nation's largest bank and official sponsor of major league baseball.

"We knew that when we signed the contract," Mr. Goerke said.

But PNC still will have a sign on the big, right-field scoreboard and the name "PNC Park" is still visible atop the electronic scoreboard that sits behind the left-field bleachers. And "I am sure that will be shown more than a few times," Mr. Goerke said.