Ads on bases!

[Don Boppero 3000]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/baseball/mlb/05/05/bc.bbo.spider.manonbase.ap/index.html?cnn=yes



This is going to piss some people off!

[Don Boppero 3000]

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2004/baseball/mlb/05/05/bc.bbo.spider.manonbase.ap/p1_spider_ap.jpg

[Looper121]

I seriously hate the idea, and can't believe MLB would stoop to this. I don't think they are that hard up for some dough. Dumb, just dumb.

[skipshady]

I'm glad they're doing this. How else will the TV-viewing public learn about the little known indie flick "Spider-Man 2"?

[Czar Pazzo]

SELIG MUST GO!!!!!

This guy is ruining my game! I can't believe he is selling out the last pure, sacred sports temple: the actual playing field. I liked Spider-Man 1, but there is no way in hell I'm EVER going to see Spider-Man 2 because of this

[KDdidit]

Pretty disappointed by this, but not surprised. It's frustrating that no one seems to be drawing a line with advertising, sponsorship, and "naming rights." One day we'll wake up and we won't be able to go 5 seconds without seeing an ad for something if people just don't stop shrugging their shoulders when stuff like this happens. The rationalization that it produces $X revenue or saves taxpayers $X amount of money only goes so far.

[FlashMan]

it's not sad, it's pathetic.

unfortunately, however, it's not surprising at all.

[MikeLastort2]

I love it. The people who want to see logos on MLS uniforms should be happy. :)

[655321]

Somebody, anybody, care to explain how having advertisements attracts kids?? Insane. When did our society get to the point that people come to see ads??

[DevilDave]

Between sign boards, TV ads, signboard ads that only appear on TV, stadium naming rights, multiple sponsorship deals etc. there aren't enough sources of advertising revenue out there for MLB teams? Give me a freaking break.

Bad enough that soccer jerseys have been billboards since the 1980's. But the moment I see a single advertising patch on Yankee pinstripes is the moment I stop taking baseball seriously anymore.

[biggyv]

BFD! Major sports are a business. It's lame, yes, but it's not a blow to the "sanctity" of the game. The key is to get clever advertising. Example: The Citgo sign above the Green Monster. We Sox fans don't even think of it as an ad, it's part of the park (even though it's about 1/2 a mile away). Same with the Coke bottles in left. And this isn't really all that new. The Monster was littered with ads back in the day.

[skipshady]

Yeah, maybe it's the drugs, but I can't really get worked up over this. Like biggy says, big deal.

And it's clearly taken attention away from the steroid scandal. Well done, MLB.

[TheSlipperyOne]

After seeing the picture of a base here with the S2 ad on it I have decided that I will definitely watch this movie when it comes out. Upon seeing it during an actual game I think it will move me to see the movie an additional 6 times.

[SoccerFan8270]

Ads! Ads Everywhere!

[TheSlipperyOne]

Well, this didn't last long:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/baseball/mlb/05/06/bc.spider.manoffbase.ap/index.html

[kenntomasch]

Indeed.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportsbusiness/news/story?id=1796765


"We saw some of the polls on the Internet that said that 71 and 81 percent of the fans didn't approve of it," Geoffrey Ammer, president of worldwide marketing for the Columbia-Tri-Star Motion Picture Group, told ESPN.com. "Based on this reaction from the fans, we didn't want to do anything to take away from their enjoyment of the game and if that was the case with this element of the promotion, we could afford to do without it."

Wow. The power of the internet.

My question is this: How many millions of dollars did you pay the geniuses who surely told you that it wouldn't be a big deal? Or that the outcry would be manageable?

There are a lot of people here who could have told them the actual skinny for a hell of a lot less money.

[DoctorJones24]

I just got back from my second game this week at Jacob's Field. I'm guessing that noone who was upset by this Spiderman thing has actually been to a game lately.

There's now this thing called the "Kiss Cam" in Cleveland, where they put a big heart on the jumbotron and focus on couples in the crowd who then kiss. Oh, and there's the obligatory digital jumbotron race between the Hot Dog and the Coke and the Popcorn, which everyone seems to love, for some reason.

My point is, the ship has long since sailed on letting crass marketing gimmicks into baseball.

[kenntomasch]

which everyone seems to love

You just answered your own question.

[skipshady]

You just answered your own question.
Sports fans are stupid and they don't know what they want?

[kenntomasch]

That, and free market gets to decide, whether you like it or not.