May 5, 2004

INDECENT PROPOSAL (via Glenn Dryfoos & Rick Turley):

Baseball Sells 'Spider-Man' Ads on Bases (RONALD BLUM, May 5, 2004, AP)

Spider-Man is coming to a base near you. In the latest example of a sponsor's stamp on the sports world, ads for the movie "Spider-Man 2" will be placed atop bases at 15 major league ballparks during games from June 11-13.

The promotion, announced Wednesday, is part of baseball's pitch to appeal to younger fans -- and make money along the way.

"This was a unique chance to combine what is a sort of a universally popular character and our broad fan base, including the youth market we're trying to reach out to," said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer. "It doesn't impact the play or performance of the game."

While commemorative logos have been on bases for special events such as the All-Star game or World Series, the Hall of Fame knew of no other commercial ads on bases, spokesman Jeff Idelson said.

Nowadays, ads can show up just about anywhere in sports.

Telecasts of major league and college football games, for example, include virtual ads visible just to TV viewers. College football bowl games are named for advertisers. Boxers' backs bear stenciled ads. Just last week, a court ruled that Kentucky Derby jockeys could wear sponsors' patches on their uniforms.

"I guess it's inevitable, but it's sad," said Fay Vincent, a former baseball commissioner and former president of Columbia Pictures, which is releasing "Spider-Man 2."

"I'm old-fashioned. I'm a romanticist. I think the bases should be protected from this. I feel the same way I do when I see jockeys wears ads: Maybe this is progress, but there's something in me that regrets it very much," he added.


Great, some scrub shortstop coming off a career year can make an extra couple hundred thousand dollars off the money the stupid owners get for defiling the sport with which they've been entrusted.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 5, 2004 8:49 PM
Comments

Here's hoping Lou Pinella comes unglued over some call that weekend and tosses one of the Spider-Man bases into the dugout.

Posted by: John at May 5, 2004 9:36 PM

And webs bring it flying back towards him...

Posted by: oj at May 5, 2004 9:40 PM

It's not just Spiderman...

The Bases Will Be Decorated on Mother's Day, Too (Scroll down as necessary for several postings on this subject.)


And wouldn't an old fashioned Lou tantrum be more appropriate as part of an "Incredible Hulk" promotion?

Posted by: Raoul Ortega at May 5, 2004 9:43 PM

And remember, they can always sell ad space on the uniforms themselves - something classy, like "CRUEX stops jock itch" right on the crotch area.

Posted by: John Barrett Jr. at May 5, 2004 9:48 PM

Shades of the Ted Turner - Andy Messersmith - "Channel 17" debacle. Or more broadly of the 1970s fashion of putting nicknames (rather than surnames or, as is more traditional and more proper, just a number) on the backs of baseball uniforms.

Posted by: Random Lawyer at May 5, 2004 10:31 PM

Hah! You won't see that on a golf course.

Well, except for the hats. And the bags. And the shirts. And the caddies...

Hey, the Masters hasn't had any ads for the last two years. When's the last time a World Series game ended in daylight?

Posted by: jsmith at May 5, 2004 11:38 PM
« MISTER, WE COULD USE A MAN LIKE MILLARD FILLMORE AGAIN...: | Main | THE SHAH ALWAYS FALLS, EVEN WHEN HE'S THE AYATOLLAHS: »