Baseball

New Twins stadium adds $1.2 million in revenues - 28 Apr 08

The Minnesota Twins new baseball stadium is set to generate between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion in additional revenue for the club.

MLB agree Yahoo deal - 11 Apr 08

Yahoo agreed a two-year deal with Major League Baseball Advanced Media for the rights to show subscription-based live games and sell video ads for MLB.TV in 2009 and 2010.

AOL secures rights for ESPN video - 9 Apr 08

Web portal, AOL, has acquired the rights to carry ESPN video content on its sites, AOL Video and AOL Sports.

MLB games to be shown on-demand for the first time - 7 Apr 08

Major League Baseball is to allow regional sports networks to offer replays of their live baseball matches on demand for 24 hours after the game.

NPB games to be shown in Korea - 2 Apr 08

Sports marketing company, Total Sports Asia, and Korean broadcaster, MBC ESS Sports, have acquired the exclusive media rights for a number of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball games.

Paragon, new sports management agency launched - 25 Mar 08

Hugh Dodson, former COO of The Gersh Agency, launched a new sports and entertainment management firm, Paragon.

Red Sox call off Japan no-show - 20 Mar 08

Players from Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox have called off a threat to boycott the two-game, season-opening series against the Oakland Athletics in Japan after the resolution of a financial issue.

Anheuser-Busch signs Mets deal - 18 Mar 08

Anheuser-Busch and the New York Mets have signed a multi-year marketing agreement in which Budweiser and Bud Light will become the Mets' first ‘Signature Partner’ at the new Citi Field venue which opens in 2009.

Chicago Cubs consider Wrigley Field naming rights deal - 10 Mar 08

Major League Baseball team, The Chicago Cubs, have been approached by at least three companies interested in purchasing the naming rights to the historic Wrigley Field ball park.

Anti-Doping coalition commits $10m - 11 Jan 08

Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the top two Olympic Agencies have united in a bid to rid sports of drugs. 

MP & Silva in new baseball deal - 18 Dec 07

The MP & Silva agency was appointed as the exclusive marketing agency for the 2008 Beijing Olympics Final Qualifying Tournament for baseball.

Mitchell report exposes MLB drugs culture - 14 Dec 07

A report into the use of performance enhancing substances in Major League Baseball has unveiled the existence of a 'serious drugs culture'.

Red Sox owners buy the Avalanche - 11 Dec 07

Fenway Sports Group, the marketing and entertainment arm of the company that owns the MLB’s Boston Red Sox, acquired the Salem Avalanche, a Class A team that's part of the Carolina League.

MLB's advanced media arm brings in profits - 5 Dec 07

Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the company created to operate the MLB's digital assets, will report revenues of at least $380 million this year, according to US media reports.

Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex Stadium named ‘Champion Stadium’ - 1 Nov 07

Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex stadium will be named “champion stadium’’ as part of 10-year strategic marketing alliance with hanesbrands inc.

MLB posts record revenues - 30 Oct 07

Major League Baseball will finish this year with just over $6 billion in revenue, according to Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer.

QNOC sign sponsorship deal with QNB - 26 Oct 07

The Qatar National Olympic Committee (QNOC) agreed a deal with Qatar National Bank (QNB), for the bank to sponsor the four major sport championships in the country - Football, Basketball, Handball, and Volleyball for the 2007-2008 season.

HOK Sport wins Fort Wayne contract - 17 Oct 07

HOK Sport has been hired to design a new $30 million minor league baseball park in the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Demolition time for Tigers Stadium - 16 Oct 07

Lobby groups have until next Monday to prevent the city of Detroit handing authority of the 95-year-old Tigers Stadium over to the city's Economic Development Corp for demolition.

Teletrax will track Major League Baseball nationwide television coverage - 3 Oct 07

Major League Baseball (MLB) has reached an agreement with global broadcast intelligence company, Teletrax, to run a digital watermarking test of its content in order to evaluate the broadcast television usage of all of its post-season games.

Cablevision offers baseball play-offs in HD - 28 Sep 07

American cable television company, Cablevision Systems Corporation, is to add TBS HD to its high-definition line-up before the start of the Major League Baseball divisional play-offs.

IMG appointed to sell Indians ballpark naming rights - 20 Sep 07

Sports management company, IMG was appointed by Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians to sell the naming rights to their ballpark.

Web sales soar again for MLB as records tumble - 30 Aug 07

The new media arm of Major League Baseball has set a new record for online ticket sales for the seventh consecutive year.

Free webcast to mark MLB.com breakthrough - 24 Aug 07

Major League Baseball’s official website will mark the fifth anniversary of its first live full-game webcast by offering a free live webcast this weekend.

BONDS BASEBALL TO FETCH BARGAIN PRICE - 9 Aug 07

The baseball struck by Barry Bonds for his record 756th home run will not fetch record prices in the auction market, according to Forbes.com.

KPMG BECOMES AN OFFICIAL SPONSOR OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL - 29 Jun 07

Major League Baseball Properties agreed a multi-year sponsorship agreement that will make KPMG LLP, an Official Sponsor of MLB and the Presenting Sponsor of Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI), a MLB youth outreach programme.

YANKEES FIRST MLB CLUB TO GET CHINESE SPONSOR - 26 Jun 07

The New York Yankees signed a sponsorship deal with Chinese dairy company Yili, making it the first Major League Baseball club to sign a sponsorship deal with a Chinese company.

ISRAEL LAUNCHES PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE - 26 Jun 07

Israel has launched a six-team professional baseball league with more than 3,000 fans turning out for the inaugural match.

MACPHAIL IS NEW ORIOLES PRESIDENT - 21 Jun 07

The former CEO of the Chicago Cubs has been named president of baseball operations at the Baltimore Orioles.

MLB BATTLES UNLICENSED FANTASY LEAGUES IN APPEALS COURT - 15 Jun 07

Major League Baseball argued in a US appeals court that online fantasy baseball companies cannot be allowed to operate without paying license fees to MLB to compensate players for the use of their names.

PORTLAND FRANCHISES BOUGHT BY MERRITT PAULSON - 22 May 07

Merritt Paulson, a former director of marketing and entertainment for NBA Entertainment, has become a majority owner of Portland, Oregon’s minor league baseball and soccer franchises.

RED SOX EXTEND SPONSORSHIP WITH BANK OF AMERICA - 2 Apr 07

The Boston Red Sox and Bank of America extended their sponsorship agreement until 2015.

MBC ESPN AND TSA ACQUIRE NIPPON BASEBALL RIGHTS - 29 Mar 07

MBC ESPN of South Korea and Total Sports Asia acquired the exclusive TV rights to a number of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) professional baseball games for broadcast in South Korea in 2007.

MLB SIGNS SHARP AS HIGH-DEF SPONSOR - 26 Mar 07

Major League Baseball agreed a three-year deal with Sharp Electronics under which its Sharp AQUOS brand will become the league’s HD sponsor.

DODGERS SET FOR SPRING TRAINING MOVE - 19 Mar 07

The owner of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers says there should be no further hold-up in the club moving its spring training facilities to a complex in Arizona.

MLB EXTENDS TV DEAL AND LAUNCHES CHANNEL - 9 Mar 07

Major League Baseball agreed a TV rights deal that includes the launch of a new dedicated MLB Channel as well as carriage rights for the MLB EXTRA INNINGS package.

ESPN STAR SPORTS RENEWS AND EXPANDS MLB COVERAGE - 8 Mar 07

Major League Baseball International agreed a new three-year deal with ESPN Star Sports for comprehensive cable and satellite broadcast packages until 2009.

NFL SELLS OUT ALMOST 100 PER CENT OF REGULAR SEASON GAMES - 28 Feb 07

New research indicates that American football’s NFL sells an average of 98.3 per cent of available general seating for regular season games.

SOX OWNERS BUY HALF OF NASCAR'S ROUSH RACING - 15 Feb 07

The Fenway Sports Group, owners of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, added a top NASCAR team, Roush Racing, to its portfolio.

BRAVES SALE ‘SET FOR GO-AHEAD’ - 13 Feb 07

Reports suggest the $450m sale of Major League Baseball franchise the Atlanta Braves is set to be confirmed.

TICKETS.COM NETS RANGERS AGREEMENT - 6 Feb 07

The Texas Rangers has signed a long-term ticketing agreement with Tickets.com – a subsidiary of Major League Baseball.

ALL-STAR FINALE FOR YANKEE STADIUM - 1 Feb 07

Yankee Stadium has been named host of Major League Baseball’s 2008 All-Star Game.

YANKEES IN CHINESE PARTNERSHIP - 31 Jan 07

Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees has agreed a strategic alliance with the Chinese Baseball Association.

DIRECTV SIGNS MLB’S EXTRA INNINGS PACKAGE - 22 Jan 07

Major League Baseball is reported to be set to sign a deal with US satellite broadcaster DirecTV for a package of out-of-market games.

BUSCH STADIUM GETS MLB ALL-STAR GAME - 17 Jan 07

St Louis’ Busch Stadium has been confirmed as host for the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

DESHIELDS SIGNS FOR AGENCY - 17 Jan 07

Former Major League Baseball star Delino DeShields has joined up with US player representation agency Perennial Sports and Entertainment.

ESPN REACHES DEAL WITH LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL - 5 Jan 07

US broadcaster ESPN agreed a new eight-year TV rights agreement with Little League Baseball to broadcast the Little League World Series baseball and softball events until 2014.

BASEBALL SALARIES ON THE UP - 22 Dec 06

Average salaries for players in Major League Baseball rose on average nine percent this year, according to the latest figures released this week.

MLBAM AND ITVN AGREE TV DEAL - 7 Dec 06

Major League Baseball has signed a new distribution agreement for its online programming to be accessible through conventional TV sets.

DISNEY TO BUY EUROPEAN SPORTS CHANNEL - 5 Dec 06

US media group Disney is to acquire the North American Sports Network in a bid to expand the reach of its ESPN channels.

SANYO TO STOP SPONSORING ALL-STAR BASEBALL - 4 Dec 06

Sanyo Electric Co said that it has decided to terminate its sponsorship of the annual All-Star games in Japanese Professional Baseball.

MLB CONSIDERS CHINA IN 2008 - 17 Nov 06

The MLB said that it was considering opening the 2008 MLB season in China, ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

FOX AND TBS BASEBALL DEALS APPROVED UNTIL 2013 - 17 Nov 06

Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved television deals worth $3 billion with Fox and TBS that run until 2013.

NEW YORK METS SIGN CITIGROUP SPONSORSHIP DEAL - 13 Nov 06

Major League Baseball’s New York Mets agreed a record-breaking deal with financial services company Citigroup Inc. for the naming rights for the team’s new stadium.

DISNEY INTERESTED IN NASN? - 26 Oct 06

The North American Sports Network owned by Setanta Sports and private equity company Benchmark Capital is reportedly the subject of interest from Disney.

SEVEN-UP FOR NEW MLB TV DEAL - 19 Oct 06

Major League Baseball has reached a new seven-year agreement with Turner Broadcasting System (TBS).

WHITE SOX SPONSORSHIP MEANS GAMES BEGIN AT 7:11 - 12 Oct 06

Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox will start weeknight home games at 7:11pm under a sponsorship deal with convenience store 7-Eleven.

CHECKERS AGREES SPORTS TV SPONSORSHIP - 15 Aug 06

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants agreed sponsorship deals with two US cable TV sports channels.

IRB ANNOUNCES RECORD TV FIGURES - 25 Jul 06

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced another year of record TV broadcast figures for the popular IRB Sevens World Series.

MLB LOOKS TO SELL FINAL TV RIGHTS PACKAGE - 19 Jul 06

US broadcasters ESPN, TBS, FX and OLN are all vying for in the TV rights to the remaining Major League Baseball American and National League Championship series games from 2007.

AUSTRALIA TO HOST IRB SEVENS WORLD SERIES EVENT - 12 Jul 06

The International Rugby Board announced that Australia will host a leg of the 2006-07 IRB Sevens World Series. The Australian Rugby Union has awarded the event to Adelaide, with the Adelaide Oval hosting the tournament.

FOX SPORTS AND BASEBALL SET TO RENEW TV CONTRACT - 11 Jul 06

US Major League Baseball is set to renew its TV rights deal with Fox Sports. Under the new seven-year agreement Fox Sports will retain the Saturday game of the week, the All-Star Game and the World Series rights.

WASSERMAN COMPLETES SPORTSNET TAKEOVER - 5 Jun 06

The Wasserman Media Group has completed the acquisition of US soccer player management company SportsNet.

MINOR LEAGUE UMPIRES SETTLE STRIKE DISPUTE - 30 May 06

The pay dispute which had disrupted the start of the new Minor League Baseball season in the US has finally been resolved.

HOPES OF BASEBALL STRIKE BREAKTHROUGH - 23 May 06

There are new hopes of a breakthrough this week in the wages dispute which has disrupted the start of minor league baseball in the US.

NATIONALS SALE APPROVED - 18 May 06

Major League Baseball owners have approved the $450m sale of the Washington Nationals.

BRAND SECURES MLB TEAM DEALS - 5 May 06

AutoTrader.com has agreed deals for the first time with five Major League Baseball teams.

NATIONALS SOLD FOR $450M - 3 May 06

Major League Baseball has finally agreed to sell the Washington Nationals in a deal worth a reported $450m.

YANKEES HIT BILLION DOLLAR MARK - 21 Apr 06

Major League Baseball's New York Yankees have become the first baseball team valued at more than $1billion in the annual estimates made by Forbes magazine.

RAZOR SHARP RESEARCH OF MLB FANS - 12 Apr 06

Major League Baseball fans spend more than $300billion annually on consumer packaged goods and nearly $600million on blades and razors alone.

OLYMPIC HOSTS COULD CHOOSE SPORTS - 6 Apr 06

Summer Olympic cities could choose some of the sports for their Games under a proposal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

NASN PITCH IN WITH EXCLUSIVE MLB DEAL - 14 Mar 06

NASN and Major League Baseball (MLB) have reached a groundbreaking five-year, pan-European broadcast deal, beginning with the 2006 season.

BEDNAR GETS BANK OF AMERICA ROLE - 13 Mar 06

Bank of America has announced that Raymond Bednar has joined the company as senior vice president and sports sponsorship executive.

NATIONALS STRIKE STADIUM DEAL - 6 Mar 06

Major League Baseball has resolved problems over a home for the Washington Nationals, signing a lease for a new ballpark.

MARKETING AGENCY IN POSITION FOR CIRCUIT REVAMP - 6 Mar 06

UK race track Donington Park has appointed full-service marketing agency RSM to manage its brand positioning and publicise its redevelopment.

TV DEAL FOR WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC - 3 Mar 06

NASN has secured exclusive pan-European rights to televise the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

BANK OF AMERICA EXTENDS NASCAR DEAL - 22 Feb 06

Bank of America Corp. has reached a new five-year deal with International Speedway Corp., which runs NASCAR, to sponsor four race tracks.

BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL STAY OUT IN THE COLD - 10 Feb 06

An appeal to reinstate baseball and softball to the Olympic Games programme has been rejected.

ANGELS OWNER TO BUY FLAGSHIP RADIO STATION - 7 Feb 06

Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno and a group of investors are buying Spanish talk KMXE Los Angeles from Radiovisa for about $42million, according to the Los Angeles Times.

IMG AND HARRAH'S IN POKER ALLIANCE - 3 Feb 06

IMG has teamed up with the world’s largest gaming company, Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., to promote the World Series of Poker.

TELLEM QUITS SFX - 30 Jan 06

Leading US sports agent Arn Tellem has split from SFX and sold his company to the Wasserman Media Group.

CHAMP CAR HIRES VP OF MARKETING - 25 Jan 06

Former Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) executive Garret Mudd is the new vice-president of marketing for the Champ Car World Series.

NEW PRODUCTION PARTNER FOR CHAMP CAR - 12 Jan 06

Veteran motor sports specialist Mullin Production Group (MPG) has been appointed as the television production partner to The Champ Car World Series for the 2006 season.

STARS TO PLAY IN WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC - 7 Dec 05

Many of the world's leading stars will compete in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, World Baseball Classic Inc. announced yesterday.

CHAMP CAR ENJOYS EXPOSURE BOOST - 29 Nov 05

Changes to the Champ Car World Series television package in 2005 delivered improved returns for sponsors and corporate partners, according to a new report.

DISNEY VENUE TO HOST WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC GAMES - 21 Nov 05

Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Florida has been awarded first round games in the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

MLB TOUGHENS UP ON DRUGS - 16 Nov 05

Major League Baseball has committed to a new anti-drug programme with harsher penalties for those caught using steroids and other performance-enhancing substances.

B2 NETS NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE - 8 Nov 05

The National Lacrosse League (NLL) has agreed a multi-year partnership with B2 Networks to offer fans broadband access to regular season and playoff games.

INCREASED NETWORK PRESENCE FOR CHAMP CAR - 8 Nov 05

The 2006 Champ Car World Series features seven events to be broadcast on CBS Sports and NBC, with the remaining eight races to be aired the cable motorsport network, SPEED Channel.

JETS SIGN TO REGIONAL NETWORK - 4 Nov 05

NFL franchise The New York Jets have signed a three-year television deal with SportsNet New York.

THE WEEK THAT WAS... - 4 Nov 05

Editorial director Kevin Roberts reviews some of the issues from the past seven days.

WORLD SERIES RATINGS LOWEST EVER - 31 Oct 05

The latest baseball World Series suffered its lowest ratings in history.

AUSTRALIAN RECORD FOR CHAMP CAR - 28 Oct 05

Champ Car annually sets an attendance record at the Lexmark Indy 300 in Australia and has done so again in 2005.

BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL RETURN COULD COST LONDON - 27 Oct 05

The bill for the London Games could swell by £50million if baseball and softball are restored to the Olympic programme for 2012.

BULLDOZERS MOVE INTO BUSCH STADIUM - 20 Oct 05

The St Louis Cardinals are set to start demolition work on their old stadium this week.

FIVE LIVE RENEW MLB RADIO RIGHTS - 19 Oct 05

BBC Radio Five Live has renewed its radio rights deal with Major League Baseball in the UK for the third successive year.

CHAMP CAR IN VIDEO-GAME PARTNERSHIP - 16 Oct 05

The Champ Car World Series has agreed a long-term partnership with SE GAMES and Jester Interactive Publishing to develop exclusively licensed video games and related merchandise.

CHAMP CAR REDESIGN - 12 Oct 05

The Champ Car World Series is to introduce a new smaller, safer and more nimble car for 2007.

SAN JUAN TO HOST WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC - 11 Oct 05

San Juan, Puerto Rico has been awarded first and second round games of the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

BURGER KING SERVES UP MLB PROMOTION - 30 Sep 05

Burger King in Germany will be delivering a new MLB promotion in restaurants nationwide, as part of continuing efforts to promote baseball outside the US.