Major League Baseball:
The Office of the Commissioner of BaseballAllan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner
245 Park Avenue, 31st floor
New York, NY 10167
(212) 931-7800
Major League Baseball Western Operations Office
Laurel Prieb, VP of Western Operations & Special Projects and Valerie Dietrich, Office CoordinatorLocated at the Esplanade on the eighth floor of Building Three, near the corner of East Camelback Road and North 24th Street in Phoenix, Arizona 85016
Official Site
Official Schedule
Official Rules
Alan H. "Bud" Selig, Commissioner (He is under contract thru the 2012 season. He will retire as commissioner at the end of 2012.)
Jimmie Lee Solomon, Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations
Joe Garagiola Jr., Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations
Mike Port, Vice President of Umpiring
Darrell Miller , Director of Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in Compton, CA
Bob Watson
Chief Disciplinarian, VP of rules MLB and on-field operations
Darryl Hamilton
Senior specialist of on-field operations
Bob DuPy
President and COO of MLB
Rob Manfred
Exec. VP of Labor Relations and Human Resources
Daniel R. Halem, Senior VP and general counsel for labor
Jonathan Mariner
Exec. VP of Finance
John McHale Jr.
Exec. VP of Administration
Tim Brosnan
MLB executive VP of business operations
Kevin Hallinan
Former Senior VP of security and facility management
No Picture
Lou Melendez, VP of International Baseball Operations and Administration
Paul Archey, Senior VP of International Baseball Operations
No Picture
Ed Burns, VP of Operations & Administration
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Rich Levin, MLB Senior Vice President, Public Relations (MLB Spokesperson)
No Picture
Susan Goodenow, Vice President of Business Public Relations
Katy Feeney, Senior VP of scheduling and club relations
MLB Executive Council:
Consists of 4 NL and 4 AL Clubs' General Managing Partners- serve for 4-year terms- must be elected to position) (Year of election in parentheses)
Peter Angelos (2004), Peter Magowan (2004), John Moores (2005), John Henry (2005) and 4 others
Major League Baseball Playing Rules Committee:
(Playing Rules Committee oversees the revision, repeal and adoption of Official Baseball Rules, which govern how the game is played in the Major and Minor Leagues)
Sandy Alderson (Chairman); Bob Beban (Padres' A Affiliate Eugene Emeralds President and GM- minor league rep.), Rod Carew, Andy MacPhail, John McHale Jr., Terry Ryan, John Schuerolz, Bill Stoneman, Larry Young (umpires' rep.), Mike Gaski (advisor and non-voting member)
Major League Baseball Players' Association:
MLBPA12 East 49th Street
24th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Telephone: (212) 826-0808 & (212) 826-0809 (licensing)
Fax: (212) 752-4378
Official Site
Donald Fehr, Executive Director
Gene Orza, COO
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Michael Wiener, General Counsel of the MLBPA
Doyle Pryor, Bob Lenaghan and Jeff Fannel, Asst. General Counsels of the MLBPA
MLBPA Executive Council:
(made up of players from various teams)
Mike Myers, Craig Counsell, Tony Clark, Mark Loretta, and others
The 2003-2006 Basic Agreement-(CBA) between MLB and the MLBPA.
Text of 2007-2011 Basic Agreement-(CBA) between MLB and the MLBPA coming soon. The five-year labor contract expires on December 11, 2011.
Major League Baseball's Labor, Sponsorship, Advertising and Licensing Deals:
XM Satellite Radio- cover every MLB game on radio, some also in Spanish and English- will also have MLB 24-Hour Radio Network- deal was signed on 10/20/04 and is worth 650M for 11 years starting in 2005 thru 2015
ESPN Radio- 6-year deal to broadcast Sunday Night Baseball games and various games throughout the season, as well as all of the postseason- deal worth $11M a year signed on 10/21/04 thru 2010 season
ESPN .com: 6-year deal to cover MLB on internet worth $30M a year
Fox : 7-year contract worth $257 million per year thru 2013 signed on July 11, 2006. As part of the deal, FOX receives an exclusive window beginning at 3:30PM (previously was 1:00PM) for 26 Saturday baseball telecasts, retains the exclusive prime-time rights to the All-Star Game and the World Series, and retains the rights to exclusive coverage of the American and National League Championship Series in alternating years. Fox will air the ALCS games in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013, and the NLCS games in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Under the deal, the first World Series game will be played on the first Tuesday night after the completion of the LCS instead of Saturday night as in the previous contract. FOX also retains the rights to broadcast This Week in Baseball, MLB's award-winning, youth-oriented magazine show which precedes the FOX Saturday Baseball Game of the Week. Previous deal: 6-year contract thru 2006 season that gives FOX the right to carry a Saturday game of the week, the playoffs, the All-Star game and the World Series is worth about $2.5 billion ($417M annually). Fox has an exclusive negotiating window with MLB to extend the deal. That window has expired, but Fox does have the right to match any "final" offer MLB receives from another network.
World Umpires Association: The umpire's union labor agreement to umpire all MLB games- signed and ratified 5-year CBA thru December 31st, 2009 and effective of January 1, 2005 in February 2005- Under the new agreement, QuesTec will continue to be used to grade umpires but will not be the only system for evaluation. If an umpire meets ball-and-strike standards under QuesTec, no other system will be used- the contract calls for 5 percent annual salary increases for umpires. The 2005 season salary scale ranges from $87,859 to $357,530, the maximum going to umpires with 27 years of major league service. That salary scale will rise 5% each year during the contract. In addition, up to 15 umpires can decide from Feb. 1 to April 30 whether to accept a retirement package. Also, owners must rehire at least 3 more of the umpires who lost their jobs in the 1999 labor dispute. The agreement also prohibits an ump from working in back-to-back World Series or back-to-back series in a single postseason. The President of the WUA is John Hirschbeck. Also, as part of the agreement, post-season umpires receive bonuses: $15,000 for the Division Series, $20,000 for the LCS, $20,000 for the World Series. Postseason umpires are chosen on the basis of their performance during the regular season. The 2005 selections were made during a two-day meeting in which all seven supervisors participated. The committee considered 10 criteria for each umpire: Strike-zone performance , Situation management, Experience, Plays handled, Missed calls, Overall umpiring knowledge , Pace of game, Mobility, In-season supervisor comments, Hustle/focus/demeanor. Frank Pulli is the sole umpire supervisor who evaluates umpires' ball-strike calls, reviewing QuesTec discs of each plate performance. He is only permitted to make adjustments on questionable pitches on the edge of the zone, and can only add to an umpire's score, not subtract from it,
Minor League Baseball- MLB and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL) signed a 10-year deal effective Oct. 1, 2004 thru 2014 (the deal was announced on 1/13/05). The agreement guarantees that Major League teams will field at least 160 National Association teams through the life of the agreement by means of Player Development Contracts (PDC) and/or ownership of National Association teams. It also assigns the selection of the official statistician for the Minor Leagues to the Baseball Commissioner. Beginning in 2005, MLB Advanced Media will be the official statistician for the Minor Leagues. Additional highlights of the new agreement include access to all Minor League content for a baseball-only television channel owned and operated by Major League Baseball and joint marketing initiatives between MLB and Minor League Baseball.
MLB Andavnced Media (MLBAM) with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL)- signed 10-year deal worth an undisclosed amount starting with the 2005 season through 2014 season. It's an online partnership agreement making MLBAM the exclusive provider of Internet-related services and other interactive media services to NAPBL. It makes MLBAM exclusively responsible for the development, operation and maintenance of the official NAPBL website, the websites for each of the NAPBL leagues and the websites for the NAPBL teams that elect to participate in the new website network. In addition, MLBAM has been selected as the official statistician for the Minor League Baseball. NAPBL currently governs 17 leagues and about 200 individual teams. As part of the agreement MLBAM will handle the online sale of merchandise, including tickets, content, advertising and sponsorships and statistical syndication for the network. MLBAM will have the exclusive online use of NAPBL, league and team trademarks, names, logos, mascots, player names, likenesses, photos and game audio and video.
MLB Adavnced Media (MLBAM) with Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA)- agreed to an exclusive relationship combining the personal attributes and marketing power of Major League baseball players as a group with the trademarks, symbols and logos of Major League Baseball and its teams for exploitation through interactive media on 1/20/05. The agreement is worth in excess of 50M over 5 years. Provides MLBAM the exclusive rights to use, and to sublicense to others, Major League baseball player group rights for the development and creation of on-line games, all other online content, including fantasy baseball and interactive games, as well as all wireless applications including cell-phone enabled games. Through this groundbreaking arrangement, MLBAM will have the right to implement off-line advertising, sponsorship and promotions in support of its on-line partners, and Major League baseball player rights will be more extensively integrated throughout the official Major League Baseball website, MLB.com, and the thirty Major League team sites for an interactive experience including fantasy baseball and other games, merchandise and memorabilia auctions featuring player autographs and other unique player items, as well as player chats, diaries and special experiences. MLB.com will host the official MLBPA website, to be re-launched as MLBplayers.com, the Players Choice on the web. The official pages of all members of the Major League Baseball Players Association also will be hosted on MLB.com.
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.- semi-exclusive deals with MLB Properties, MLBAM and the MLBPA to develop, publish and distribute baseball video games beginning in 2006 and continuing on thru 2012. The deal is not completely exclusive because various console manufacturers still retain the right to make their own baseball games for their platforms. The exclusives include rights to the marks of all 30 Major League Baseball Clubs, MLB players, Major League ballparks and Minor League Baseball Clubs, as well as MLB.com online content, for use in Take-Two's baseball games. Take-Two said the exclusive deals specify it as the exclusive third-party publisher for officially licensed Major League Baseball video games. All other third-party publishers and developers are precluded from publishing officially licensed MLB simulation, arcade, and manager style games, either directly or in affiliation with a hardware manufacturer, during the length of the exclusives. Take-Two will be the sole developer, publisher and distributor of licensed simulation, arcade and manager-style Major League Baseball PC games.
General Mills' Wheaties Cereal- 2-year sponsorship deal to make Wheaties, the "Official Breakfast Cereal" of Major League Baseball. As part of the agreement, which includes exclusive category rights, Wheaties will create a minimum of three national cereal boxes featuring Major League Baseball marks and logos during each year of the agreement. The boxes may feature current or former players. Wheaties also will launch a Major League Baseball-themed national advertising campaign during the 2005 season, the cereal brand's first new television advertising campaign in four years. Wheaties will make significant media commitments to national Major League Baseball broadcasts and "This Week in Baseball" Presented by Pepsi, produced by Emmy® award-winning Major League Baseball Productions. Wheaties also will be an exhibiting sponsor at John Hancock All-Star FanFest, the interactive baseball themepark that opens Major League Baseball All-Star Week, and will be a title sponsor of one of the event's major attractions.
Tickets.com- MLBAM owns 26,757,558, or approximately 94.9%, of the 28,192,746 shares of stock issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Tickets.com. Each remaining outstanding share of Tickets.com will be converted, subject to appraisal rights, into the right to receive $1.10 in cash, without interest. MLBAM accepted payment of all of the shares validly tendered at the tender offer price of $1.10 per share. Merger was completed on 3/22/05.
General Motors- 3-year sponsorship agreement effective 3/23/05 thru 2007 signed on 3/23/05 to make Chevrolet the "Official Vehicle of Major League Baseball. As part of the agreement, Chevrolet will be the presenting sponsor of two of the game's most prestigious awards, the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award and the World Series Most Valuable Player Award. The MVP of both events will be presented with the Chevrolet vehicle of his choice at the conclusion of the All-Star Game and deciding World Series game telecasts.Chevy also will be the presenting sponsor of the 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Selection Show. The 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Selection Show presented by Chevrolet will announce the starters, reserves and pitchers for the 2005 All-Star Game, along with the five position players in each League eligible for the "Ameriquest 2005 All-Star Final Vote" on MLB.com. The 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Selection Show airs Sunday, July 3, 2005 on ESPN. As part of the agreement, Chevrolet will make significant media commitments to national Major League Baseball rightsholders, as well as to "This Week in Baseball" Presented by Pepsi, produced by Emmy® award-winning Major League Baseball Productions, and to publications created by MLB Properties. Chevrolet also will be a participating sponsor of John Hancock All-Star FanFest, the interactive baseball theme park that opens Major League Baseball All-Star Week. Chevrolet will be the title sponsor of a premier attraction at the five-day event.
DHL: 3-year sponsorship deal with MLB and MLBAM that names DHL the "Official Express Delivery and Logistics Provider" of both organizations signed on 3/31/05. The agreement represents a multi-faceted program including exclusive shipping arrangements, two new Major League Baseball sanctioned awards ("DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month Award," "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Year Award") and a comprehensive Major League Baseball-themed advertising campaign. The agreement provides DHL with off line and online marketing rights and represents a significant commitment from Major League Baseball as a DHL customer. DHL will provide MLB and MLB.com with a variety of air and ground express and logistics services including: shipment of all retail purchases from The Shop section at MLB.com and all 30 MLB Club online retail stores, as well as providing all shipping services from the Major League Baseball central offices and MLB Advanced Media in New York City. DHL also will provide special shipping centers on-site at all Major League Baseball All-Star Week events as well as other major off-site events and meetings. The inaugural "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month Award" will begin with the 2005 season and will recognize the most outstanding relief pitcher during each month of the regular season. The award will be supported by monthly advertisements in USA Today. At the conclusion of the season, Major League Baseball fans will have the opportunity to determine which relief pitcher had the best overall season through the "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Year Award." A Major League Baseball blue ribbon panel will select the finalists, and fans will be able to vote online at MLB.com to select the winner of this new MLB award. The "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Year Award" will be presented during the Major League Baseball postseason.
DHL: signed 4-year deal thru 2010 season with MLB Properties and MLBAM to become "Official Express Delivery and Logistics Provider of Major League Baseball and MLB.com" and to gain the title sponsorship of MLB All-Star FanFest. As part of the overall agreement, DHL will continue to make significant media commitments to national MLB television rightsholders. DHL is also an official sponsor of seven Major League Clubs: Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and San Francisco Giants, host of the 78th Major League Baseball All-Star Game this July, as well as the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
The Home Depot®: signed deal on 4/1/05 that includes exclusive category rights, advertising, special events, community relations activities, and in-store promotion and names The Home Depot, "Official Home Improvement Warehouse of Major League Baseball." As part of its advertising commitment to MLB, The Home Depot is planning a co-branded television spot with The Scotts Company that will feature Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz. In addition, the company will launch an in-store initiative at all U.S. locations in early April with the distribution of the "2005 Major League Baseball Official Fan Guide." The guide includes a 2005 season preview along with schedules for all 30 Major League Baseball teams and useful consumer information about yard and garden care. The Home Depot also will be an active participant in Major League Baseball All-Star Week. The Home Depot will be an exhibiting sponsor of John Hancock All-Star FanFest and will fund the refurbishment of a youth baseball/softball field in the All-Star host city during each year of the agreement. The Major League Baseball Community Affairs department will select the field designated for improvement in conjunction with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the official charity of Major League Baseball. In addition to its new national partnership with Major League Baseball, The Home Depot also has local club sponsorship agreements with the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners.
Shout! Factory: signed 3-year DVD distribution agreement on 4/25/05 with MLB Productions. Deal grants distribution rights for original Major League Baseball Productions content, the Major League Baseball Productions home video and DVD archive, and the Major League Baseball game library, including the first-ever U.S. release of complete MLB games on DVD. Deal makes Shout! Factory the official DVD distributor for new Major League Baseball Productions content. As part of the agreement, Shout! Factory will distribute at least four titles during each year of the agreement. Among the four original DVD titles distributed by Shout! Factory each year will be the annual World Series film, which chronicles the Fall Classic with unique game action footage and exclusive one-on-one interviews with players, coaches and team personnel.
A&E Home Video: signed 3-year DVD distribution agreement on 4/25/05 with MLB Productions. D eal grants distribution rights for original Major League Baseball Productions content, the Major League Baseball Productions home video and DVD archive, and the Major League Baseball game library, including the first-ever U.S. release of complete MLB games on DVD. Under deal, they will have exclusive rights to the Major League Baseball Productions DVD and Home Video archive for the creation of collector's edition box sets. Additionally, A&E Home Video will receive certain exclusive rights to the complete Major League Baseball library of content, providing for the first-ever domestic release of sets of Major League Baseball games on DVD. The MLB library includes footage dating back a full 100 years and encompasses World Series films since 1943, games from 90 World Series exhibitions, 41 All-Star Game exhibitions and 57 complete no-hitters. As part of the agreement, A&E Home Video, through its home video distribution partner New Video Group, will distribute at least four titles in each year of the agreement. In addition, A&E Home Video will have the right to update existing catalog titles with new sound tracks, commentaries and unlimited bonus features.
ESPN: signed 8-year deal worth $2.368 billion grants ESPN the right to televise up to 80 Major League Baseball regular-season games per season across the ESPN networks through 2013 on 9/14/05. ESPN will pay baseball $273.5 million in 2006; $293.5 million in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010; $308.5 million in 2011; and $306 million in 2012 and 2013. ESPN will telecast three Major League Baseball windows including Monday nights, Wednesday nights, and the exclusive "Sunday Night Baseball" series. Also, ESPN will continue to produce the popular "Baseball Tonight" series. The agreement includes rights for ESPN to include Major League Baseball programming as part of its distribution of the ESPN networks via certain new technologies. The ESPN Monday night series will include the ability to lift blackouts in local MLB Club markets up to three times per club, per year. ESPN has the rights to several of the Major League Baseball All-Star Week events, including the All-Star Home Run Derby, Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, and the XM Satellite Radio All-Star Futures Game. ESPN receives exclusive telecast of the Sunday night, MLB season-opening game. ESPN receives right to full coverage of Major League Baseball Opening Day. ESPN receives right to broadcast up to 10 spring training games in each year of the agreement. ESPN receives the right to produce a new live pre-game, batting practice program which will generally originate from the site of ESPN's Monday Night telecast. ESPN receives right to air six one-hour specials produced exclusively by Major League Baseball Productions, the Emmy® award-winning television and video production division of Major League Baseball, in each year of the agreement. ESPN will no longer broadcast day games on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day. ESPN will pick the first two months of its Sunday schedule during the offseason, then must give three weeks notice to move games in the June and July and two weeks notice in the final two months of each season. Under deal, ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" does not have exclusive rights to show highlights each night from 10 to 11 o'clock and from midnight to 1 a.m. Under deal, ESPN does have a right to show live cut-ins to games during "SportsCenter." Also, ESPN's right to carry games in the first round of the playoffs expire following the 2006 post-season.North American Sports Network (NASN): 5-year pan-European broadcast agreement worth about $18-$20 million, beginning with the 2006 season thru 2010 season signed on 3/13/06. Agreement provides NASN with exclusive rights to televise more than 275 games each season, from Spring Training through the postseason and World Series. NASN's live coverage of MLB will consist of up to 10 regular season games each week, as well as the entire postseason and World Series. Deal covers all forms of television, including high-definition (HDTV) and IPTV rights. It also provides NASN with additional premier content rights including the All-Star game, All-Star Week events such as the CENTURY 21® Home Run Derby and the long-running program "This Week in Baseball," produced by Emmy® award-winning Major League Baseball Productions.
TBS: signed 7-year deal worth $104 million annually thru 2013. As part of the agreement, Turner Sports Broadcasting receives rights to the NLDS and ALDS to air them on TBS. If there are overlapping games, Turner's TNT will pick up some of those telecasts. TBS also receives 26 regular season Sunday afternoon games in a non-exclusive window beginning in 2008. TBS receives the right to choose which games it broadcasts (in a window selected by MLB). They have the ability to choose the same team up to 13 times. Under the deal, TBS will reduce its coverage of Altanta Braves games to 70 Braves games nationally in 2007. Then beginning in 2008 through 2013, TBS will air 45 Braves games on WTBS locally in Atlanta only. These games also could be carried on TBS in the club's six-state home territory, which includes Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. Also, by 2008, about 105 Braves games per season will be shown in Atlanta and across the Southeast on regional cable channels FSN South and Turner South, with a dozen or so others likely to be shown by ESPN or Fox. Also as part of the deal, beginning in 2007, Turner will begin airing the MLB All Star Game selection show each year. Additionally, TBS acquires the rights to any regular season tie-breaker games to determine division winners or Wild Card entrants beginning in 2006. Plus, later signed an additional 7-year deal thru 2013 worth $310M or about $45-50M annually to broadcast the NLCS in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 and the ALCS in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Previous deal: deal thru 2008 season to broadcast up to 90 Atlanta Braves games nationally.
MediaCorp, Inc. (MediaCorp) and MLBAM: signed multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement thru 2008 on 3/28/06 to make MediaCorp the exclusive license holder of certain MLB-related rights which will be exploited in the Korean market via Internet and wireless mediums. MediaCorp has rights to A Korean-language website dedicated to Major League Baseball; Live Internet streaming of MLB games via broadband, IPTV, and wireless Internet protocol. ; Live Internet text broadcasting of MLB games in conjunction with each of the three Korean Wireless Carriers: SKT, KTF, and LGT. ; Video-on-demand offering of MLB Games (MLB.TV Archives). ; Daily video clips of MLB Games (Plays of the Game and Extended Highlights) ; A Korean-language All-Star Ballot area. ; A robust Korean-language baseball news area with stats, schedules, scoreboards, standings, game updates, live text broadcasting, history and the latest news and photos. ; Wireless access to a wide variety of MLB content, including video. ; Online shop and Auction of MLB official licensed merchandise in the Korean market. ; and Advertising and sponsorship opportunities on the Korean-language website.
Reakosys, Inc. and MLBAM: signed deal for 2006 and 2007 seasons thats gives them licensing rights to MLB-branded mobile games in Korea. Reakosys will develop and publish officially-licensed MLB-branded games on service carriers in the Korean market.
Century 21 Real Estate LLC: sponsorship renewal agreement that extends their highly visible partnership signed on 7/6/06. Century 21 Real Estate LLC has been the "Official Real Estate Organization of Major League Baseball" since 1999. As part of the new agreement, Century 21 Real Estate LLC will retain its title sponsorship of the CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby®, the CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby All-Star Sweepstakes, the CENTURY 21 Mascot Home Run Derby and presenting sponsorship of the Hank Aaron Award.
Major League Baseball and USA Baseball (USAB): 10-year agreement in which Major League Baseball will acquire all USAB commercial rights, enabling USAB to focus its resources on growing amateur baseball in the United States signed on July 11, 2006. Major League Baseball acquires USAB sponsorship, licensing, and other business rights, which will immediately be transferred to the league's business arm, Major League Baseball Properties. MLB Properties will provide USAB with a guaranteed level of annual funding to support its athlete programs. MLB Advanced Media LP (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, will also obtain USAB's Internet rights. The agreement includes a unique revenue sharing opportunity to provide for the organization's future growth. The guaranteed annual funding represents the largest financial commitment ever made to the organization.
Major League Baseball Properties (MLBP) and Nestlé Baby Ruth: signed three-year partnership thru 2008 on July 11, 2006. Baby Ruth, working in conjunction with Major League Baseball®, will launch a special program during the game's 7th Inning Stretch allowing consumers and "ultimate fans" the unique opportunity to savor their favorite sport and candy bar.
TRISTAR: multi-year exclusive licensing agreement making TRISTAR the only trading card manufacturer licensed by MLBP to produce nationally-distributed trading cards of top draft picks and prospects within Minor League Baseball signed on 8/23/06. The deal designates TRISTAR as the exclusive MLBP national trading card licensee with national distribution rights to produce the first professional base set cards of amateur players selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft as well as prospects signed as undrafted free agents.
Pepsi: signed five-year sponsorship renewal that secures the beverage company as the "Official Soft Drink of Major League Baseball" through 2010 on 10/19/06. In addition, MLB and Pepsi sister company Frito-Lay have reached an agreement to make Frito-Lay the "Official Snack Chip of Major League Baseball." As part of the overall agreement, Pepsi will continue to make significant media commitments to national MLB television rightsholders and will extend its presenting sponsorship of "This Week In Baseball" (TWIB). Pepsi and Frito-Lay will share exclusive rights to the MLB All-Star Game retail balloting program in the U.S. and Canada. As a participating sponsor for MLB All-Star FanFest, Pepsi will also remain the title sponsor for one of the event's major attractions, The Diamond. Pepsi will extend its five-year title sponsorship of the "Pepsi Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit & Run" national youth skills competition.
MasterCard Worldwide: signed global sponsorship agreement thru 2010 season on 9/26/06. The agreement includes exclusive category rights granted by Major League Baseball Properties, Major League Baseball International and MLB Advanced Media. As part of the agreement, MasterCard will make significant media commitments to regular season and Jewel Event Major League Baseball broadcasts. They also will be a participating sponsor at MLB All-Star FanFest, the interactive baseball theme park that opens Major League Baseball All-Star Week, and will be a title sponsor of one of the event's major attractions.
Sprint Nextel Corp: signed non-exclusive deal to make audio of radio broadcasts available to its subscribers' mobile phones for $5.99 a month on 8/8/06.
ESPN International: signed 4-year deal thru 2010 World Series with MLB International on 3/29/07. As part of the renewal agreement, ESPN International will maintain cable and satellite television rights on all ESPN television networks in 190 countries and territories in Arabic, English, Portuguese and Spanish through the 2010 MLB World Series. ESPN International will bring MLB games to fans in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Israel, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and ESPN-affiliated Cruise Ships. ESPN International will have exclusive rights to broadcast Tuesday and Friday night MLB games with additional premier rights to broadcast the All-Star Game and the XM All-Star Futures Game. The agreement also grants ESPN International the rights to broadcast half of the American and National League Division Series and one League Championship Series each season, beginning with the National League Championship Series in 2007 and alternating Leagues each year. Additionally, the World Series will be broadcast in its entirety by ESPN International.
DirecTV: signed non-exclusive 7-year deal worth $700 million thru 2013 season in March 2007 to broadcast MLB Extra Innings. As part of the deal, DirecTV receives a 16.67% stake in the MLB Network set to launch in 2009. DIRECTV will expand the MLB EXTRA INNINGS options to include a game mosaic channel, a Strike Zone Channel that takes viewers to live cut-ins of MLB games in progress at key points; detailed player and team stats, real-time scores and live updates from other games; and other innovations that complement the sport of baseball, entertain viewers and provide fans with a great entertainment value. Beginning in 2008, DIRECTV will provide most, if not all, of the package in High Definition.
iNDEMAND consortium owned by the cable operators Comcast, Bright House, Time Warner and Cox: signed non-exclusive deal worth $700 million over 7 years thru 2013 season in April 2007 to broadcast MLB Extra Innings. As part of the deal, the inDEMAND partners will proportionatelty split a 1/3 stake in the MLB Network that they must carry on a digital basic tier beginning in 2009.
Cablevision, Charter Communications: signed non-exclusive deal thru 2013 season in April 2007 to broadcast MLB Extra Innings.
Sharp AQUOS: signed multi-year sponsorship agreement that makes it the "Official High-Definition Television of Major League Baseball". It includes exclusive category rights, presenting sponsorship of the American and National League Player of the Month Awards, as well as presenting sponsorship of the prestigious Hank Aaron Award, which is given annually to the best offensive player in both Leagues. As the new presenting sponsor of the Major League Baseball National League and American League Player of the Month Awards, Sharp will present the monthly winners with a Sharp AQUOS LCD-TV. Along with the sponsorship of Major League Baseball, Sharp currently has eight Club sponsorship agreements with the Boston Red Sox, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants. As part of the agreement, Sharp will make significant media commitments to national Major League Baseball television rightsholders, as well as to other MLB-produced programming. Sharp will also be a participating sponsor at MLB All-Star FanFest, the interactive baseball theme park that is the cornerstone of Major League Baseball All-Star Week. Sharp will supply more than 100 AQUOS televisions to be displayed throughout the event and will be title sponsor of one of the event's major attractions, a lounge featuring Sharp AQUOS televisions and recliners allowing fans of all ages to enjoy Major League Baseball in High-Definition.
ESPN Star Sports (ESS) and FTV: signed deal for comprehensive over-the-air, cable and satellite broadcast packages through 2009 in March 2007. As part of a renewal agreement, ESS will maintain cable and satellite television rights in 29 countries and territories across Asia (with exclusivity in all, except for China) through the 2009 MLB championship season. ESS will broadcast up to three MLB regular season games per week, the All-Star Game (with additional rights to the Home Run Derby and the XM All-Star Futures Game), select American and National League Division Series games, both League Championship Series and the World Series to television audiences across Asia. Additionally, ESS has expanded its inventory in Taiwan specifically to include the right to air up to seven regular season games per week (an increase of four games), any and all games featuring a Taiwanese player, and the entire MLB postseason (Division and League Championship Series games were formally limited). ESS has been a MLB broadcast partner for the past decade. The new agreement with FTV gives the popular Taiwanese network exclusive over-the-air television rights in Taiwan for the first time ever. From 2007-2009, FTV will broadcast more than 60 MLB regular season games per year, including one game every Saturday morning. FTV will also hold premier content rights as the over-the-air home of the MLB All-Star Game and the entire MLB postseason.
KPGM: signed sponsorship agreement with MLB's Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities (RBI) worth $1M annually.
State Farm: signed multi-year sponsorship agreement with MLB Properties to make State Farm the "Official Insurance Company of Major League Baseball". The deal includes exclusive category rights and title sponsorships for the State Farm Home Run Derby and the State Farm Mascot Home Run Derby at Major League Baseball All-Star Week. As part of the agreement, State Farm will make significant media commitments to national Major League Baseball television rightsholders. State Farm also continues to maintain partnerships with 24 Major League Clubs: Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays.
Stubhub: signed five-year agreement with MLBAM on 8/2/07 to become the official online provider of secondary tickets for MLB.com. The agreement provides a co-branded secondary ticket marketplace that will serve as a singular online destination for fans to purchase tickets with StubHub being designated the Official Ticket Marketplace of MLB.com. Starting with the 2008 season, StubHub will gain unprecedented category exclusivity from MLBAM with its designation, along with official, club-endorsed status from each participating Major League Baseball team. Exclusivity will pertain to all online secondary ticket sales through MLB team sites supplanting other current secondary solutions. All existing team enabled online secondary ticket offerings will be assumed by StubHub, enabling for all bar code ticketing, ticketing kiosks and any other electronic/mobile ticketing delivery, validation and transfers. Additional elements include promotion of the ticket marketplace on MLB.com and participating club sites as well. As part of the deal, MLBAM receives a share of the 25 percent cut Stubhub takes on the sale of each ticket. Stubhub will also pay a base fee to MLBAM.
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