Letting them all play
Mastercard is the longtime presenting sponsor of the All-Star Game and will still partner with Fox in support of Stand Up to Cancer, with Fox airing a moment during the game when fans hold up placards with the names of friends or loved ones struggling with cancer. Rawn Dowler noted that T-Mobile is often able to speak directly to Fox about where its initiatives can fit in an All-Star Game broadcast.
While official MLB sponsors typically make up 30% of All-Star Game ad buyers or more, Fox’s Evans noted that this year they were a smaller portion of the overall base thanks to increased interest. It’s unusual, he added, because of the variability of ad units in a baseball game based on the number of times teams change pitchers, the home team extending a game a half inning if they’re behind in the ninth, and extra innings if both teams are tied after nine.
That creates variability in the number of ads a brand can run, and clients typically don’t like “floaters”—or units that Fox can’t guarantee will get in, even during a high-profile, high-priced event like the All-Star Game. But does a package with, say, NFL properties, college football, NASCAR, IndyCar, or any of Fox’s recent “Summer of Soccer” offerings—Copa America, Concacaf Gold Cup, women’s and men’s European Championships, MLS Leagues Cup, etc.—take a bit of the edge off?
“Without a doubt. We sell the biggest marquee events regularly. We’re very fortunate to have the portfolio that we have at Fox Sports, but of course, we package our other events with the largest and biggest and brightest events that we have,” Evans said. “So it gives marketers an option with increased scale across the portfolio and supporting all of the different aspects of what we do, not only in Fox Sports, but at Fox Corporation.”
When ESPN airs the Home Run Derby, Google Cloud does a live look-in and provides a data-driven Statcast alternate broadcast on ESPN 2. ESPN Bet does a Derby live update to encourage wagers. T-Mobile provides Fanatics a lower-third graphic throughout the broadcast for the FastCash giveaway. GEICO and Capital One each sponsor segments within the event.
