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When Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game was last played in Seattle in 2001, league sponsor Mastercard was less than four years into the “Priceless” campaign it built around baseball.
Launched during the 1997 World Series, the first “Priceless” ad created by McCann-Erickson focused on what Mastercard payments could buy at the ballpark—then, only at the ticket window and souvenir or concessions counters—as well as the intangible experiences that “money can’t buy.” During Mastercard’s 25-year tenure as an MLB partner, the number of elements in and around the ballpark that Mastercard products can’t pay for has shrunk considerably.
This year, Mastercard not only serves as the title sponsor of the All-Star Game, but it’s showing off its small business payments partnership with Apple Tap to Pay on iPhone at a food truck near the game’s T-Mobile Park host site. For the third year, Mastercard sponsored MLB’s Home Team Advantage Small Business Contest, which gave winning businesses $10,000, a Mastercard Digital Doors 2.0 toolkit, in-stadium ads in their home market and a trip to the All-Star Game, where they get to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.
Mastercard also gets its business-to-business side in the game by airing a new “Look Closer” ad for its NuDetect fraud detection technology—which MLB uses to verify All-Star Game voting—twice during the game it’s sponsoring.
“It ties back to what our brand is all about, our foundation in ‘Priceless’ and experiences mattering more than things,” said Anne Valentzas, Mastercard’s svp of consumer marketing and head of sponsorships for North America. “So even if we were to leverage an NFT, we’re not a brand who is going to bring that to our cardholders as an object. … There are always going to be experiences tied to it.”
The All-Star Game’s growth into a five-day All-Star Week—which Adweek will be covering in full this year—has provided brands with an increasing number of opportunities to leave their mark on one of baseball’s marquee events. In the middle of summer with few other major sporting events to compete with, All-Star Week represents a quiet time on the sports calendar—with enough space for brands looking to make some noise.
Expanding the playing field
Baseball’s last All-Star stop in Seattle looked much smaller 22 years ago. The league’s Futures Game of young talent and Celebrity Softball Game were in their earliest stages. There was no red carpet show before the All-Star Game itself, and the MLB Draft wasn’t moved to All-Star Week until last year.