How Baseball’s All-Star Game Drove In More Brands

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.

Overall, there were far fewer brands in play, with an MLB spokesman noting that the number of official league sponsors in 2001 was about half of what it is today. The only holdovers from that era are Mastercard, All-Star Workout Day sponsor Gatorade and MLB’s longest-standing sponsor, Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser. 

The beer brand will still give fans a chance to win free beer for the season with its “Hit the Buds” in-game campaign, while inviting fans on the grounds to its Budweiser Clubhouse to hang out at the bar, take swings in the batting cages and meet the Clydesdales. It’ll even be teaming with Ken Griffey Jr. to sell Budweiser x @therealkengriffeyjr All-Star Collection merchandise at ShopBeerGear.com.

“As the beer synonymous with baseball, Budweiser is continuing its commitment to celebrating America’s favorite pastime by bringing 21 [and older] fans closer to the action throughout the season, including this year’s game in Seattle,” said Kristina Punwani, head of marketing for Budweiser U.S.

But All-Star Week’s growth means Budweiser is no longer alone. Last year, Constellation Brands’ Corona became the Official Cerveza of Major League Baseball and began featuring prominently at the league’s premier events. At last year’s All-Star Week in Los Angeles, Corona had a little fun with trading cards, but kept its presence somewhat modest.

For 2023? Corona’s placed its brand on the Celebrity Softball Game and its Major League Vibes Fan Cam. Around T-Mobile Park, there’ll be Corona Adirondack chairs for fans to relax in and, at the event’s fan-and-brand festival, there’s a chance for fans to make their own walk-up songs and hear Spotify’s “Walk Up to the Fine Life” playlist of iconic walkup songs. 

Roughly 20 million Americans identify as both Hispanic and MLB fans, with Hispanic and Latino players making up roughly 30% of MLB rosters.  A partner of both MLB and the Seattle Mariners, Corona is using its All-Star moment to connect with fans on multiple levels.

“This is a great opportunity to demonstrate the expanded impact a partnership like this can have—bringing ‘La Vida Mas Fina’ to life on national and local level in the Emerald City of Seattle,” said Alex Schultz, vp of brand marketing at Corona. “All-Star Week is such a unique moment during the season: The vibrancy and fun atmosphere of All-Star week is a perfect fit with our Corona ethos and to fans of the fine life, so it’s exciting to tap into this feeling during this celebration of baseball.”

Upward mobility

Few brands have benefitted from All-Star Week’s expansion quite as broadly as MLB sponsor and All-Star Game host ballpark namesake T-Mobile.

The presenting sponsor of All-Star Week’s opening HBCU Swingman Classic—an exhibition game hosted by Ken Griffey Jr. featuring baseball players from historically Black colleges and universities—T-Mobile also has its brand on the Home Run Derby (which will feature the Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez, who co-stars with actor Ben Barnes in T-Mobile’s latest spot) and the All-Star Red Carpet Show just before the game.

T-Mobile’s technology will be all over the event as well, with the MLB Next app giving fans Home Run Derby and All-Star Game access to video data including hit distance, launch angle, an interactive strike zone, and audio of the live ESPN and Fox broadcasts. 

MLB will test its automated balls and strikes (ABS) system on T-Mobile’s 5G network during the Futures Game, while T-Mobile will host 5G BP for up-close drone-filmed views of Home Run Derby warmups. Finally, T-Mobile will be giving away customized All-Star bats at one of its Seattle stores, free New Era All-Star Week caps during T-Mobile Tuesday on July 11 and spots in The ‘Pen viewing area in the outfield of T-Mobile Park to loyal customers.

“The ABS system and MLB Next app demonstrate the power and possibilities of 5G innovation and its ability to transform the game—and there’s no better ballpark for this to come to life than at T-Mobile Park in our hometown.” said Mike Katz, president of marketing, innovation and experience at T-Mobile. 

T-Mobile graciously shares the Home Run Derby spotlight with Gatorade, which hosts its All-Star Workout Day on the same day. An MLB partner since 1990, Gatorade has worked on drinks with athletes including Derek Jeter and Bryce Harper, and keeps lining All-Star Week dugouts with its orange coolers. It’ll be giving away samples of its new Fast Twitch drink throughout the event and featuring other products prominently throughout pre-Derby warmups.

From fan fest to brand fest

While Major League Baseball added the yet-unbranded MLB Draft to All-Star Week activities last year and features the three-day event as part of the 2023 festivities, perhaps the greatest change to All-Star Week since 2001 from a brand perspective is the supersized fan festival.

Known simply as FanFest 22 years ago, it was a much smaller memorabilia-centric event within a stadium exhibition center just outside the ballpark. Today, Capital One’s Play Ball Park is housed within Lumen Field—home of the National Football League’s Seattle Seahawks—and is teeming with brands. 

You can get mattress advice from experts at MattressFirm, take a photo of your sweet bat flip at T-Mobile’s Bat Flip cage or watch a hen strut around its 108 square feel of range space as New Hampshire-based Pete and Gerry’s sell their pasture-raised eggs.

“We’ve always found the connections between mass-market sports, and MLB is a great one,” said Pete & Gerry’s CEO Tom Flocco. “It’s a great way to connect with interested fans and broaden the appeal—97% of homes buy eggs and a lot of people watch baseball, so for us it’s a great intersection.”

In a bid to expand business west of the Mississippi River, Pete & Gerry’s has spent much of the last year teaming with MLB to increase its profile. It took over MLB’s homepage for Father’s Day, held a sweepstakes to send fans to All-Star Week, and will have a 400-square-foot area in Play Ball Park and a tent on the T-Mobile Park concourse with a giant hen named Shelly, games, egg-shaped baseballs and plush toy hens. 

There will be a Spot Shelly game on the ballpark’s video screen, social media posts with Shelly and a digital raffle during the Home Run Derby once the players hit 108 home runs—equal to the number of square feet each pasture-raised chicken has to roam. It’s space that may not have existed for Pete & Gerry’s during previous All-Star Weeks.

“For the consumer who buys pasture-raised eggs, she recognizes that number; it’s a number that’s fixed in our head: 108 square feet,” said Pete & Gerry’s CMO Phyllis Rothschild. “But our goal is to broaden it and do more ‘eggucation’ and get more people to recognize the value of a pasture-raised hen and our eggs in particular.”