In it together
T-Mobile has been an MLB sponsor for the last decade, but only entered its 25-year naming rights deal for T-Mobile Park in 2019. Part of a broader arrangement with the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District (PFD) that required the Mariners to make $600 million, the deal stamped T-Mobile’s brand all over the facility, gave it a party area in the ballpark and created a presence for the brand that already had a headquarters just across Lake Washington in Bellevue.
Mike Katz, president of marketing, innovation and experience at T-Mobile, noted that the deal has allowed the carrier to support its hometown team and establish a more visible presence within the community. And with a decade’s worth of All-Star sponsorship behind it, T-Mobile also can lend some experience to the festivities.
“We’ve seen firsthand what hosting All-Star Week means for a city, the team and its fans,” Katz said. “With Seattle and T-Mobile Park on the national stage this summer, we have a unique opportunity to create some incredible fan experiences.”
On Jan. 1, 2024, however, the National Hockey League will lay down a rink inside T-Mobile Park as the Seattle Kraken host the Las Vegas Golden Knights for the latest installment of the league’s Winter Classic. Arriving as an expansion franchise in 2021 just as pandemic lockdowns were lifting, the Kraken have already partnered with the Mariners on Kraken Night at T-Mobile park and Mariners player appearances at Climate Pledge Arena.
Kraken CMO Katie Townsend pointed to similarities between the Seattle teams: They share a similar color palette, a “golden era” of young players—including Rodriguez, Kraken forward Matty Beniers, and the Seahawks’ Tariq Woolen and Kenneth Walker—and ideas about how to market their city’s teams. Townsend said Mariners president of business operations Catie Griggs and svp of marketing Kevin Martinez have answered questions and lent support throughout her tenure.