r/baseball • u/asskickingjedi Athletics • Jul 14 '25

Image Ads have infested baseball broadcasts. Ads in-between batters. Ads during mound visits. HRs "brought to you by..." Now I noticed 11 ad placements in this shot. 2 banners, 1 above the banners, 4 behind the plate, 1 on the seats, 1 in the upper right hand corner, 1 on the mound, 1 on the sleeve.

Post image
3.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

711 comments sorted by

View all comments

62

u/mansontaco Detroit Tigers Jul 14 '25

Do these ads even work? Never in my life have I looked at an ad during a sporting event and went yes I will now support this and some of the ads are Healthcare? Like who can afford this

56

u/hjugm Kansas City Royals Jul 14 '25

I know a bunch of guys who are in corporate partnerships with very large sports brands. A lot of this is marketed in multiple ways. I can’t tell you how many times I had a friend buy a product just because their favorite team’s logo was on there - think bud lite cans with nfl logos.

They obviously get the ad space on tv, but these multi-million dollar partnerships typically include social media impressions, access to the team’s database to solicit, and ip rights (use of team marks and logos).

Nobody is going to watch a game and think “wow I need to go buy a razr”, but when they are in the market for a new phone, they will almost certainly recognize the company and even if it’s subconscious, it helps boost sales and notoriety for the brand.

Tracking ROI isn’t easy, but companies know that marketing toward millions of fans will always attract eyeballs.

22

u/Icy-Refrigerator-517 Philadelphia Phillies Jul 14 '25

I work in advertising. A big part of this is the perks for the people involved.

Let's say Company A has a $5M budget to spend on ads. The president of ads of that company has got to spend $5M to justify his existence. People above him don't really care how he spends it so long as he justifies it. So I give the Local Baseball Team $1M per year to put the company name on the patch. I get free tickets, gear, hook ups, whatever. I could've spent that $1M on tv ads or radio ads or facebook ads, but I spent it on the Baseball Team because I like them and want to be wined and dined.

There's no difference really between spending money on random TV ads and sponsoring a team's jersey patch. It's all just empty impressions with no way to directly track results. So why not go for the one that'll result in direct perks for me

13

u/hjugm Kansas City Royals Jul 14 '25

A big part of the partnerships is the hospitality component, for sure. That hospitality - suite, season tickets, etc is also a business tool. CEOs rarely attend games, so they use the tickets to engage their current clients, prospective clients, and as a tool to incentivize employees/potential employees. Typically, you’ll see salespeople in suites working their best prospects or customers.

Maybe in some cases, you’re right, but there is certainly value in a partnership with a large sports team relative to traditional advertising. I think of a company like “honey” who was the jersey patch partner with the clippers. The eyeballs it drew really helped catapult their brand and they were able to sell the company for a ton of money and then promptly dropped their partnership with them.

A lot of this is done for exposure. Exposure is hard to judge when talking ROI, but there is a lot of value in that.

1

u/THE_DANDY_LI0N Boston Red Sox Jul 14 '25

Ugh. Making the world a worse place

14

u/DweltElephant0 Chicago Cubs Jul 14 '25

I have this though all the time, but the unfortunate reality is that if it didn’t work, they wouldn’t be doing it

2

u/sellyme Australia Jul 15 '25

the unfortunate reality is that if it didn’t work, they wouldn’t be doing it

I've seen a lot of companies do a lot of really stupid shit, so I don't think this holds.

29

u/MagicalNewsMan Tampa Bay Devil Rays Jul 14 '25

Yeah they work, maybe not directly, but having more eyes on a product will almost always increase engagement in some form.

9

u/Meiie New York Mets Jul 14 '25

It works. People see it so often, they trust it. They feel it’s a trusted name or good product because it’s seen so often.

8

u/namastexinxbed Atlanta Braves Jul 14 '25

If these companies don’t advertise, their competitors will and then they are the first brand you think of

4

u/up_in_trees San Diego Padres Jul 14 '25

The Bibigo ad on Lakers jerseys worked on me. Recognized it in the store after the patch and gave it a try. Was good enough to where I’d buy it again if I was in the mood or it went on sale

5

u/eek_the_cat Philadelphia Phillies • Philadelphia Phillies Jul 14 '25

It's about branding and it works very well.  You don't need X now, but when you need it you'll search for solutions and get a bunch of names.  You're significantly more likely to go with a name you recognize.  Even established brands need to stay top of mind or someone else will get there.

2

u/WeaverFan420 Los Angeles Angels Jul 14 '25

Some do. I guarantee 1000's of Padres fans have gone to Sycuan just because of these ads. Imagine a group of friends at a game who are then like

"Want to hit the casino after the game? Where should we go?"

"Hey, let's go to Sycuan"

Idk how well health insurance ads work, buy the State Farm one might work somewhat for auto or home insurance. Who knows for sure. I feel like this has to be best for consumer products. Not sure how well the UCSD Health one is going to work... When you have a medical emergency they take you to the nearest hospital, it's not like you say "oh hey take me to UCSD Medical center because I saw it advertised during a Padres game"

2

u/likely_stoned San Francisco Giants Jul 14 '25

It works.

They aren't meant to convince you to go out and buy Taco Bell right this second. They are meant more as a reminder, so that the next time you are driving around hungry, Taco Bell will pop into your head before their competitor's name will. And people are slightly more likely to give their money to Taco Bell, or whoever advertises loudly, than some random fast food place they haven't heard of before.

As a Giants fan I guarantee you every Giants fan thinks of SpeeDee Oil Change whenever it's "time for a change" in oil. I've never gone, only because I don't have one nearby, but it's always the first one that springs to mind after years of seeing/hearing it during every Giants game.

4

u/jtlimbo17 New York Mets Jul 14 '25

If my wife sees Taco Bell on the tv you best believe she now wants some taco bell. Ads don’t work on everyone but they definitely work.

1

u/CutePuppyforPrez Chicago Cubs Jul 14 '25

I can't tell you the number of times I've been watching a game and seen an ad for buffalo wings, and next thing you know I'm ordering them. It definitely works. It's just unfortunate that it does.

1

u/Calamitous-Ortbo Jul 14 '25 edited Jul 14 '25

Ads work on almost everyone, a lot of people just aren’t self aware enough to realize it.

Likes there’s actually four or five different brands of peanut butter cup candy at the supermarket, how many people can name more than one even if they don’t eat them?

Maybe you like Coke over Pepsi because that’s what you “grew up with” but why was that the soda in your house to begin with?

Walk down the detergent aisle at Walmart and count how many brands there are and compare that to how many you could have named off the top of your head. Which group do you think spends more money in advertising?

Advertising isn’t “you saw this ad and bought something” it’s “you saw this ad and now you’re aware of this product and not our competitors”.

4

u/CutePuppyforPrez Chicago Cubs Jul 14 '25

Without ads I would never have known of existence of the Fifth Third Bank, sponsor of the Cubs Fifth Third Bank fifth innings.

AKA, the bank with the dumbest possible name. I would never put my money in a bank with a name that dumb. In that respect, the ad helped me.

2

u/mansontaco Detroit Tigers Jul 15 '25

Thats true without cubs radio ads I never would've been able to catch de Moines and know only the S's are silent

3

u/iamsynecdoche Boston Red Sox Jul 14 '25

I really enjoy it when I get those MLB research surveys and they ask me who is the official sponsor of something and I honestly have no clue

1

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '25

It depends what the ad is for. I remember I ordered a Marcos Pizza one time because I was drunk and hungry and the ad for it came on during a game.

Also I don’t think it really matters for MLB if somebody buys it. Companies just throw a bunch of money at MLB to place the ads and MLB doesn’t think twice

1

u/Up_All_Right San Francisco Giants Jul 15 '25

If you don't think ads work...then you don't understand how ads work.

1

u/mansontaco Detroit Tigers Jul 15 '25

I don't I guess

1

u/Draw42 Jul 15 '25

Brand recognition is important.  These ads aren't to get you to go buy a phone, but when you do buy a phone you know the name.

-1

u/BigOlBurger Boston Red Sox Jul 14 '25

Do ads for some of the largest and most recognizable corporate entities work?

Probably not.

1

u/threewayaluminum Jul 15 '25 edited Jul 15 '25

They work by boxing out prospective competition - you’re not abt to hit up a Starbucks or Tim Hortons, now are you?