Sponsorship •wSPONSOR Tournament Sponsors ROSTER Make Moves in Japan .............(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4) Territory Partners APITALIZING ON STRONG FAN INTEREST AND A new partner in 2009, McDonald’s Japan was a 7-Eleven countless stars, more than 10 sponsors in Japan regional sponsor and the official helmet sponsor for played a dynamic role in supporting the 2009 Team Japan. McDonald’s utilized the tag line “Grab the American Health C World Baseball Classic. World!” to help promote the introduction of the Quar- AT&T Asahi was once again the title ter Pounder into the Japanese Ben & Jerry’s sponsor for the Tokyo Pool and market. Activating its marketing Carolina Municipality the official patch sponsor of Team program in 3,700 stores across Coors Japan, reprising its role from Japan, McDonald’s used tele- Cuba Tourism 2006. To promote its “Support vision, print and POP ads and Team Japan” campaign, Asahi distributed more than 14 million Degree produced Asahi Super Dry six clear file premiums as part of its DirecTV packs and cases featuring Team McDonald’s set a one-day sales Classic promotion. Dodge Japan members Daisuke Mat- record with Classic promotion. The weekend following Ja- Dominican Republic suzaka, Akinori Iwamura and pan’s historic victory, McDon- Ministry of Tourism Kosuke Fukudome, among others. Asahi also gave away ald’s executed a celebratory campaign featuring the helmet First Bank nearly 20 different types of premium items, including with a revised decal that read “Grabbed the World!” The t-shirts, hoodies, polo shirts and bath towels. Asahi will excitement over the tournament in Japan enabled Mc- H20 execute a summer-long celebratory campaign featuring Donald’s to set a one-day sales record on Sunday March Hankook Tires Asahi champagne and images of the 2009 Trophy. 29th, topping more than $26 million. Itoham Foods Inc. Konami Digital Entertainment Co. Ltd. SPONSORS HEAT UP THE CLASSIC IN LATIN AMERICA Mexico Tourism ith games in Puerto In the Dominican Republic, team MR. SUB Rico and Mexico, and sponsors Banco BHD, Claro, Presi- Pepsi six teams from Latin dente and Ron Barceló encouraged Pfizer W America competing, fans to support their National Team Pizza Pizza interest in the Classic may have been and ran promotional programs fea- Pizzeria Uno & more intense in Latin America than turing the chance to attend 2009 tour- Fuddruckers anywhere else in the world. And more nament games. All of the sponsors than 30 sponsors partnered with took advantage of the tremendous Playstation WBCI in the region to help ensure fan interest using various media out- Ramada Worldwide Inc. the event was a success. lets— print, radio and television—to Rogers Communications Global partner Gatorade led off promote their partnership with the San Juan Municipality the activation, running print adver- 2009 Dominican Republic Team. Sankyo tisements, POS marketing campaigns With six first round games in Hi- Sport City and television commercials. In addi- ram Bithorn Stadium, sponsors in tion to providing all in-game product Puerto Rico, including Puerto Rico Tecate throughout the event, Gatorade sent lucky winners Tourism, Best Buy, Chrysler and T-Mobile, targeted Telmex in Latin America to see games in Puerto Rico and in baseball fans across the island with substantial in- Tostitos Miami. Product across the region was blanketed in game and in-stadium activation, in addition to market- Wireless Wave event logos and the campaign slogan “Esta en ti?” ing campaigns leading up to the event. Tournament Record: 1-2 (Round 1) Tournament Record: 4-2 (Round 2) Tournament Record: 2-4 (Round 2) Tournament Record: 0-2 (Round 1) Fast Fact: Australia secured its first-ever Fast Fact: Cuba dominated play in its Round Fast Fact: Vinny Castilla, manager of Team Fast Fact: Gift Ngoepe, the first black South World Baseball Classic victory with a mercy One pool at Estadio Foro Sol in Mexico City, Mexico in 2009, was captain of his country's African to sign a Major League contract, col- rule 17-7 win over Team Mexico in Round One Mexico, scoring 29 runs en route to a perfect 2006 World Baseball Classic squad. lected two triples and two RBI in South Africa's at Estadio Foro Sol. 3-0 record. two Round One games. ............ ............ ............ 5 Licensing •w LICENSEES MAJESTIC MEASURES UP ............. Majestic Athletic outfitted 13 of the National Teams Going... Aminco in the 2009 tournament in official on-field gear, Antigua including jerseys, pants, tees, fleece and outer- Asterisk * Corporation wear. Over 5,000 jerseys and 2,500 game pants were Going...Gone! C. Rights Corporation manufactured and distributed for in-game use for AJOR LEAGUE F&F Co., Ltd. entire 28-man rosters, managers and coaches. In Baseball au- Franklin Sports, Inc. addition, the product offered at retail and online thentication Gamewear, Inc. around the world included authentic and replica teams went Konami Digital M jerseys and name and number t-shirts. Entertainment Co., Ltd. global this year! On-hand at Majestic Athletic all seven venues and for all Mizuno Corporation 39 games of the 2009 World New Era Cap Co. Baseball Classic, MLB Nike USA, Inc. authenticators ensured the Norico Co., Ltd. authenticity of game-used Rawlings Sporting items collected during the Goods Co., Inc. Classic by using a hologram, serial-numbering system The Emblem Source, LLC and online verification process. The MLB Authentica- The Highland Mint tion program protects fans from counterfeit items and The Topps Company, Inc. Wincraft helps preserve historic moments in baseball. Over 2,700 game-used items were authenticated including baseballs, jerseys, bases, locker tags and Nike provided 13 of the 16 teams with NEW ERA FITS THE BILL lineup cards. Items went up for live auction during the authentic performance wear. In addi- In 2009, New Era Cap Company was the Official World Baseball Classic and will continue to be available tion, Nike provided the Korean National Headwear Supplier for the World Baseball Clas- throughout the 2009 MLB regular season. Team with authentic sic. New Era produced and supplied the Authen- uniforms and caps. tic 5950 on-field cap to 13 of the 16 participating National Teams, and retailers worldwide. The Mizuno outfitted the Chinese Taipei on-field caps were decorated and Japan Teams with authentic uni- with country flags, playing on forms, headwear and the patriotic tone of the event. performance gear for Additionally, New Era pro- the 2009 tournament. vided fans with adjustable and fitted replica caps. RETAILERS HELP FANS GET BEHIND THEIR NATIONS fficially-licensed product ing merchandise in stores across as flags and stick-on tattoos. flew off the shelves in Canada, Puerto Rico and the United WBCI would like to thank the 2009, as Official Conces- States. Champs Sports hosted sev- following retailers: Modell’s, Lids, O sionaire XP Events suc- eral special in-store events, ex- Sports Authority and Sport Chalet cessfully operated concessions for ecuted by Cultiva Entertainment, for their support of the 2009 Clas- six tournament venues. C. Rights consisting of two-hour live radio sic. Each of these retailers carried managed retail in Tokyo. promotions by popular local radio a wide array of merchandise that Champs Sports partnered as stations, prize giveaways and dis- was supported in-store by custom- Official Retailer in 2009, carry- tribution of premium products such ized point-of-sales materials. Tournament Record: 0-2 (Round 1) Tournament Record: 1-2 (Round 1) Tournament Record: 4-4 (Semi-Finals) Tournament Record: 6-2 (Semi-Finals) Fast Fact: After upsetting Team USA in the Fast Fact: With the help of instruction from Fast Fact: The U.S. competed in two thrilling Fast Fact: Venezuela produced impressive 2006 tournament, Canada hosted one of the hitting coach Mike Piazza, Team Italy stunned a games, a 6-5 "Classic" against host Canada dur- offensive numbers, averaging more than six four pools of Round One at the Rogers Centre favored Canadian team with a 6-2 win in the first ing Round One in Toronto, and a 6-5 walk-off win runs a game through Round Two before falling in Toronto in 2009. elimination game of Round One, Pool C. against Puerto Rico in Round Two in Miami. to Korea in the Semi-Finals. ............ ............ ............ 6 Marketing THE LATIN BEAT GOES ON On March 14th, merengue band Oro Solido of the Dominican Republic and salsa artists Sonora Car- ruseles from Colombia performed a free concert for fans at Dolphin Stadium between the games of the doubleheader on the first day of the Classic in Miami. After Team Venezuela defeated the Netherlands in a 3-1 victory, thousands of fans gathered to listen to Latin tunes before the United States vs. Puerto Rico nightcap. The concert was promoted with local print and radio partners in both the gen- eral and Hispanic market. Print advertising in To support Team Italy the Los Angeles mar- in opening round play in ket included the L.A. Canada, the Italian com- Newspaper Group’s munity newspaper Corriere nine papers, and Canadese ran the ad at left Spanish-language during February and March, papers La Opinion and and Italian radio station CHIN Hoy. The ad at left was supported ticket sales with a featured in Hoy, a free promotional program. Along daily, and focused on with traditional advertising, mobilizing the sig- WBCI concentrated more nificant number of demographically-focused Hispanic fans in the outreach including com- region to attend the munity activation, print and Semi-Finals and Final radio targeting the Hispanic at Dodger Stadium. and Italian population. The ad at left, fea- The 2009 advertising turing pitchers Jung campaign revolved To honor Team Japan’s second Keon Bong and Hyun- around the tagline tournament championship, World jin Ryu, ran in the Ko- "Behind every play, a Baseball Classic, Inc.