Link to the Sox a big hit for profits;
Corporate sponsors form partnerships with home team
April 14, 2007
By Jennifer Lord
MetroWest Daily News
Quick! What's the number for Giant Glass? Your luxury experience at Fenway Park is courtesy of which data storage company? And if the Red Sox win the World Series this year, what furniture store will give back the money you paid for your brand-new sofa?
If you answered 1-800-54-GIANT, Hopkinton-based EMC Corp. and Jordan's Furniture, you're a member of Red Sox Nation - and you've just proved corporate sponsorship of the hometown team pays off.
"It's a testament to the Red Sox in terms of their popularity in the region that so many companies want to be aligned with them," said Stephen McKelvey, a sports management professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and former head of Major League Baseball's corporate sponsorship department.
"What it does for the Red Sox is it provides them with a revenue stream, and they're doing it in a way that isn't annoying the fans," McKelvey added. "They don't see it as the owners lining their pockets. They're seeing it as bringing in revenue to help the Sox fight the Evil Empire."
The sponsorship that's garnered the most buzz of late is Jordan's Furniture, the Taunton-based company that announced its alliance with a bold bet: If the Red Sox win the World Series, the furniture retailer will refund the money of anyone who has purchased a mattress, dining table, sofa or bed between March 7 and April 16.
"It's been crazy," said Jordan's president Eliot Tatelman, who took out an insurance policy to underwrite the cost. "It's been the most fun promotion I've ever run."
In addition to being named the "official furniture store of the Boston Red Sox," Jordan's Furniture secured naming rights to the new deck above the third-base line at Fenway, Tatelman said. He declined to name the cost or length of the sponsorship deal.
The entire promotion is a win-win for Tatelman - if the Red Sox lose, the store is seen as a major supporter. If they win - and as a longtime Red Sox fan, Tatelman is hoping for it - thousands of people will receive free furniture.
The Jordan's contest is one of the most creative ways a Red Sox sponsor has chosen to capitalize on the relationship, said Joe Januszewski, vice president of corporate sponsorships for the Red Sox.
"We want to work with our partners and help them benefit from their relationship with us," he said. "When they're looking at their budgets, we want them to look at the Red Sox and say it's too valuable to cut. We're not going to be able to keep them if it's just a sign or a page in the program and we come back every three years to renew. We have to be proactive (and) we have to be creative."
To date, the Red Sox have some sort of association with more than 85 corporate sponsors, with about 30 considered "official," partnerships, Januszewski said. He wouldn't put a number on the value, but noted the official link makes the company the only sponsor in a particular category.
Thus, Wise Foods provides both the official potato chips and the official Cheez Doodles. Dunkin' Donuts provides the official coffee - and post-game interviews are always conducted in front of a backdrop bearing its familiar orange and pink logo. The list continues through the food products of D'Angelo (official sandwich) and its sister chain Papa Gino's (official pizza), Poland Springs (official water), Coca-Cola (official soft drink) and Anheuser-Busch (official beer).
"Think about the impact the Red Sox have had on Granite City Electric," said McKelvey, referring to the Quincy-based electric supply company. "Who would have known who they were before they got involved with the Red Sox? They put Granite City Electric on the map."
McKelvey recently negotiated a deal between the Red Sox and Dinn Trophy, which will sponsor the team's play of the week. The West Springfield company, a maker of youth sports trophies, will also sponsor the Remy Awards handed out by NESN broadcaster Jerry Remy.
"I'm going to bet in about two months, everyone is going to know who Dinn Trophy is," McKelvey said.
The region's other professional sports teams, the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins, have plenty of corporate sponsors. The New England Patriots and New England Revolution share Gillette Stadium in Foxboro as well as official partners, including Gillette, Fidelity Investments, McDonald's, Bank of America and Shields MRI.
The Revolution has its own corporate sponsors, including the latest signup, West Bridgewater-based Shaw's Supermarkets, according to Brian Bilello, the Major League Soccer team's chief operating officer.
Back at Fenway, one official sponsor not returning to the lineup this season is Dedham-based iParty Corp., which completed a two-year stint last year as the Sox's official party supply store.
"We considered it money well spent," said Sal Perisano, the company's chief executive. "But going forward, a big part of our budget was devoted to sports marketing and we decided it was maybe a little inordinate to our target market."
For the last two years, visitors celebrating birthdays would be noted on the scoreboard between innings in a promotion sponsored by iParty. There were also designated iParty seats as well as in-store promotions connected to the Red Sox.
But iParty isn't getting out of the sports sponsor business entirely, he said. They just switched sports and are now official sponsors of the Boston Bruins.