Spider Man teams up with Major League Baseball

Posted on 5, 2004
Filed under Movie Marketing, New Releases

Novelty promotions are continuing unabated. It looks like Columbia Pictures will conduct heavy branding and event marketing in major league ballparks to promote the June 30th release of 'Spiderman II.' While there's a long history of sponsorship between the business world and sports, this is the most extensive cross-marketing campaign undertaken by MLB in a while, and the first in promoting a film. According to ESPN:

As part of a marketing alliance between Major League Baseball Properties, Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios, webbed logos of the upcoming film "Spider-Man 2" will appear on bases and on-deck circles in 15 stadiums of teams playing host to inter-league games June 11-13.

With MLB struggling to gain younger fans, the move isn't surprising. However, with baseball fans, the notion of the "sanctity of tradition" could provoke a backlash (It surprised me that the "Passion of the Christ" NASCAR sponsorship blew over). Many fans might be thinking along these lines:

Some will say this reinforces the convergence of sports and entertainment, while others will suggest the only thing converging is bad taste," said David Carter, principal of The Sports Business Group, a sports marketing firm.

ESPN has polled baseball fans about their opinion, and the results don't look good from a marketing standpoint.

At any rate, it's a tossup if the reported $3.6 million dollars that Sony's shelling out will pay off.