The World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers doesn’t start until Friday night, but Madison Avenue has already had a big impact on the crowds expected to show up for Major League Baseball’s flagship event.
Fox will no longer have set advertising positions for the first two games of the championship, said Mark Evans, executive vice president of ad sales for Fox Sports, a better position than the network has enjoyed in about a decade ahead of the games. ” Advertisers wanting to get in on the first two games of the Series, he says, would have to buy inventory that would surface only if there was a pitching change, extra innings or some other development that couldn’t be predicted in advance.
Fox has sought between $450,000 and $500,000 for a 30-second spot in the first five games of the World Series, and expects prices to increase if there is a need for a sixth or seventh game.
The network, which has broadcast every World Series since 2001, appears to be in a better position than ever before. Last year’s game between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks had a smaller appeal to a wider audience because both teams were in the same area of the US. A game between the Yankees and Dodgers, on the other hand, will attract fans from both sides of the US. nation.
Fox already saw stronger demand for baseball during this season’s All-Star Game and in the industry’s recent upfront sales market, Evans says, but the emergence of the Yankees and Dodgers as Series participants has led to a new round of investigations. The network is now hearing from “more than just the traditional endemic advertisers who would be interested in this,” he says. “You’ll see a lot of advertisers who aren’t traditional sports advertisers who will pick a unit here or there because it will reach a national audience.”
Traditional MLB sponsors like Capital One, Geico and Mastercard will be in attendance, but so will movie studios, which are seen buying more volume as they replenish their pipelines following the recent Hollywood strikes. Pharmaceutical marketers, insurance advertisers and technology companies will also be featured during the Games.
As the 2024 presidential election approaches, there is a non-traditional sponsor of sorts again. Both the Harris and Trump campaigns are expected to be in the World Series, according to a person familiar with the matter.