MLB in tangled web of on-field advertising

I am not a huge baseball fan. I did not play little league baseball as a kid so that I don't have the same connection to the sport that many people do. Even though I am not a passionate fan, I am floored by the MLB's plans to promote Spider-Man 2. The following information is from an ESPN.com article titled MLB in tangled web of on-field advertising.

"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 interleague games June 11-13.

Pitching rubbers and home plate will be adorned with Spider-Man 2 branding before games, but will be replaced with standard white plates once the games start.

Baseball will receive about $3.6 million in a deal negotiated by Major League Baseball Properties with Marvel Studios and Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Inc., a high-ranking baseball executive told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The teams will get a piece of the pie from the promotion. Large-market clubs like the Yankees and the Red Sox reportedly will receive more than $100,000 each through the promotion, according to the Wall Street Journal."

Not all of the teams are crazy about the idea. I just wonder where this is going to lead. MLB baseball has opened a pandora's box and they are going to be bombarded with requests for additional promotions. It will be interesting to see what promotion they decide to do next.