The FTX logo on umpire uniforms will stop in 2023 as the cryptocurrency exchange company is mired in … [+]
Sponsorships have been part of Major League Baseball dating back to the 1920s. For decades, sponsors have adorned the outfield walls of ballparks around the league. Somewhere, largely lost in time, there was bound to be a dilemma – a business collapsed, and meeting the entire obligation had to be dealt with.
It wasn’t until 2001 that corporate scandal affects large-scale sponsorship for MLB when Houston-based Enron declared bankruptcy. At the time, they had the naming rights for what is now Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros. Inked in 1999, the Astros’ naming rights deal was for 10 years, $100 million.
Backing out of the deal was one problem. The PR nightmare of the Astros being associated with Enron’s name on the building was another. Ultimately, the Astros paid $2.1 million to get Enron’s name off the facility and move on.
Fast-forward to today, and the matter of scandal and league association is larger.
Major League Baseball was the first major sports league to engage in a sponsorship deal with a cryptocurrency exchange company. The problem is that it’s FTX.
Reached in 2021, the deal is multifaceted. FTX.US became MLB’s first-ever umpire uniform patch partner. Branding was adorned across…
