By: E&P Staff The St. Petersburg Times and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays Major League Baseball team announced a "multi-year, exclusive sponsorship affiliation" Monday that will put Times signage through the ballpark -- and link the team and paper through promotions ranging from broadcast ads to youth baseball teams.
The Times and the rival Tampa Tribune have vied over pro sports sponsorships on both sides of the bay. The St. Pete paper already has a similar relationship with another Tampa venue, now named the St. Pete Times Forum.
Under what both sides called a "groundbreaking, fully integrated agreement," the Times becomes the Official Newspaper of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and will have signage and kiosks for sales and promotion at the club's Tropicana Field. The paper and team will have a "presenting partnership" in the Devil Rays youth baseball camps.
As part of the agreement, the Times will become
"presenting sponsor" of the team's official Web site, www.devilrays.com. The announcement said this would be the first season-long sponsorship of a club site, and
includes logo placement on each page of devilrays.com as well as online media support and in-season sweepstakes.
Perhaps keeping in mind the Staples Center revenue-sharing agreement that caused upheaval at the Los Angeles Times several years ago, the joint announcement noted there is no revenue-sharing component in this deal. The agreement will "affect the Times news coverage of the ballpark or the Devil Rays, and will not affect the newspaper's relationship with advertisers," the announcement said.
"The Times and the Devil Rays are a strong match as business partners," Marty Petty, publisher and executive vice president of the Times, said in a statement. "Our organizations share the same values when it comes to relationships, community involvement, education and investing in the region's growth and vitality for the long term."
Devil Rays' Senior Vice President/Chief Sales Officer Mark Fernandez called the arrangement "truly is a one-of-a-kind, fully integrated partnership, and it is made possible
because the St Petersburg Times is such a sophisticated marketer and strong community supporter."
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