Sports teams aren't very chatty about their corporate-sponsorship deals. There's little upside to publicly disclosing dollar amounts or other confidential details. But a rare window into such arrangements opened in January when the Tampa Bay Rays sued Academic Financial Services Inc. and attached a copy of the parties' three-year, $1-million sponsorship contract. The pact with AFS, a Tampa issuer of student loans, is kaput after just one year. AFS blew it by bouncing a $220,000 check to the Rays last year and breaking a promise to fund a $10,000 scholarship contest, which forced the baseball franchise to pull out its own wallet. AFS is no longer in business. Still, the 2007-09 contract remains an epiphany. How else would we know that the Rays dole out signage in half-inning increments, or that personal data the team captures during some fan contests are turned over to the sponsor?
Parties, beer cups and contests
College students were a key market for AFS. What better way to raise its profile among them than with cold, subsidized beer? Under this promotion, AFS would:
Host "College Night" at every Friday home game — 12 per season — on the left-field party deck. Admission: $5 with student ID. Special "welcome" message shown on scoreboard.
Distribute loan information to students and register them for a $500 weekly scholarship contest, paid for by AFS.
Sell $1 beers in one of 10,000 cups cobranded with the AFS and Rays logos.
Host a grand-prize contest among the 12 weekly winners on the last Friday of the season. Winning team splits $10,000, provided by AFS.
Free caps — with a twist
As part of its sponsorship deal, the Rays would:
Give away AFS/Rays hats to the first 15,000 fans on College Alumni Night.
Promote the giveaway in TV, radio and print ads.
Include a five-digit code with each hat. Fans who entered the code on a special Web page would be eligible for prizes, including the chance to toss a ball around with a Rays player. Rays would forward all consumer data captured through the contest to AFS.
Three signs
Under its sponsorship deal with the Rays, AFS' name would be featured on three signs:
A large sign beneath the left-field party deck. Visible from roughly three-quarters of the seats inside Tropicana Field, the sign would display AFS' name for half an inning per game.
A small sign behind home plate, aimed primarily at TV viewers. AFS' name would appear for half an inning per game.
Two panels on the marquee sign outside Tropicana Field and along Interstate 275. Target: commuters.
Radio feature
A Rays' radio announcer would announce the AFS "Getting Schooled Moment of the Game." Frequency: all 162 games.
Scott Barancik can be reached at barancik@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8751.
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