Major League Baseball has entered into a partnership with soft drinks giant Coca-Cola, bringing to an end the North American league’s relationship with rival company PepsiCo.
The multi-year partnership, which was announced as the 2017 MLB season commenced yesterday (Monday), names Coca-Cola as the official soft drink of MLB.
Under the agreement, Coca-Cola will launch fan engagement initiatives across the league’s website, mobile applications and social media channels, and through club websites.
Coca-Cola will also benefit from brand exposure on the league's MLB Network pay-television arm and MLB.tv live streaming service.
The company will use the MLB.com Ballpark app to offer stadium check-in deals, ticket upgrades and concession promotions for the ballparks of the 18 clubs that it has team partnerships with and stadium pouring rights.
"While there is a lot of shared history between our brands, this partnership is focused on looking forward and connecting Coca-Cola with our fans through digital, mobile and social," Bob Bowman, MLB’s president of business and media, said. "We are looking forward to bringing together two brands that mean so much to people while entertaining and refreshing fans on a daily basis."
Coca-Cola holds partnerships with 18 MLB clubs: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Washington Nationals.
The deal marks Coca-Cola’s re-entry into the four major sports leagues in the US after PepsiCo replaced it as the soft drinks partner of the NBA basketball league in April 2015. PepsiCo also holds partnerships with the NHL ice hockey league and NFL American football league, while Coca-Cola sponsors Major League Soccer.