Baseball Uniform Ads

[Gary Ruskin <gary@essential.org>]

Commercial Alert				April 1, 1999

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	Major League Baseball is considering placing ads on baseball uniforms. 
We encourage sports fans to call Commissioner of Baseball Allan H. Selig
to urge him to reject uniform ads.  Selig's phone is (212) 931-7800.

	Ralph Nader and Commercial Alert sent the following letter yesterday to
Allan H. Selig, Commissioner of Baseball, Major League Baseball:

March 31, 1999

Allan H. Selig 
Commissioner of Baseball
Office of the Commissioner of Baseball
Major League Baseball
245 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10167
via telecopier: (212) 949-5650

Dear Mr. Selig:

	We strongly urge Major League Baseball to reject any proposal to place
advertisements on baseball uniforms.

	According to today's New York Times, Major League Baseball "is
considering selling small patches of advertising on the uniform sleeves
of its players as a new way to increase team revenue."  The Times quotes
an unidentified team official: "The issue being considered here goes
beyond the scope of a uniform manufacturer's logo."

	The Times also quotes Howard Smith, vice president of marketing for
Major League Baseball: "We're talking from A to Z about our on-field
programs, and bringing in additional sponsors in other formats than we
have now. We've talked about everything. But we're not close to
anything." 

	You can honor the memories and the shared traditions of baseball, and
the great players who have worn baseball uniforms, by refusing to sell
the space on baseball uniforms to corporate advertisers.

	It is bad enough already when outfielders are going back for a long
drive, that fans have to see advertisements for Coca-Cola or other
products.

	You are trying the patience of loyal fans across the country.  Fans
yearn for baseball that is free from blatant huckstering and crass
commercialism.  Enough is enough.

	Please don't emulate NASCAR, whose drivers already look like walking
commercial billboards. Don't turn baseball players into walking
billboards.  Don't destroy the dignity of baseball.  Don't drain the joy
from watching baseball.  If you let commerce interfere too overtly with
baseball, fans will angrily drift away from the sport.

	There is an additional burden to plastering baseball players with
corporate advertising.  Large corporate advertisers are usually involved
in substantial public controversy -- for example, Monsanto, Shell,
General Motors, Nike, and Microsoft.  Do you want the penumbra of these
controversies to spill over onto your players and teams?

	The public tolerates a certain amount of commercialism.  But their
patience is limited. 
 
	If you take this reckless step, and embrace ads on uniforms, there will
be considerable fan resentment, and some of it will be organized.

	You can protect baseball from the corporations who wish to use it for
their own purposes, to turn it from our national pastime into a cheap
and gaudy vehicle for corporate marketing.  This is a choice between
integrity and greed.  The choice is yours: will you defend baseball, or
will you sell it out to big-buck advertisers?

														Sincerely,



	Gary Ruskin			Ralph Nader
	Director	
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	Commercial Alert was founded last year to oppose the excesses of
commercialism, advertising and marketing.  The web address for
Commercial Alert is <http://www.essential.org/alert/>.
							
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Gary Ruskin | Commercial Alert 
1611 Connecticut Ave. NW Suite #3A | Washington, DC 20009
Phone: (202) 296-2787 | Fax (202) 833-2406
http://www.essential.org/alert/ | mailto:gary@essential.org
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