Things about Baseball which could be interpreted as random

by **Wheels Tupay** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 16:16:57

Fox thought it would be funny to do a contract like this with the Rangers. But Fox knows the world is ending in 2012 so they arent worried.

Website · by **Wolfgang622** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 16:28:03

Holy flirking schnit. I mean, the Phillies must - MUST - have better local ratings than the Rangers right now. If the Rangers are worth $150M/year, what are the Phillies worth?

Actually, this brings up an interesting point. I've been surprised how, over the last few years, even as the team has seemed to be on an "exponential increase" track in terms of its visibility, popularity, etc., the diversity of commercials hasn't gone up. It's still basically the same two or three sponsors as it's been since time immemorial: Hatfield meats, Citiziens Bank (nee Mellon Bank, nee PSFS), and Anheiser-Busch (all those "Thirst Inning" things). The only really new player has been W.B. Mason (first we heard of them was in 2004, when CBP went up and suddenly there was this big W.B. Mason ad in our lives). I mean, if I dig out the 1986 media guide right now, I'll bet I find ads for Budweiser, Hatfield meats, and PSFS. I suppose Southwest Airlines have also snuck in there over the last few years.

How come the Phillies broadcasts haven't been able to draw more advertisers? I am sure the ads have gotten a good deal more expensive, but I am equally sure that the Phillies ratings are higher than they pretty much ever have been, which should mean that there is more interest among big firms in advertising during Phillies telecasts.

by **BigEd76** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 16:30:51

Tastykake, Herr's and the usual car dealerships have also been sponsors as far back as I can remember, and I think IBC/BCBS have been around a while too....

by **TenuredVulture** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 16:31:10

Anheuser Busch advertising a sporting contest? I'm shocked.

Website · by **Wolfgang622** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 16:34:31

BigEd76 wrote:Tastykake and Herr's have also been sponsors as far back as I can remember, plus the usual local car dealerships, and I think IBC/BCBS have been around a while too....

True, I guess Herr's and Tastycake sneak in a commercial now and again too. And Turkey Hill Ice Cream products. And Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The radio commercials, in general, tend to be a little more "diverse" than the television commercials, however. I don't think I've seen a Tastycake television ad during a Phillies game for years.

And, over all, it's only a handful of comapnies, and hardly any new ones in the last two or three years. The one new on television, I think, is SuperPretzel.

You'd think people would be climbing all over themselves to get in on having radio/television commercials. Maybe these companies have just increased their payouts enough to keep all the time they already have on Phillies broadcasts?

by **TenuredVulture** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 16:37:25

The radio commercials, especially the Citizen's Bank and Jefferson Hospital are horrific. Every year brings a new crop of Citizen's Bank commercials, and you think you've heard the worst possible radio commercial ever, but you'd be wrong. The Alexander Hamilton Locker Room speech might be the worst thing ever broadcast. How anyone has a job as a copywriter putting together a stupid string of cliches absolutely irrelevant to the product being sold is beyond me.

Website · by **Wolfgang622** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 16:40:40

TastyKake used to have a bit more game with the celebrities, apparently:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_kxoxfIvYc&feature=related[/youtube]

But here is the true classic that I remember from my youth:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm8x_g9qXSg[/youtube]

by **philliesphhan** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 17:14:25

TenuredVulture wrote:The radio commercials, especially the Citizen's Bank and Jefferson Hospital are horrific. Every year brings a new crop of Citizen's Bank commercials, and you think you've heard the worst possible radio commercial ever, but you'd be wrong. The Alexander Hamilton Locker Room speech might be the worst thing ever broadcast. How anyone has a job as a copywriter putting together a stupid string of cliches absolutely irrelevant to the product being sold is beyond me.

Absolutely. I heard that pile of shit about two weeks ago and couldn't believe it was 10 times worse than the TV ads.

by **TenuredVulture** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 17:17:25

Also, PSFS didn't become Mellon Bank. PSFS and Mellon Bank were two separate banks. PSFS went belly up and Mellon bought it out or something.

by **phatj** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 17:20:10

TenuredVulture wrote:Also, PSFS didn't become Mellon Bank. PSFS and Mellon Bank were two separate banks. PSFS went belly up and Mellon bought it out or something.

Nor do either have any relation to Citizens Bank.

by **Ace Rothstein** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 17:22:10

The Rangers, cash-strapped for years with owner Tom Hicks, have signed a 20-year extension with Fox Sports Southwest that will guarantee them $3 billion. It's the highest TV package for a team that doesn't own its own channel.

Website · by **Wolfgang622** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 17:27:48

phatj wrote:
TenuredVulture wrote:Also, PSFS didn't become Mellon Bank. PSFS and Mellon Bank were two separate banks. PSFS went belly up and Mellon bought it out or something.

Nor do either have any relation to Citizens Bank.

Jeez, we have a couple of Larry Literals here: all I meant was that Citizens Bank is the direct heir to Mellon Bank and PSFS Bank as sponsors to the Phillies. Yes, Mellon bought out PSFS, and Citizens bought out Mellon, but through that process the resultant entity always stayed a sponsor of the Phillies.

by **lethal** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 17:49:03

mozartpc27 wrote:
phatj wrote:
TenuredVulture wrote:Also, PSFS didn't become Mellon Bank. PSFS and Mellon Bank were two separate banks. PSFS went belly up and Mellon bought it out or something.

Nor do either have any relation to Citizens Bank.

Jeez, we have a couple of Larry Literals here: all I meant was that Citizens Bank is the direct heir to Mellon Bank and PSFS Bank as sponsors to the Phillies. Yes, Mellon bought out PSFS, and Citizens bought out Mellon, but through that process the resultant entity always stayed a sponsor of the Phillies.

Citizens didn't buy Mellon. Bank of New York bought Mellon.

Website · by **Wolfgang622** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 18:38:06

lethal wrote:
mozartpc27 wrote:
phatj wrote:
TenuredVulture wrote:Also, PSFS didn't become Mellon Bank. PSFS and Mellon Bank were two separate banks. PSFS went belly up and Mellon bought it out or something.

Nor do either have any relation to Citizens Bank.

Jeez, we have a couple of Larry Literals here: all I meant was that Citizens Bank is the direct heir to Mellon Bank and PSFS Bank as sponsors to the Phillies. Yes, Mellon bought out PSFS, and Citizens bought out Mellon, but through that process the resultant entity always stayed a sponsor of the Phillies.

Citizens didn't buy Mellon. Bank of New York bought Mellon.

Mellon Financial.

Citizens Bank bought the retail operations (i.e., all the brick-and-mortar customer-service outlets, or "branches") of Mellon Bank:

In 1999, Martin G. McGuinn became chairman and chief executive officer of Mellon Bank Corporation. Mellon Bank Corporation then became Mellon Financial Corporation. Two years later, it sold its retail banking operations to Citizens Financial Group.

Wikipedia; if you want to verify that with newspaper accounts (which I assure you will verify it), be my guest.

Anyway, let's not get all hypertechnical; the point I was trying to make was that, from the standpoint of "average consumer/ticket holder," PSFS/Mellon/Citizens is really one continuous chain: it's not as if the Phillies went out and got a new sponsor for each of those changes. Old contracts and contacts continued. If you lived in Philadelphia and you had an account at PSFS, one day you went there and suddenly it was MellonPSFS; and then some years later one day you went there and now it was Citizens Bank. Similarly, the Phillies had a deal with PSFS, and then, dealing with essentially the same people, one day it was MellonPSFS, and then one day it was Citizens.

Sheesh.

by **lethal** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 21:23:07

But the Mellon name went to BNY (ergo BNY Mellon). :-D

Website · by **Wolfgang622** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 23:59:17

Ken Burns on Colbert right now, and I ordinarily think of him as a New York/Boston myopic toolbag, but in speaking about steroids on the Colbert Report he made me think of something I hadn't before (I take credit for the thought, though, since it's not anything Burns said): the two people who are getting the most attention/blame for steroids - Clemens and Bonds - are the two who were probably the surest HOFers of all the players of that era had they never taken a single drug.

Sadly ironic.

EDIT: Well, Maddux and R. Johnson, on balance, were probably better than Clemens.

by **jerseyhoya** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 00:00:16

(Greg Maddux)

Website · by **Wolfgang622** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 00:00:39

jerseyhoya wrote:(Greg Maddux)

Yeah, just fixed that.

by **BigEd76** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 00:02:32

mozartpc27 wrote:I don't think I've seen a Tastycake television ad during a Phillies game for years.

You've never seen this??

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEEou0yXPCo[/youtube]

by **etched Chaos** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 00:38:39

Rangers deal is more 1.5 billion over 20 years as that updated article states.

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Things about Baseball which could be interpreted as random