Padres, Sycuan Ink Sponsorship Pact
The San Diego Padres and Sycuan Tribe of the Kumeyaay Indians signed an agreement making the tribe the official presenting sponsor of the baseball team’s 2000 season.
The sponsorship agreement, which the Padres said was the first of its kind in U.S. major league sports, grants the Sycuan the right to be included in virtually all of the Padres major promotional materials during the upcoming season.
“Every aspect of the Padres marketing and advertising will incorporate the Sycuan name into it,” said Fred Mort, president of San Diego-based Fantastic Sports, which represented the tribe in negotiating the deal.
As part of the package, a logo with the words, “Padres 2000, presented by Sycuan,” will be on all the Padres publications, its stationery, on staffers’ business cards, on tickets, on Qualcomm Stadium signage, and on all advertising the franchise does throughout the season in print, television and radio.
“The presence will even be on the prompts on the Padres voice mail messages,” Mort said.
The partnership did not include the logo on the Padres uniforms.
Financial terms of the sponsorship were not released by either party, but sources quoted in one report said the Padres received about $1.5 million, with $1 million going to the team, and the rest going to television and radio advertising.
The agreement may have raised red flags with Major League Baseball, which bans sports gambling. But the deal was allowed because the sports betting is neither offered at the casino nor at any statewide gaming operation.
Sycuan has been a corporate sponsor of the Padres since 1995, providing the team with the Opening Day baseball caps giveaway. Mort said the tribe will continue that involvement and do one other promotion on a date that has yet to be determined.
The Padres will announce three other major sponsorship agreements next month during spring training.
“We wanted to strengthen our ties with our top sponsors as we move closer to the era of corporate marketing in the new ballpark,” said Mike Dee, the Padres senior vice president of corporate marketing.
