Pepsi, Baseball Strike Up a Deal

PepsiCo Inc. said Wednesday that it has agreed to promote major league baseball in its ads and products in a marketing alliance that the soft drink maker hopes will help break rival Coca-Cola Co.’s stranglehold on the sport.

The five-year agreement gives Pepsi the right to sponsor the All-Star Game, use team logos in promotions and even offer the first pitch of a World Series game as a reward in a contest. In return, it will pay the league an undisclosed amount and advertise during nationally televised games.

Baseball and Pepsi executives declined to say how much the deal is worth, but sources told Associated Press that the figure exceeds $50 million over five years.

Pepsi is expected to use its sponsorship of the marquee sport to place its drinks into more stadiums. Coke is poured in 24 of the 28 major league ballparks, while Pepsi is in the remaining four.

Pepsi recently won the right to pour drinks at baseball’s two expansion teams when they begin playing next year. That will put it in six of the 30 professional baseball stadiums.

“They’ll be very aggressive in pursuing the business--and maybe in some unorthodox ways,” said Caroline Levy, an analyst at Schroder Wertheim & Co.

Coca-Cola executives said Wednesday that they had the chance to top Pepsi’s offer and decided against it, preferring local deals with individual teams.

“We think the value of the ‘official drink’ designation is on a team-by-team basis,” spokesman Scott Jacobson said.