General Motors’ financial problems are spilling over to another entity that is losing a lot, the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The cash-strapped auto maker, currently seeking government bailouts worth billions of dollars, is not renewing a sponsorship arrangement with the Pirates that expired at the end of last season.
Pittsburgh, which went 67-95 to tie a Major League Baseball record with its 16th consecutive losing season, would not estimate Wednesday how much the GM sponsorship was worth, but emphasized that the car maker is ending such deals with other major league teams, not only the Pirates.
“Obviously, it’s a category that’s important to baseball,” Pirates president Frank Coonelly said at the winter meetings in Las Vegas. “We’ll look for other potential partners in the auto category to do business with, and also look to other partnerships to replace the dollars.”
GM spokesman Pete Ternes said the company is “looking at” Major League Baseball sponsorship contracts that expire at the end of the year, as part of an effort to cut the company’s promotional and advertising budget by 20%.
“We’re reviewing all our sponsorship as contracts come up, which include Major League Baseball,” he said. “We have national agreements with Major League Baseball, and most of these (we’re reviewing) are at the team level.” Chevrolet supplies the car that is given to the World Series Most Valuable Player under a deal that runs through 2010.
Last month, GM’s Buick brand said it was concluding its marketing contract with Tiger Woods one year early. The contract was valued at US$7 million per year.
