Major League Baseball Players Are the Focus in New ''I Live For This'' Ad Campaign.

Sports Editors/Baseball Writers & Columnists

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 2003

Ichiro, Jeter, Martinez and Sosa Spots Designed to Drive

Postseason Viewership & Illustrate Diversity of MLB 

Major League Baseball has unveiled an exciting new advertising campaign that highlights the passion and intensity Major League Baseball players have for the game. The campaign - entitled "I Live For This" - will launch tonight on ESPN Wednesday Night Baseball. A total of four spots - including one in Japanese and one in Spanish, both with English subtitles -- will air through the end of the 2003 Postseason.

The concept of the campaign is that Major League Baseball players don't just love the game of baseball, they live for the game. This concept is captured in spots featuring the top stars in Major League Baseball talking in their own words about their passion, drive and love for the game.

Initial spots set to break today include Derek Jeter, Sammy Sosa, Ichiro (in Japanese with English subtitles), and Pedro Martinez (in Spanish with English subtitles). The campaign will run worldwide, including in-game on FOX and ESPN, in-game during MLB International rightsholders telecasts and in-stadium at Major League ballparks. The commercial featuring Ichiro speaking in Japanese with English subtitles is the first of its kind to run domestically from Major League Baseball. The commercial featuring Pedro will air in Spanish with English subtitles in the U.S. as well.

Each spot is tagged with a special tune-in message reminding viewers to watch the 2003 MLB Postseason. Gina Gershon, known for her roles in Films such as Sinatra, Showgirls, Face/Off and, more recently, Driven with Sylvester Stallone, is the female voiceover in all of the tune-in messaging tags.

"The 'I Live For This' campaign is all about the passion our players have for the game of Baseball," said Tim Brosnan, Executive Vice President, Business, Major League Baseball. "In addition to giving viewers a unique look at what attracts each of these players to Major League Baseball, the focus on players such as Ichiro, Jeter, Martinez and Sosa illustrates the great diversity in our game."

McCann Erickson-NY, the agency of record for Major League Baseball, created the commercials, and production on the campaign began the day after the 2003 MLB All-Star Game. Non-fiction-spots and Director Peter Gilbert, who is known for the groundbreaking documentary Hoop Dreams, produced the ads. Post-production was handled by Chickonkey.

New commercials in the "I Live For This" campaign, featuring such Major League Baseball players Chipper Jones, Torii Hunter, Jason Schmidt and Jeff Bagwell, will be integrated later this year. Additional "I Live For This" commercials will be integrated throughout 2004 to promote opening day, the All-Star Game and the Postseason. Players that will be added to the "I Live for This" campaign in 2004 include Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, J.T. Snow, Jim Edmonds, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Dontrelle Willis.

(Note: Media that would like to receive digital .mpg files of the ads should call Kathleen Fineout or Carmine N. Tiso at [phone] or send an e-mail to [e-mail] or [e-mail])