Major League Baseball Nominated For Top Sports Marketing Award in Germany

Frankfurt, Germany. November 28, 2006 - Major League Baseball is in the running to win a prestig-ious sports marketing award for Play Ball!, baseball's grassroots initiative in Germany. Play Ball! is part of Major League Baseball's strategy to continue to grow the game globally. Frankfurt-based sports marketing agency ITMS Sports handles all of MLBs marketing, event and sponsor-ship endeav-ors in Germany and is nominated for the Play Ball! campaign.

Said George Pascal, executive director of ITMS Sports: "To have been nominated for this prestigious award is very exciting. With the advertising focus firmly on the FIFA World Cup in 2006, sports marketing and sponsorship spending hit all time highs in Germany. It's a great honor that our marketing campaign for the sport of baseball is being recognized by the sports marketing indus-try."

The annual German Sports Marketing Prize recognizes outstanding sports marketing communications over the past year. The sports industry at large is invited to vote for their favorite campaign by visiting the awards site at www.sponsors.de/marketingpreis. Online voting starts December 1 and ends December 15.

The campaign receiving the most votes will be declared the winner of the German Sports Marketing Prize 2007 at a special ceremony during the ISPO Sports Sponsoring Congress in February in Munich.

Play Ball! is one of ten sports marketing campaigns chosen out of over 40 candidates considered by a nominating committee made up of sports and marketing experts. Amongst the other nominees are: Adidas for their global campaign 10 + 1 - Impossible is nothing; Coca-Cola's It's your Heimspiel; FIFA's fan initiative, the FIFA Fan Fest; McDonald's campaign Children Love Soccer; und the Deutsche Telekom's link with the German national team.

In 2006, the Play Ball! youth programs introduced over 185,000 kids to the game of baseball in over 1,100 German schools, through a string of 'start-up' leagues and the MLB Roadshow, a series of fan experience events held in major cities throughout the country.

Teaming up with sponsors Burger King, Majestic and New Era, ITMS Sports was able to realize a large scale campaign reaching millions of potential fans through print, television, radio and online communications. Mariott Hotels, European broadcast partners Premiere and NASN, leading children's television channel Jetix and Axel Springer Verlag's YAM! magazine also joined this year, allow-ing for diverse cross-promotional activities to promote baseball.

The Sports Marketing Prize reflects the increasing significance of marketing in the field of sport in Germany and is an initiative of the leading trade magazine SPONSORs and the European Sponsorship Exchange (ESB).