Short on Cash, Red Sox Find New Ways to Sell Out

The Red Sox announced they will wear corporate advertising on their uniforms for four games, including their season-opening series versus the A's in Japan. Hat tip, the Griddle (who also snarked, "Because nothing says data storage more than 'Boston Red Sox'.").

Data storage provider EMC Corp. announced Wednesday that it will be an official sponsor of Major League Baseball Japan in support of the 2008 season-opening series between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics in Japan.

Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based EMC, a leader in information infrastructure solutions, has had a relationship with the Red Sox for several years and is looking to build its brand in Japan. [...]

As part of the agreement, the Red Sox will wear sleeve patches featuring the EMC and "Japan 2008" logos for the four games in Japan.

MLB teams are not permitted to wear corporate logos on their uniforms but the rule will be lifted for the four games the Red Sox will play in Japan.

I wonder what EMC competitor and Japan-headquartered Hitachi thinks of this sponsorship development, given the games will be played on their home turf. If I were in the front office of the Athletics (besides trying to find Billy Beane's latest secret statistical methodologies), my first step would be to find out if Hitachi wants to sponsor the A's. This way, we can turn MLB's 2008 Opening Day into "The Battle For Data Storage Supremacy"! Gentlemen, start your enterprise storage products and optical drives!