WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC OFFICIALLY A MARKETING SUCCESS--States $15 M in profits

NEW YORK -- Marketing results for the first World Baseball Classic tournament in which many of the league's top players participated last month have just been tallied. According to Shawn Lawson-Cummings, MLB’s international vp of sponsorships and licensing, the event was a success that "exceeded all of our expectations." According to the New York-based client, the event sold about 740,000 tickets at 7 venues over 18 days. The event posted higher ratings on ESPN than regular-season NBA games in the last year, and drew the third-best TV ratings for broadcast baseball in Japan. Its Web site, worldbaseballclassic.com, had more than one billion hits from July 2005 through March 2006. Ticket sales accounted for most of the nearly $15 million in profits for World Baseball Classic Inc., Lawson-Cummings said. Proceeds will be distributed among the teams that participated, except the Cuba team, which knew that before participating, she added.

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