Baseball Adding Ads To On-Field Lineup

David Carter, a sports marketer with Sports Business Group in Los Angeles, said the public will get used to more advertising in sports, just as it has with NASCAR.

"Sports has always been perceived as a great vehicle to reach consumers, and I don't think we should be surprised that it's becoming more and more creative all the time," Carter said. "You really are seeing a growing acceptance from fans about sponsorship and advertising."

DuPuy said baseball, which is trying to grow its teenage following, is the near-perfect promotional vehicle for "Spider-Man 2."

"[Spider-Man] is a popular movie with all demographics and age groups," DuPuy said. "It was a natural fit for baseball. "

The promotion, first reported in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, has been in the works for more than a year and will include ads and ballpark events, such as giving masks to fans, said Jacqueline Parkes, baseball's senior vice president for marketing and advertising.

Baseball will receive about $3.6 million in a deal negotiated with Marvel Studios and Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Inc. Baseball officials said the amount of money individual teams receive from the promotion will vary. The share given to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will be more than $100,000 each, and most other home teams will received about $50,000.

Based on word of mouth, Carter said the movie's producers have already gotten their money's worth.

"It's the water-cooler talk of the day," he said.