Kodak, Honda and Konami have signed on as primary sponsors of “Baseball’s 100 Greatest Players,” a joint production of The Sporting News and NBC. Some variation of the 100 Greatest content will appear on television, on the Web and in print, all supporting one another editorially and pointing traffic to the other two media.
Kodak and Honda are placing ad messages on broadcast television, online and print. Konami has made online and print buys. Spending was not disclosed.
The television version of “The Sporting News 100 Greatest Baseball Players,” hosted by Bob Costas, will be telecast by NBC on April 24 at 4:30 p.m. EDT. The Sporting News and NBC are co-producing a complementary Internet version of the show on the Web site of The Sporting News, as well as on MSNBCSports. The Sporting News Online has provided sports content to MSNBC since 1997.
In print, special features on the “100 Greatest” are also included in the April 19 and 26 issues of The Sporting News.
NBC Sports and The Sporting News said they will also work together on a second broadcast/online/print effort. The second scheduled program will be based on The Sporting News’ list of baseball’s 25 greatest moments and will be televised in October, during baseball’s postseason.
The Sporting News Online is part of Times Mirror Interzines, the new media unit of Times Mirror Magazines.