New York Mets' Citi Field set to be loaded with AQUOS HDTVs
It's still up in the air whether the New York Mets will have a solid 2009 season, but one thing is for certain: locals are stoked to see Citi Field open up on April 13th. Sharp has just pushed out a press release that gives baseball loving HD junkies even more reason to go check out a game in person, as we're told that over 800 AQUOS HDTVs will be littered about the new venue. There will also be a gigantic 108-inch Sharp LCD in Citi Field's main lobby, which ought to complement the 12,000 square-feet of Daktronics HD signage quite well. Man, stuff like this really makes us rethink the whole "stay home vs. see it live" debate. Full release is after the break.
METS AND SHARP SIGN MULTI-YEAR AGREEMENT FOR CITI FIELD
Official HDTV of Major League Baseball to Supply More Than 800 HDTVs For Mets' New World-Class Home Opening April 13
Significant Community Outreach Component Ties Mets and Sharp to Community
FLUSHING, N.Y., March 24, 2009 – The New York Mets and Sharp Electronics Corporation today announced a new multi-year multimedia and community outreach relationship at Citi Field, the Mets' world-class home opening April 13.
Sharp, the official HDTV of Major League Baseball, will provide more than 800 Sharp AQUOS® LCD HDTVs throughout Citi Field's concourses, restaurants, club spaces, and more than 200,000 square feet of event space, as well as a spectacular 108" class (107 17/32" diagonal) Sharp LCD in Citi Field's main lobby. In addition to significant in-game branding at Citi Field, including rotational signage, permanent signage on the center field scoreboard, in-game video features, and presence on Mets.com, Sharp will take an active role in the Mets' community outreach efforts off the field as title sponsor of the Mets/Sharp Electronics Student-Athlete Leadership Conference Series, a program that trains more than 1,200 student-athletes from 30 Long Island high schools to provide drug and alcohol abuse prevention education to over 15,000 grade school children.
"Sharp's provision of the finest HDTVs will enhance our fan experience throughout Citi Field," said Dave Howard, Executive Vice President, Business Operations, New York Mets. "Beyond the ballpark, collaboratively with Sharp, we will grow the Mets/Sharp Electronics Student-Athlete Leadership Conference Series to affect positively thousands of youngsters in our community."
"Our relationship with the Mets is one of the longest standing local partnerships in Sharp's company history in the U.S.," said Andrew Kritzer, Associate Vice President, Strategic Marketing & Communications Division, Sharp Electronics Corporation. "We truly value the relationship that we've forged with the Mets that allows us to both enhance the fan experience in a way that only Sharp can, and to team up for an important program for the community."
Relay Worldwide, a leading expert in sponsorship consulting and experiential marketing and a member of the Publicis Groupe network, helped develop the extension and expansion of the longstanding relationship between the Mets and Sharp, which dates back more than a quarter century.
ABOUT SHARP ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
Sharp Electronics Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sharp Corporation, a worldwide developer of one-of-a-kind home entertainment products, appliances, networked multifunctional office solutions, solar energy solutions and mobile communication and information tools. Leading brands include AQUOS® Liquid Crystal Televisions, 1-Bit™ digital audio products, SharpVision® projection products, Insight® Microwave Drawer® appliances, and Notevision® multimedia projectors. For more information visit Sharp Electronics Corporation at www.sharpusa.com. AQUOS is a registered trademark of Sharp Corporation.
