FOX Sports Arizona Leaves Its Mark During MLB All-Star Week in Phoenix

When Major League Baseball’s 82^nd All-Star Game came to Phoenix, FOX Sports Arizona was in the middle of it all to ensure it would be seen and remembered by fans who turned out for one of the biggest sporting events to ever hit Arizona.

The network had a huge presence at MLB’s FanFest in the Phoenix Convention Center with one of the most popular booths. Throughout the five-day event that attracted over  110,000 people, five members of the 2001 World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks were there to sign nearly 1,300 autographs. Mark Grace, Matt Williams, Jay Bell, Tony Womack and Reggie Sanders all made appearances to sign, pose for pictures and chat with fans of all ages.

In addition to the player autograph sessions, fans were also given the chance to sit in the FOX Sports Arizona “Fantasy Play-by-Play Booth” and be the announcer  for one of five memorable D-backs plays from years gone by. Their calls were videotaped and then uploaded to view later on FOXSportsArizona.com. In addition, FOX Sports Arizona talent – and the new FOX Sports Arizona Girls also made appearances at the booth to mingle, sign autographs and helps fans with their Fantasy Play-by- Play calls. And since it was well over 100 degrees in Phoenix, the network handed out branded battery operated fans to everyone who visited the booth!

FOX Sports Arizona took advantage of the event to promote itself via numerous outdoor advertising mediums. Its D-backs & Phoenix Suns signage in the new downtown Phoenix “Legends District” was seen by fans attending all the events and the signage was also prominently displayed on television during MLB Network’s telecast of the All-Star Game’s Red Carpet parade. FOX Sports Arizona also secured advertising space on digital billboards, light rail wraps, a light rail station just outside Chase Field and a mobile billboard in order to “Own the Town” during All-Star Week.

The All-Star Game produced heavy traffic for FOXSportsArizona.com. The site featured an “All-Star Game Central” page with tons of coverage devoted to not only the game, but all the events surrounding it, including Fan Fest, Justin Upton’s All-Star Party hosted by the FOX Sports Arizona Girls, Behind the Scenes with MLB on FOX, a wedding at Fan Fest and the Celebrity Softball Game.  Additionally, there were 17 photo galleries during the period that produced 1.1 million page views. Overall for the 7-day period around All-Star Week, the page attracted 279,000 unique visitors and 1.4 million page views.

FOX Sports Arizona made sure its viewers were in a baseball state of mind thoughout MLB All-Star Week by creating a special baseball-themed programming lineup that ran July 9-12. Entitled "Covering the Bases, Presented by Larry Miller Nissan" it showcased FOX Sports Arizona's vault of baseball shows and also included many baseball programs offered nationally by FSN.