General Motors Corp. won’t be the automotive sponsor for the New York Yankees when the team’s new stadium opens next year.
Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost said Tuesday that Toyota and Audi will take over as the club’s auto sponsors. The new deals are for ballpark signage, as was the previous contract with GM.
General Motors was a Yankees sponsor from 2006-08.
“We understand their financial condition,” Trost said. “I think it was a mutual understanding.”
GM spokesman John McDonald said that in light of the current economic conditions, the automaker is reviewing all of its sponsorship activities as part of a plan to cut its marketing and promotions budget by 20 percent.
In addition, contracts with about six other major league teams expire at the end of this year, and those deals are being reviewed as well.
GM also recently decided against renewing a similar contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but its broader contract with MLB runs through 2010.
Last month, GM’s Buick brand said it was concluding its marketing contract with Tiger Woods one year early. That contract was valued at $7 million per year.
The automaker said in September that it would not air a TV advertisement during the 2009 Super Bowl. That came after announcement that it was also passing on airing ads during the Emmy Awards and the Academy Awards.
McDonald said he couldn’t comment on the values of the contracts involved or the amount of money GM expected to save by eliminating them.
“Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic 3” Rule Box Office For 1st Weekend Of 2025
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" claimed the No. 1 spot on the North American box office charts over the first weekend of 2025.
The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel earned $23.8 million in its third weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," which has dominated the past two weekends, wasn't far behind.
"Sonic 3" stayed close with a 3-day estimate of $21.2 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $187.5 million and helping the overall franchise cross $1 billion worldwide. "Mufasa's" running total is slightly less, with $169.2 million.
In third place, Focus Features' "Nosferatu" remake defied the fate of so many of its genre predecessors and fell only 39% in its second weekend. Horror films typically fall sharply after the first weekend and anything less than a 50% decline is notable. "Nosferatu," which added 140 screens, claimed $13.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its running total to $69.4 million since its Christmas debut. The film, directed by Robert Eggers, already surpassed its reported production budget of $50 million, though that figure does not account for marketing and promotion expenses).
No new wide releases opened this weekend, leaving the box office top 10 once again to holdovers from previous weeks. Several have been in theaters since Thanksgiving. One of those, "Moana 2," claimed the No. 4 spot for Disney in its sixth weekend in theaters. The animated sequel earned another $12.4 million, bumping its global total to $960.5 million.
The Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," dipped only slightly in its second weekend, bringing in $8.1 million. With $41.7 million total, it's Searchlight's highest grossing film since Disney acquired the company in... Read More