Little League sponsorship continued

More on Little League Baseball and corporate sponsors.

I spoke today with Chris Downs, a Little League Baseball spokesman. Here's what I learned.

Little League sponsors DO have the right to picture real Little Leaguers playing in real Little League World Series games in their advertising.

These caveats apply:

Only "official sponsors" have this right.

Only images that portray kids playing by the rules - e.g., catchers wearing mandatory throat guards - are allowed.

Only still photography of kid players is permitted. No video.

I asked Chris Downs for his assessment of the Wilson/DeMarini video posted here yesterday. "Based on the established parameters I am aware of, it certainly doesn't violate any rules," he told me.

I asked whether the parents/guardians of Little League World Series players are asked to sign a release, granting permission for these images to be used by corporate sponsors. Yes, Downs said.

Apologies to Wilson for inferring in yesterday's post that the video in question used players in an unauthorized way.

Bottom line: Sponsors have the legal right.

Question: Is it right?

Little League Baseball and the sponsorship game

Little League has been striking deals with corporate sponsors for a long time - more than 50 years. Some of the earliest were the most crassly commercial. At the 1948 Little League World Series (then called the LL National Tournament), half the kids wore "US Keds" across their chests. The other half, "US Royals." The image of young players as Madison Avenue billboards did not go over well. The next year, the sneaker names came off the jerseys.

These days, Little League Baseball has a deep bench of corporate sponsors, from Ace Hardware to Kellogg's Frosted Flakes to Wilson Sporting Goods. However, it does not allow real kids playing in real Little League games to be pictured in advertising.

Or so I thought.

This posted to Youtube last month. So far, 272 views (and one comment, presumably from an 11-year-old: "Cool.")