• by Karl Greenberg , May 4, 2009

Bic Consumer Products' shaver division has signed up a major league sports sponsorship -- actually, a virtual major league sponsorship. Bic will back Major League Gaming, which is a video-game league company that hosts online games through its Web site and through live events.

The deal puts Bic's Comfort 3 Advance shaver in MLG's programming and the MLG logo on packages of the Bic shavers nationwide starting this week. The effort is an extension of Bic's "Game On" marketing platform, intended to position the disposable shavers against younger male sports enthusiasts. Bic also sponsors college basketball and football leagues.

The deal puts the MLG logo on over 250,000 packs of shavers and a redeemable coupon inside the package, whereby consumers can get twenty credits -- worth $13 -- to play on MLG's multi-player GameBattles site at www.GameBattles.com.

Bic will highlight its Comfort 3 Advance shaver by sponsoring MLG's "Get Better Fast" video and editorial pieces on gaming issues like how to prepare for tournaments and strategies for newly released titles. An MLG spokesperson says the league has over 2.5 million people participating in the online tournament site, GameBattles. "At our season opener Pro Circuit event at the Meadowlands in early April we had 5,000 paying spectators, and 15,000 came over the course of the three-day event."

This summer, Bic will sponsor the League's "Super Smash Brothers Brawl Singles and Doubles" on MLG's GameBattles. Participants will receive a free entry into the online tournament, courtesy of BIC, where they can compete for a chance to win $5,000 in prize money.

The spokesperson says the Web-based games are part of what the company does. "We do five live events each year, with sponsorship at those events as well, which is one reason why our sponsors are so interested." She says MLG has around 8 sponsors and that MLG's median player and fan age is around 18.

"Our online tournament business is a huge driver for business; any month there are about 600,000 to 700,000 matches played on platforms like Xbox or PlayStation, whose players then come to our site to report scores, and track rankings." Players can post information about themselves. "But the live events are a huge expression of what competitive gaming is as sport."