• Ad Age, Friday, December 14, 2007 12 PM

The release of the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball brings new details--and names--into the discussion, perhaps shattering any remaining notion that drug use was limited to a few individuals. The latter concern could weaken baseball's appeal to sponsors, experts say.

"It creates the perception that the playing field isn't level, and that throws the very thing sponsors are interested in being associated with off-kilter," says Ken Ungar, president of Indianapolis sports-business consultancy Ungar Strategies. As tough as the exposure might be for the game as a whole, it will be even harder for the players named in the report to continue to make money from endorsements and memorabilia, Unger says.

Players named include New York Yankees pitchers Roger Clemens and Andy Petitte, Washington Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca, Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada, and retired standouts such as outfielders David Justice and Len Dykstra and pitcher Kevin Brown, among many others.

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