World Series champions continue solar strategy

12 May 2011 | Posted in Sponsorship, Baseball, North America | By

Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise the San Francisco Giants has arranged a strategic partnership with Canadian Solar for the second year running.

The Kitchener, Ontario-based solar power company sponsored the Giants during their 2010 World Series winning season and are now back on board for the rest of the 2011 campaign.

AT&T Park, home field of the Giants, is renowned for being one of the greenest ballparks in the United States and became the first MLB field to receive a US Green Building Council award for environmental design at an existing building.

Jason Pearl, managing vice president of corporate sponsorship for the San Francisco Giants, said: “We are so pleased to continue to partner with a leader in clean solar energy. We are one of the country’s most environmentally-friendly ballparks and, with Canadian Solar as a strategic partner for the second year in a row, we look forward to furthering our message of environmental sustainability – something about which the San Francisco Giants and Canadian Solar care deeply.”

In 2007, the Giants became the first MLB team to install solar panels at its ballpark, and the franchise continues to lead the league in when it comes to recycling, with 75 per cent of the team’s waste being sent to a recycling and composting programme rather than landfill.

Shawn Qu, chairman and chief executive of Canadian Solar, said: “We are ecstatic to sponsor the San Francisco Giants again this year and support them as they pursue another world championship. The franchise is a leader in green business practices and perfectly aligns with Canadian Solar’s goal of furthering the adoption of renewable energy and sustainability.

“The San Francisco Giants are our flagship sponsorship in the United States and we support the leading team of America’s favourite pastime. We look forward to another winning season and our partnership to promote successful and environmentally-conscious practices.”

On winning the 2010 World Series, the Giants clinched a sixth world championship in franchise history – the team’s first since moving from New York to San Francisco in 1958.