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The San Francisco Giants this week said goodbye to a uniform patch advertising Cruise and his robotaxis — the latest fallout for GM’s self-driving subsidiary and its controversial presence in the city.
The marketing partnership, which was announced in August 2023, will continue, but with another GM brand. For the 2024 baseball season, the SF Giants uniforms will feature the Chevrolet logo with the “EV” in bold orange. Chevrolet’s lineup of fully electric vehicles includes the Chevrolet Blazer EV, the upcoming Equinox, and the Chevrolet Silverado EV. The automaker recently stopped manufacturing the Chevrolet Bolt and Chevy Bolt EUV and suspended sales of the Chevrolet Blazer EV on a software issue that affects the infotainment system.
The uniform patch change comes several months after San Francisco-based Cruise lost its business license to operate robotaxis in the city following an October incident that left a pedestrian trapped under, then dragged by, one of its autonomous cars. In the months that followed, Cruise co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt resigned, 24% of its workforce were fired, the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission open investigations and GM worked to get the company back on track new management.
“As the 2024 baseball season approaches, Cruise is transferring our marketing partnership with the Giants, including rights as official uniform patch partner, to Chevrolet – keeping it within the GM family,” it reads in an emailed statement from a Cruise spokesperson. “In line with our mission to provide safe, reliable and accessible transportation, Cruise remains invested in its joint commitment with the Giants to develop hundreds of electric vehicle chargers in parking lots for event spectators and the public.”
A San Francisco Giants spokesperson said it was a “natural transition to make and was decided by all parties.” When asked if Cruise would return to uniform in 2025, the spokesperson said “we don’t know at this time.”
“This is also a good opportunity for Chevrolet, as they have a long history of supporting MLB as the official automotive sponsor of MLB and sponsor of 14 teams over the past 20 years,” said the San Giants spokesperson. Francisco.
As part of the original deal, Cruise agreed to install more than 100 electric vehicle chargers in Oracle Park parking lots.
As TechCrunch noted last June, selling advertising space on uniforms worn by professional athletes is a common practice in some sports. But it’s a more recent phenomenon in Major League Baseball. The start of the 2023 season saw seven of the league’s 30 teams sell sponsorships, including the San Francisco Giants.
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