Bank of America Card Services, Major League Baseball Properties and MLB Advanced Media Introduce Extra Bases Credit Card Rewards Program for Fans

WILMINGTON, Del., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America, through its Card Services subsidiary, Major League Baseball Properties Inc., and MLB Advanced Media today announced a unique experiential rewards credit card program that will enable baseball fans to get closer to the game than ever before. The new MLB Extra Bases(TM) credit card rewards program will launch during the 2006 MLB All-Star Week in Pittsburgh, PA, and will be available to fans at http://www.mlbextrabases.com/ beginning on July 7.

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Through the Extra Bases rewards program, fans can redeem points to attend special events, to take VIP all access tours of select ballparks, to visit the field during pre-game activities or to throw out a ceremonial first pitch.

Fans can redeem their Extra Bases Points for tickets to regular season games as well as MLB Jewel Events, including 2006 postseason games and the 2007 All-Star Game. Points can also be used to redeem official MLB merchandise, including Authentic Collection jerseys and caps through online redemptions on the rewards website hosted by MLB.com, the official web site of Major League Baseball.

"We asked baseball fans what they wanted most in a rewards program, and they told us they wanted to get closer to the game they love," said John Cochran, Bank of America Card Services Marketing Executive. "We are proud to provide this unique opportunity to enable fans to experience the excitement and thrills of America's National Pastime."

"Bank of America continues to serve as an important partner to Major League Baseball," said Tim Brosnan, Executive Vice President, Business, Major League Baseball. "Through the Extra Bases program, baseball fans will experience our National Pastime in new and exciting ways for years to come. By earning points that can be redeemed for numerous Major League Baseball-themed experiences and merchandise, this program will provide lifelong memories and invaluable baseball experiences to our fans."

Beginning at the 2006 MLB All-Star Week in Pittsburgh, fans can sign up for an Extra Bases credit card at select MLB ballparks, at MLB Jewel Events and at http://www.mlbextrabases.com/. Cardholders can choose a card design bearing the silhouetted batter or the logo of their favorite Club. Each time they use their card, fans will earn one point for every net retail Dollar spent. Accumulated points can be redeemed for a spectrum of unique rewards that only MLB and its 30 Clubs can deliver, many of which are exclusive to this program.

The new MLB Extra Bases(TM) rewards card will include features such as: Unique experiences - Invitations to special Club or MLB events - On field access during pre-game activities and dugout visits - "Junior Announcer" - announce the line-up for an inning - Opportunities to throw out a ceremonial first pitch - Be a member of the grounds crew and rake the infield and change a base Merchandise - Gift certificates for merchandise at participating retail partners of MLBP, the Clubs and at MLB.com, and officially licensed MLB jerseys, personalized bats, caps and much more Tickets - Tickets to Spring Training and regular season games - Tickets to MLB All-Star Week events - Tickets to Division Series, American and National League Championship Series and World Series games Memorabilia - Autographed baseballs and authentic jerseys - Game-used items such as official MLB baseballs, bases, or line-up cards Publications - Official MLB and Club programs, yearbooks, magazines and media guides Cash and Travel - Enjoy the freedom of choice with cash rewards or use points for airline tickets and see your favorite Club play on the road Major League Baseball Properties

The Major League Baseball Clubs formed Major League Baseball Properties (MLBP) in 1966 as the Clubs' agent for marketing and trademark licensing and protection. Major League Baseball Properties Inc. is responsible for managing consumer licensing activities, developing national advertising campaigns, cultivating sponsorship opportunities with major consumer brands and corporations, growing the game and the business of baseball outside the United States, and creating national marketing programs in conjunction with Clubs, broadcast rights holders and national sponsors. MLBP also operates a full- service video and audio production unit (Major League Baseball Productions), a publishing division and a stock photo licensing agency, and manages logistics for the All-Star Game and World Series championship games, as well as all other special events. For more information on Major League Baseball, log on to http://www.mlb.com/.

MLB Advanced Media, LP

Established in June 2000 following a unanimous vote by the 30 Major League Baseball Club owners to centralize all of Baseball's Internet operations, MLB Advanced Media LP (MLBAM) is the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball. MLBAM manages the official league site, http://www.mlb.com/, and each of the 30 individual Club sites to create the most comprehensive Major League Baseball resource on the Internet. MLB.com offers fans the most complete baseball information on the web, including up-to-date statistics, game summaries, extensive historical information, and exclusive features about Major League Baseball events and programs, including on-line ticket sales, baseball merchandise, authenticated memorabilia and collectibles, fantasy games, live and archived radio broadcasts of every game, live and archived video webcasts of entire games, pitch-by-pitch enactment of games, and hosted post-game video highlight shows.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 54 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 5,700 retail banking offices, more than 16,700 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 19 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in 175 countries and has relationships with 98 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 79 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

http://www.bankofamerica.com/