The "buzz" around MLB All-Star was that the biggest jersey-patch deal to date "has been struck," with the Red Sox and Mass Mutual agreeing to terms on a 10-year pact for around $17M a year, plus "performance kickers for the team that could boost it" to $20M. The Sox are "close-mouthed on the deal, since it isn’t signed, and because rival financial services brand John Hancock is a decades-long Sox sponsor, including having its brand on the outfield wall at Fenway Park." One Red Sox marketer called the deal a “rumor.” It would be a "significant step up for Mass Mutual, which buys a large amount of sports media, and has a sponsorship portfolio including NHL league rights." A corporate sales exec at a Midwestern MLB team said of the purported deal, “It’s a milestone for all of us trying to figure out price value in a brand-new market” (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/25 issue).