SGE Sage Group Plc

Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses, is partnering with Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. to give fans a once-in-a-lifetime experience to lead-off the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) season.

The 19-time MLB All-Star will lead Sage’s Out of Office campaign that will see several customer CFOs and their employees from across North America treated to a VIP Opening Day experience. This one-of-a-kind reward will be given to those who routinely display team spirit, dedication, and professionalism in their workplace, and celebrates Sage’s new official partnership with Major League Baseball. The campaign, which launched today, shows MLB’s Iron Man himself, Ripken Jr., taking a day off to celebrate with Sage.

Speaking on the campaign, Aziz Benmalek, President of Sage North America, said, “Opening Day represents Sage’s official debut as a sponsor of Major League Baseball, and we believe it’s a day to celebrate and set your out of office!”

“Throughout his record-breaking career, Cal Ripken Jr. displayed the ultimate professionalism, commitment, and dedication,” continued Benmalek. “That’s what Sage is recognising and rewarding amongst our customers, colleagues, and fans across North America. We’re helping to provide a well-deserved ‘out of office’ day to celebrate both the new MLB season and the employees that show up each day determined to give their best efforts towards a team performance.”

The Sage Out of Office campaign (#SageOOO) will run across both 2023 MLB Opening Day presented by Chevrolet and the 2023 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard, offering fans of all clubs a chance to get involved with America’s favorite pastime and enjoy a day out of the office. Those lucky enough to win for Opening Day received a surprise video call from Ripken Jr. to tell them the news.

Ripken Jr., who played 21 years in the Majors and set MLB’s record for longest streak of consecutive games played at 2,632 games, said, “The Sage Out of Office campaign was a fun way to reward those who demonstrate similar traits that I tried to embody as a player, and now as a business leader. When I played in the MLB, I never even considered taking a day off from training, it just wasn’t in my mindset. Sage enables its customers to streamline processes and get faster access to insights – ensuring business owners, CFOs, and their finance team members have the flexibility to take a day off from work to enjoy Opening Day on March 30!”

Enhancing the in-game experience for MLB fans

Sage is entering the first year of a multi-year partnership with Major League Baseball, the company’s first North American sports partnership. The pairing aims to enhance the in-game experience for fans by offering a suite of integrations with insights and analysis focused on pitching decisions and managerial insights. In addition to the #SageOOO campaign, Sage is partnering with MLB for an Opening Day Strike Out Contest, as well as introducing new Pitcher Power Rankings and Leaderboards which will be shared on MLB channels throughout the season.

Marketing opportunities on MLB digital and broadcast platforms include Sage “Pitching Decisions,” “Pitcher Power Rankings,” and “Manager Interviews,” which will highlight the instincts and insights of baseball played at the highest level. This will offer fans an intimate understanding of the strategies, decision-making, and analytical thinking involved in each play. During the season, Sage creative will also run during MLB games across various media platforms, including TBS, Apple TV+, MLB Network, and MLB.com.

“Our campaign with Cal Ripken Jr. is a great way to lead off our new sponsorship of MLB, where we can use our experience of delivering insights to CFOs to partner on pitching decisions and manager interview content that bring insights to fans of the nation’s favorite sport,” added Benmalek.

To find out more about Sage, to enter for a chance to win tickets through the #SageOOO campaign, and to discover more insights delivered during the MLB season visit www.sage.com/en-us/company/corporate-partnerships/major-league-baseball.

Media Contacts: Jarrod Rudolph CSM for Sage Jarrod.rudolph@csm.com

Peter Olson Sage US PR USPR@sage.com

About Sage

Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of small- and mid-sized businesses served by us, our partners, and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR, and payroll software to help business flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology, and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality, and the climate crisis. Learn more at www.sage.com/en-us/.