Consumers have said they buy into Meredith Vieira.

I think he's going to have great staying power, because of what he represents to so many different people. He's a cancer survivor, a champion and to a lot of people he's very patriotic because he's representing America overseas.

Right now there's a risk in signing any baseball player, whether or not there's been a rumor about him or not. There's a dark cloud over the entire sport.

The most effective way for an athlete to get his name out there is to be unique. In order to be unique, you have to be different or be special on the field or off. What he's done in three games is unique, but it's not a monumental achievement that will differentiate him in the marketing world.

Right now, he's a local guy. Right now, the marketing interest will be locally based. He needs to sustain a longer period of success with some team success to become a national figure,

I think the players realized that (advertiser reluctance),