Ultimately, AbbVie donated more than $162,000 from the strikeouts themselves before rounding up the contribution to $250,000. The hometown partnership with the Chicago Cubs continues in its second season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Throughout the upcoming MLB season, AbbVie will also donate $20 for every strikeout across the league \u2014 up to a maximum donation of $1 million \u2014 benefitting Stand Up To Cancer. A strikeout tracker will allow fans to follow the impact over the season.<\/p>\n
Additionally, AbbVie\u2019s creative assets promoting Striking Out Cancer will be featured across MLB platforms, including MLB Network, MLB digital and social channels.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matt Tritley, VP of corporate marketing at AbbVie, added that Striking Out Cancer will also be spotlighted during the MLB All-Star Game, MLB at Field of Dreams game as well as during the Wild Card Series, for which AbbVie will serve as the presenting sponsor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tritley said the core goal of the partnership is to scale the success of the original Striking Out Cancer project league-wide and connect baseball with cancer awareness, oncology advocacy and research support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of opportunities to engage with people and take a moment like a strikeout \u2014 which is important during a game \u2014 and then even make that even more important by raising the visibility of how we\u2019re all fighting against cancer,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While this iteration of the awareness work won\u2019t focus as much on in-stadium advertising like AbbVie did at Wrigley Field, Tritley touted the company\u2019s ambitions to feature the campaign across MLB Network and the league\u2019s digital and social channels. Still, he added that AbbVie will feature select in-stadium moments during the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Supported by Chicago-based sports agency partner rEvolution, the drugmaker plans to run 30\u2011second spots across numerous channels to help viewers better understand what Striking Out Cancer means and articulate the drugmaker\u2019s commitment to the oncology space.<\/p>\n
He also credited MLB with offering data and best practices for how to maximize fan engagement as this effort gets off the ground.<\/p>\n
![\"Hand](\"https:\/\/www.mmm-online.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/rEv_AbbVie_2026-MLB-HPTO-1800x450-1.jpg\")
Image courtesy AbbVie, used with permission.<\/p>\n
For the launch, Tritley said AbbVie is working with a handful of pitchers to share their cancer-related stories and reiterate their support of the program. These player-led activations are slated to continue throughout the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make sure our message is authentic since this isn\u2019t, if you will, a marketing campaign,\u201d he added. \u201cThis is about how we can help people better understand the importance of awareness of cancer, cancer advocacy, cancer research and our involvement in it.\u201d<\/p>\n