In 1912, the tobacco company W.T. Blackwell and Co., manufacturers of Bull Durham tobacco, created a successful in-game promotion by installing branded billboards at most major league stadiums and promising that any baseball player who hit the signs would receive $50 – equivalent to more than $1,000 today.
“The prominence of the bull signage and its association with what was becoming America’s pastime led to enormous profits for the company and perhaps the origin of the term ‘bullpen’ to refer to the warm-up area for pitchers,” according to SRITA.