T-Mobile says it is pledging up to $1 million to the American Red Cross for the organization’s hurricane relief efforts — but the actual amount donated to the public service charity will depend on the outcome of the World Series.
Starting this week, the wireless phone provider will start donating $25,000 to the American Red Cross for every home run scored during the World Series. The company also says a $10 donation will be made to the American Red Cross when customers text the word “RALLY” to 90999 during the campaign, though it wasn’t clear from a news release issued on Friday if the donation is matched by T-Mobile. (Typically, using the 90999 results in a charge on a customer’s phone bill.)
The initiative is part of T-Mobile’s newest promotional opportunity, called “Rally for Relief,” which will also see the company partner with Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow for a new song. The song will be released in a new T-Mobile television spot that will air during Game 1 of the World Series, the company said. (Crow is donating all proceeds from the sale of the track to hurricane relief efforts, and those donations are not contingent upon home runs.)
“Since Hurricanes Helene and Milton made landfall, T-Mobile’s Emergency Response teams have been on the ground helping restore connectivity and assist impacted communities,” Mike Katz, the President of Marketing at T-Mobile, said in a statement. “Now, as those communities are working through the challenging process of rebuilding, we remain by their side, extending our support and enabling baseball fans to join us through Rally for Relief. We’re using one of baseball’s biggest stages to bring attention to these impacted areas and make a difference for the communities that need it most.”
The company has partnered with the American Red Cross several times in the past: In a press release on Friday, T-Mobile said it has committed $7.5 million in donations to the organization for various hurricane relief efforts since 2017.
The announcement of their latest campaign comes two days after T-Mobile reported “industry-leading growth” in terms of the number of new customer accounts, service revenues and profitability during its third financial quarter (Q3) of the year. Over a three-month period that ended September 30, T-Mobile saw its service revenue climb to $16.7 billion — a 5 percent increase compared to Q3 2023 — and logged $3.1 billion in net income.
Like AT&T and Verizon, T-Mobile has deployed emergency response vehicles throughout the southern United States after two major hurricanes impacted the region between late September and mid-October. Hurricane Helene made landfall along the western coast of Florida before moving across five other states, resulting in wind and flood damage that many communities are still recovering from. Two weeks later, Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida as a Category 4 storm, spawning tornadoes and causing serious wind and flood damage throughout the state.
