How MLB Can Market Itself Year-Round
Published May 17, 2008
Our national pastime of baseball is no longer past tense, passe, or living in the past. Steroids and HGH deserve the credit. These performance-enhancing drugs have provided Major League Baseball with some marketing juice. This enlightened point of view is a matter of perspective. It's partly sunny, not partly cloudy. The glass is half-full, not half-empty.
There is no such thing as bad publicity. Sports entertainment is about marketing. The Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds steroids calamities provided baseball with an off-season presence. This issue was the hot topic for news media, sports media, bloggers, Internet social sites, and various web-based organizations. Congress even got in on the act with the Clemens congressional committee hearing. Gavel to gavel coverage was provided by every major news outlet. Baseball's "hot stove" season was sizzling.
Who knew a sport layered in traditions would be at the forefront of pharmaceutical muscle and tissue advancement? Major League Baseball has had its share of drug abuses and allegations. Steve Howe, Darryl Strawberry, Dock "LSD" Ellis, Ken Caminiti, Dwight Gooden, Wally Joyner, and Jason Giambi are a few of the names that come to mind. Baseball's past has also included rumors about widespread amphetamine use. None of these situations have ever sparked the amount of off-season media attention that anabolic steroids received. Usually, the only thing ever heard about after the World Series, are manager terminations, the winter meetings, and possible trades.
MLB needs to promote year around. However, the main focus should be on the off-season. Baseball needs to become the leader of self-promotion. Take a tip from Fox, ESPN, and HBO. Energize beyond the core audience and think outside the diamond. Have some television and radio commercials produced to promote the excitement. Action packed video and audio collages of player home runs, spectacular defensive plays, and great pitching moments. Target the spots at the 18-34 demo and have them narrated by current lifestyle leaders in music, movies, and fashion. Buy time on TV networks other than ESPN and Fox. Place ads on shows that appeal to the demo. Also, embrace more of the new media that technology has created. Go beyond the XM broadcasts and MLB.com to sign partnerships with YouTube, Myspace, Facebook, and any other social networks to advertise the sport. Currently, MLB.com offers inexpensive packages of live game audio and live game video and audio of any team regular season game. The use of this technology probably appeals to sports junkies and the developing younger 12-30-year-old demo that view movies and TV on their computer screens. However, baseball does a poor job of promoting these options.
- How MLB Can Market Itself Year-Round
- Published: May 17, 2008
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Sports
- Filed Under: Sports: Baseball, Culture: Advertising and Marketing
- Writer: Radio Coach Sam Weaver
- Radio Coach Sam Weaver's BC Writer page
- Radio Coach Sam Weaver's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Juliann,youth mirror our culture. Just like their parents, young athletes are more into instant results than hero-worshipping. Kids drink Gatorade because of the advertised benefits. It is the nature of man to look for an edge. MLB is either full of crap or trying to make sure that they keep their anti-trust status. The message to youth should be to obey then the law and the rules. We are also taught to stretch right up to the edge. It is the thought process that founded this country and is the American way. I am a realist. That is an optimist with experience. MLB has got some of the right ideas, but keeps missing the mark. For example, many teams make podcasts of games possible, but do not target the age brackets that might take advantage of them. I am also a baseball fan, and you and I do share the same hopes that Commissioner Bud Selig and baseball gets its marketing act together.
Juliann,youth mirror our culture. Just like their parents, young athletes are more into instant results than hero-worshipping. Kids drink Gatorade because of the advertised benefits. It is the nature of man to look for an edge. MLB is either full of crap or trying to make sure that they keep their anti-trust status. The message to youth should be to obey then the law and the rules. We are also taught to stretch right up to the edge. It is the thought process that founded this country and is the American way. I am a realist. That is an optimist with experience. MLB has got some of the right ideas, but keeps missing the mark. For example, many teams make podcasts of games possible, but do not target the age brackets that might take advantage of them. I am also a baseball fan, and you and I do share the same hopes that Commissioner Bud Selig and baseball gets its marketing act together.
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Sam,
I love baseball, the Tigers and Phillies are my favorites.
If you mean steroids have been good for baseball as a way of exposing people to the sport who otherwise would ignore it, I agree. However, I think the negative publicity has been harmful to young people who look up to these sports figures and use them as their role models. It seems to me the message then is "It's okay to do whatever you want, illegal or not, just don't get caught. If you do, don't admit anything."
Now the marketing piece of your article makes perfect sense. Football has done a great job of this,baseball not so good. As everyone knows marketing is critical to the success of any product whether it be baseball or crocs.