Marketing Strategy Analysis: MLB

In the world of sports marketing, professional leagues are always under pressure to drive fans to the games and to sell merchandise. For the case of Major League Baseball (MLB), many teams have suffered from lower attendance rates in recent years. Consequently, the league has devised innovative marketing strategies with the hope that it will generate more revenue for the franchises. Since the league cannot solely rely on the American tradition of baseball for ticket and non-counterfeit merchandise sales, they have turned their attention towards relevant sponsors, social media and funny stunts that appeal to their target audience. For example, the MLB has recently performed various marketing and public relations stunts before games to get the fans excited.

In the opening game of 2013, the Los Angeles Dodgers started the event with a video of some historic celebrities and players throwing a ball around. As Michael McCarthy, a news columnist, wrote: the “Dodgers teased their home crowd with a video showing an All-Star team of Los Angeles sports legends and Hollywood celebrities tossing the ceremonial first pitch baseball to each other” (McCarthy). This made the fans really excited to celebrate the opening of the new baseball season by glorying the rich tradition that MLB has in America. Then, a star named Sandy Koufax came out to deliver the first pitch. This whole event was part of a marketing strategy set forth by the Dodgers which sought to reinvent the team with the slogan “A whole new blue” (McCarthy). As an effective way of getting fans excited, the marketing strategy that was employed utilized celebrities and sports legends to remind fans how much they love baseball.

The MLB has also widely adopted the use of sponsorships and social media in order to engage fans to go to games and buy merchandise. For instance, the home cover of the MLB website showcases a partnership with Dunkin Donuts for a contest where a lucky fan has a chance to win millions of dollars in prizes (MLB). This single promotion is just one of many that the MLB is doing in order to integrate their brand and image with other products and services. Prezi, an online marketing and branding company, published a report that outlined how the MLB has solidified their target audience on the basis of their demographic (younger and mostly male) (McEneany). With their demographic in mind, the MLB has successfully utilized funny commercials and social media in order to get more fans to consider going to future games, thereby ensuring the continuing evolution of stadiums. While these strategies are not entirely new or revolutionary, they surely focus more aggressively on brining the fans to the games as opposed to just relying on fans to adhere to its tradition of being the “American Pastime.” A proactive approach like this is more effective in getting fans to come to games because it makes it trendier. 

These strategies fall in line with the core sports marketing trends that Sam Fullerton and Russell Merz outlined in The Four Domains of Sports Marketing: A Conceptual Framework. Mainly, the adoption of more sponsorships is both a promotional and sponsor related way of getting fans to engage (8). By including celebrities and sports legends, the MLB is also making “strategic decisions are independent from the sports environment” (Fullerton, 9). By including relevant sponsors such as celebrities and Dunkin Donuts, they are striving to sell more products and tickets to their games. These marketing strategies also signify what Fullerton called an “alignment” model where numerous strategies are rolled together. Social media is merely the glue that holds it all together by generating awareness from their target audience.

Works Cited

Fullerton, Sam, and Russell Merz. "The Four Domains of Sports Marketing: A Conceptual Framework." Sports Marketing Quarterly 17 (2008): 90-108.

MLB. "MLB.com: The Official Site of Major League Baseball." MLB.com: The Official Site of Major League Baseball. MLB, 1 Jan. 2012. http://mlb.mlb.com/home.

McCarthy, Michael. "Check Out MLB's Best Opening Day Marketing Stunt | Media - Advertising Age." Advertising Agency & Marketing Industry News - Advertising Age. N.p., 2 Apr. 2013. http://adage.com/article/media/check-mlb-s-opening-day-marketing-stunt/240656/.

McEneany, Eric. "Marketing Strategies in the MLB by Eric McEneany on Prezi." Prezi - Ideas matter. N.p., 19 Oct. 2012. 22 Apr. 2013. http://prezi.com/koq2ys1sfhvh/marketing-stratagies-in-the-mlb/.