Menu
Leagues and Governing Bodies

MLB: Social media helping ratings

MLB has seen a significant increase in social media activity around the postseason, extending a surge in fan interest that began at the All-Star Game in July.

According to Bluefin Labs, the Massachusetts-based social TV analytics firm working with the league, the first six days of the playoffs generated more than 2.62 million social media comments on Twitter and Facebook, encompassing 16 games Oct. 5-10. The sum is more than twice the total for the entire 19-game league division series round last year, with featured three Game 5s.

In the five minutes after a dramatic game-tying home run Wednesday by New York Yankees designated hitter Raul Ibanez, MLB set a league postseason social mark with 38,549 social media comments. Ibanez then fueled another record later that night when his game-winning home run generated 74,792 social media comments in the five minutes afterward. MLB expects both totals to be surpassed as the playoffs continue.

Like many properties and media networks, MLB this year is placing greater emphasis in social media monitoring, analysis and programming, seen in part through vehicles such as the MLB Fan Cave that carry an overt element of generating content for the league’s Twitter and Facebook destinations. Playoff ratings on TBS as of press time were flat compared with the beginning of the 2011 postseason, but league executives said the heightened social media activity represents a critical component of overall fan engagement in the sport’s most prominent month.

“The social media activity has been a significant complement to what’s happening on TV with our broadcast partners, and it has directly informed our content creation and our programming decisions on a truly real-time basis,” said Jacqueline Parkes, MLB chief marketing officer.

During the summer, MLB and Bluefin Labs reported more than 804,000 social media comments for the July 10 Home Run Derby in Kansas City and more than 808,000 for the All-Star Game the following night. The Home Run Derby figure was more than twice the 2011 derby in Phoenix, while the All-Star Game total tripled the prior year’s event. Those events prominently featured in-event tweeting and Facebook posts from participating players, including the first effort during the All-Star Game once players came out of the game.

Reds pitchers Aroldis Chapman (left) and Bronson Arroyo sang “Red Hooded Sweatshirt” at the MLB Fan Cave, which went viral and later became a promo for TBS playoff broadcasts.
Photo by: JASON YEADON / MLB PHOTOS VIA GETTY IMAGES
MLB’s social media activity has directly influenced elements of postseason game broadcasts this fall. For example, a Fan Cave video shot in June featuring Cincinnati pitchers Bronson Arroyo and Aroldis Chapman singing “Red Hooded Sweatshirt,” first made famous by comedian Adam Sandler on “Saturday Night Live,” quickly went viral online. With the Reds in the playoffs as NL Central champions, MLB recently cut that video down to a 30-second TV promo airing during TBS playoff game broadcasts, sparking a new wave of social media activity and views of the full song video.

Daily reports produced by MLB’s research staff and ad agency Hill Holliday, incorporating the Bluefin Labs social media data, similarly suggest poll topics for the league and broadcast partners to post online and on TV. The reports also outline key tweets and posts from influencers such as MLB players and celebrities.

“We’ve been able to get much more real-time in our analysis through social and work directly with our broadcast partners, with [MLB Advanced Media], determine what’s trending socially, respond to that, and try to optimize on that data,” Parkes said.

Despite the recent social media gains, baseball still trails pro football in peak social media activity, according to recent Bluefin Labs data. The highest single baseball playoff game this year as of press time, the Oct. 10 New York Yankees-Baltimore Orioles game featuring the two Ibanez home runs, generated 485,401 social media comments. The total trailed those for the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh and San Diego-New Orleans NFL games Oct. 7, and the Houston-New York Jets Monday night game Oct. 8, each of which surpassed 500,000 comments.

But with several walkoff victories during last week’s playoff games, always a powerful social media trigger, and overall fan interest quickly rising, MLB executives said they were pleased with their recent gains.

“Social media is one of those areas particularly benefiting from the building day-to-day drama of the postseason,” Parkes said.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2012/10/15/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/MLB-social.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2012/10/15/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/MLB-social.aspx

CLOSE