MLB Enterprises CEO Greg Murphy was a guest on CNBC's
"Business Insiders" to discuss the league's marketing
effort. Murphy: "The table is set for the renaissance of
baseball. And our fans are agreeing with us. At the end of
this year, our fan base is up 20%, our hardcore fan base is
up 30% and two-thirds of our fans are saying, 'baseball's
back.' And the ticket sales that we're seeing right now are
projecting out to an 8% increase in attendance this coming
year, which is going to put us well over 60 million. ...
When you compare that to the other sports that are in the 18
million range, I think it really shows that the fans are re-
engaging with Major League Baseball." Murphy: "To reconnect
our fans, we're going to do it through our ballplayers.
We're going to celebrate our ballplayers." Murphy, on MLB's
"broad-based" ad campaign: "The first part of the campaign
is really to communicate the fun and wit and humor of our
ballplayers. The second part of the campaign is to
celebrate them as great athletes, and the third part of the
campaign is to show what good guys they are" Partners for
the campaign include ESPN, Fox, MLB, the teams, The
Advertising Council, the Jackie Robinson Foundation and Boys
& Girls Clubs of America (CNBC, 2/20).
GETS ALONG WITH OTHERS: Murphy, on reports of
difficulty getting owners to agree on sponsorship deals: "I
don't think that's accurate. ... [W]e are embarking on new
territory: marketing Major League Baseball on a national
level. And we need to work together, and all these
sponsorships are coming together, and we will be announcing
new ones very shortly." Murphy's concluding comments: "When
you start to shift image, perception and preference, all the
revenues are going to stream in a positive direction.
You're going to see revenues up, attendance up, ratings up
and franchise values up" ("Business Insiders," CNBC, 2/20).
