Minor League Baseball has signed a long-term strategic media content partnership with Octagon. The sports marketing agency will help MiLB find new opportunities for distributing its digital content.
MiLB will work directly with Octagon Worldwide, which is Octagon’s media rights consulting agency that leverage’s proprietary data analytics to help clients maximize value across linear TV, digital and OTT platforms. Minor League Baseball’s digital portfolio includes 174 websites and 135 online stores representing individual minor league teams. The MiLB.TV subscription streaming service carries nearly 6,700 games per year and more than 16,000 hours of live annual content.
"We are committed to staying ahead of the content curve and investing in the necessary resources to best position MiLB to drive meaningful fan engagement and overall growth in a hyper-competitive space,” David Wright, chief marketing and commercial officer of Minor League Baseball, said in a press release.
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Octagon and MiLB’s partnership consists of three phases. The first phase saw MiLB and Octagon conduct digital fan research and an analysis of MiLB’s current digital platforms; the second phase focused on developing a new media content strategy. The first two phases have been completed, bringing on phase three, which will see MiLB and Octagon collaborate to identify, secure and enhance new media content distribution opportunities.
"Our vast network of teams, athletes and fans gives us immense storytelling potential, and we're certain Octagon can help us bring these stories to life for fans and new audiences alike,” added Katie Davison, MiLB's SVPt of digital strategy & business development, in the press release.
In April, Minor League Baseball updated its social media policy to request that teams share less video highlights on Twitter and other social media outlets. Instead of sharing on social media accounts, MiLB requested its teams shared in-game video highlights on its own websites. Also worth noting is that Major League Baseball has proposed a plan to eliminate 42 minor league baseball teams, according to the New York Times (28 of the 42 teams play in either rookie level or short-season Class-A ball.)
