MP & Silva has retained global media distribution rights for the 2017 World Baseball Classic, while adding a package of global sponsorship inventory.
The company held rights for the 2013 World Baseball Classic, and for 2017, the media rights agency will market live content and highlight rights for the event outside of the United States, Japan and Puerto Rico. But unlike its prior deal, MP & Silva will have some nonexclusive global sponsorship rights for the event. And Canada, which was not part of the 2013 agreement but saw marked increases in tournament viewership, is included in the agency’s new batch of rights, as well.
 |
The 2017 version of the event will again feature 28 countries and a 16-team main tournament.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
|
The deal from Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association covers numerous content platforms, including broadcast, cable and satellite TV, radio, online, mobile, over-the-top video, and social media.
Domestically, English-language coverage of the World Baseball Classic will continue to air exclusively on MLB Network.
MP & Silva secured distribution pacts for the tournament in 2013 with more than 45 media partners covering 200 countries and territories and 15 languages. The firm wants to increase its number of deals for 2017 by at least 20 percent.
Executives also said they were particularly enthused by the emerging possibilities for OTT and social platforms compared with 2013.
“The market around many of these emerging platforms is so different than 2013. There are so many more vehicles at play,” said Daniel Cohen, MP & Silva senior vice president, Americas. “We believe there is a great opportunity for all sorts of OTT and socially oriented deals.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The event’s global reach ties directly into the internationalization of baseball that has become a key priority for MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
“A lot has happened over the last year, and there’s been a lot of reinforced support and energy around all our international efforts that’s come from Rob on down,” said Dominick Balsamo, MLB vice president of international broadcasting and sponsorship. “We’re obviously looking to ratchet up this event this time around to a different level, and we think with MP & Silva’s help and our efforts here we can do that. This event deserves an intense focus.”
Both Balsamo and Cohen said a particular focus for MP & Silva’s efforts will be in markets where baseball is not the most popular sport, such as areas of South America as well as in Europe, a territory where the firm also holds NFL media rights.
The return of the event for its fourth iteration (after prior events in 2006, 2009 and 2013) sheds a further spotlight on the sport’s international focus. The 2017 version of the World Baseball Classic will again feature 28 countries and a 16-team main tournament. The event is co-owned and operated by MLB and the players union. Qualifiers for the 2017 event began earlier this month in Australia and will be joined by three other qualifying pools this year to be held in Mexico, Panama and New York.
Locations and schedule for the main tournament games have not yet been announced.
