With no end in clear sight to the COVID-19 pandemic, we begin to think about how MLB can market the game when it finally returns.
If there’s any chance to look at silver-linings from this COVID-19 fiasco, one of them is certainly the creative content that sports social media pages have been forced to produce to keep people entertained, especially MLB.
One of the highlights of these content splurges has been the MLB Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube pages, which have steadily grown interest in the game by simply adhering to things fans have been asking for over the past 5-7 years.
This began before we were all in Quarantine, with things like Mic’d up spring training outings, in-game live interviews, and of course, the “Let the Kids Play” campaign. It has since evolved into even more Gen-Z friendly things such as player-only video game tournaments, Instagram live streams with MLB stars, and players featured on podcasts.
As Alex Rodriguez mentioned in an appearance with Colin Cowherd on ‘The Herd’, major league baseball should use this upcoming 2020 season, assuming that it still takes place, as an opportunity to pilot any new ideas the league may be apprehensive about. Rodriguez didn’t mention any specific new tactics the league is considering, but over the years, robot umpires, shortened-games, altered bullpen maneuvering, in-game mics & interviews have been dabbled into. The 2020 season will already be the first year with the new three batter minimum for relievers, and it would be the perfect chance for the commissioner to try at least a few more risky things with the upside being the game of baseball growing exponentially.
The global crisis has certainly affected the entire sports universe. But baseball is quite possibly the most realistic sport to come back first. This opens the window for baseball to be in the spotlight as the only sport on television for a little while, and amping up some of their marketing techniques could be a crucial turning point for MLB and the game as a whole.
Here’s to more Tommy Kahnle twitch streams and Anthony Rizzo mid-at-bat interviews.