Major League Baseball as well as other professional sports leagues have creative social media strategies that keep their fans interested and engaged. Whether it is Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or Tik Tok, MLB has tactics that work for them to engage people online and keep fans who can’t make it to the games still interested in the events.

During the regular season, MLB develops social media posts that highlight the best plays of the day, show team power rankings, show interesting player and team statistics, and release the final scores of games to those who missed it on television. Additionally, MLB does paid partnerships with other organizations that promote both brands to baseball fans around the world. Their use of graphic design and photography methods to make their posts more attractive to the eye helps with engaging people and getting people to stop scrolling to check out a post. During the offseason, MLB uses different methods to engage their audience by encouraging fans to get involved on their website by checking out awards that have been given to certain players and tuning into players being traded or inducted into the Hall of Fame. One of the biggest strategies I noticed from Major League Baseball is their captions. Instead of using professional captions, the social media team understands their audience and drafts modern, conversational captions that increase comments and engagement. As a baseball fan myself, I can confidently say that MLB does a fantastic job of representing their brand well on social media. The engaging posts and captivating captions leads to more participation among publics of the organization.

On Tik Tok, MLB uses popular and trending sounds to show highlights of in-game events. This is useful because popular sounds are more likely to show up on people’s home feed and people can see their post when scrolling through all posts that use that specific sound.

As part of the MLB social media team, I would definitely continue to take the direction that they are taking on social media. I think it engages the correct audience of Gen-Zers and Millenials while still accounting for older baseball fans. One part of their social media strategy that I would increase is their use of partnerships as well as promoting holidays and events that convey the organization’s goodwill.

This week, MLB free agency has been booming, and organizations across the nation have been making moves to enhance their roster for the upcoming season. This year is also special because there are a lot of elite players in the free agency market. Other organizations such as the Mets, Tigers, and Rangers have been making big moves to acquire some of the big names. However, the Yankees have been relatively quiet, which is strange because this part of the offseason is their main moment to improve the team, especially in the shortstop category.

New York Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres has been underperforming, and with all the elite shortstops looking to sign with a new organization, the Yankees have been in the market for an elite player such as Corey Seager, Trevor Story, or more recently, Carlos Correa.

Carlos Correa is a great fielder and hitter, and would definitely be a great addition to the Yankees lineup. However, some of his actions and words in the past have given him an untrustworthy reputation among Yankees fans. Correa shut the Yankees down in competition during an intense playoff series back in 2019, so Yankees fans have disliked him for years. More recently, Correa spoke to the media about how former star shortstop and hall of famer Derek Jeter should be stripped of his Gold Glove awards. These words came as a shock to Yankees fans because Derek Jeter is the most legendary shortstop in the franchise’s history. Correa’s willingness to disrespect a hall of famer in order to make himself look better backfired and did not sit well with baseball fans.

For this reason, it makes me think about how organizations feel about Correa and his attitude. Are the Yankees hesitant to sign Correa because he is a PR risk? Is the team afraid that he will give the Yankees a bad reputation, and that fans will be upset with Correa playing in Derek Jeter’s position, who he outright disrespected just a couple months ago?

Organizations must look out for themselves in order to prevent bad reputations and crisis communications situations. If Correa is unable to hold back his ego when speaking to the media, maybe he is not the right fit for a classy organization that keeps a good reputation with all of its’ publics.

https://clutchpoints.com/3-reasons-the-yankees-must-go-all-out-to-sign-carlos-correa/

Only about a week ago, Adobe and Major League Baseball announced their new and improved partnership that “reimagines” fan engagement. The partnered campaign features personalized promotions and notifications for individual fans, improved functions that highlight the best way to enter a ballpark and how to get access to VIP parking promotions or concessions discounts. One of the coolest parts of this Adobe/MLB campaign is the program that allows fans who live outside their favorite team’s locale to be able to receive alerts when their favorite club or player is in town, or get free trials for MLB.TV so they can watch games from the comfort of their couch or on the go.

One of MLB’s issues with fan engagement that limits revenue in comparison to other organizations such as NBA and NFL is the fact that many people enjoy the immersive experiences that professional football and basketball have to offer rather than Major League Baseball. Overall, less people are involved with MLB than other professional sports leagues, which calls for PR and media campaigns that will improve engagement. From the perspective of MLB’s PR department, the best way to do this is to launch new programs that allow fans to be more in tune with a team and a ballpark. By partnering with Adobe to accomplish this goal, it benefits both organizations because the new improvements are likely to increase engagement among MLB fans that have better options in terms of watching games and going to live events.

The personalized promotions are a good PR tactic because it personally targets individual fans and makes them feel more engaged with the league as well as their favorite teams. Nowadays, people want to feel connected to an organization, and when an organization creates personable messages such as the ones used through the Adobe and MLB programs, it makes people feel more involved with the organization and more willing to participate in events or watch games online/on TV. The special promotions aspect of the partnership is also helpful because it influences fans to get more involved due to the personable aspect and the idea of getting promotions for ballpark entertainment or access to MLB TV and in-app functions.

I think the Adobe x MLB partnership is a well thought out PR campaign, and the partnership will benefit both organizations by targeting MLB fans and throwing promotions, free trials, and personalized messages at them that influence them to be more engaged and involved with the organization or their favorite team.

https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-adobe-and-major-league-baseball-partner-to-create-next-generation-

Last week, former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs was arrested for DUI after crashing his corvette at 156 mph into the back of a woman’s Toyota Rav-4, ultimately leading to the woman’s death. Ruggs is now facing charges of driving under the influence, causing death or a substantial bodily injury, and reckless driving. This was huge news for the football community because not only is Ruggs a young 22 year old athlete that made a mistake that can potentially change the PR plans of the NFL forever.

This is not the first incident of an athlete drunk driving and accidentally killing someone. For this reason, leagues already have systems in place to try to prevent these tragic events from happening. Sports leagues PR departments attempt to create programs and amenities that will hinder their players from making bad decisions and ruining their reputation as well as bruising the league’s reputation as a whole. The NFL has a system in place that allows 24/7 chauffeur service to all players, anywhere in the country. This idea was specifically put into place after a similar drunk driving crisis in order to prevent it from happening again.

NFL’s PR department wants to do anything they can to plan ahead of these crises and make sure players do not act in ways that hurt the wellbeing of the organization. It is crucial to protect the reputation of the organization, which is deeply impacted when a prominent athlete that is idolized by young fans across the nation makes a bad decision. When things like this happen, it makes the public wonder what the NFL is doing wrong that causes history to repeat itself.

Now that Ruggs did not use the services that the league offers to all players to influence them not to drink and drive, it is time for the NFL to come up with a new plan that will prevent players from drinking and driving in the future. As a PR professional, it would be a good idea to implement mandatory classes and programs that players must attend that teaches them the importance of being held accountable for actions. By teaching players the dangers of drinking and driving and drilling information into their heads, the NFL can scare players into following the rules, therefore protecting the goodwill of their organization.

Whether it is a string of learning programs, a complete ban of drinking for all players, or a complete ban of driving for all players, the NFL is looking at a tough decision that needs to be made in a timely manner to appease the public and prevent similar crises from occurring again in the future.

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/04/1052238615/prosecutors-say-henry-ruggs-raiders-player-involved-in-deadly-crash-las-vegas

Last night, the Atlanta Braves came out on top during the 2021 World Series Championship. However, a lot of fight when into the Braves win this year, both on the field and off.

Braves fans are known for their Tomahawk Chop gesture during games that gets the whole stadium involved, similar to the Kansas City Chiefs and Florida State University football fans. In previous years, they had to get rid of their “Chief Noc-A-Homa” mascot because it was considered demeaning to Native Americans. They have gotten increasingly worse backlash from Native American communities for years since the tomahawk chop first originated, however PR directors for Atlanta have played it off saying that it is an expression of unification and family.

I think this idea of Native Americans fighting against the tomahawk gesture can be titled a case of crisis communications. The issue has arisen multiple times over the past two decades, and the PR response was not great for Major League Baseball’s reputation and trustworthiness. The commissioner of MLB in 1999, Rob Manfred, responded to the problem years ago by saying that the Native American community is completely supportive of the Braves program and the chop gesture by fans.

This goes to show that anything stated by the leader of an organization or a PR director can come back to haunt the organization, even if it is more than a decade later. Manfreds response to the situation was clearly not planned out in a crisis communications plan, and it seems like he had to make something up on the spot to defend the organization. However, in crisis PR lying is the worst thing an organization’s representative can do.

This year, before Game 1 of the 2021 World Series featuring the Atlanta Braves vs. the Houston Astros, the National Congress of American Indians responded to Rob Manfred’s assertions and said that his words were far from the truth and that the chop is demeaning to many groups of Native Americans within the United States. The Congress asked Fox to abstain from highlighting fans during the chop.

A lot of public relations goes into this situation because it is all about looking out for all types of audience members that could be affected in different ways by certain traditions. MLB should have a PR response plan for every possible situation that could cause harm to the organization. As the current MLB commissioner, I would apologize to the Native American community for any miscommunication or confusion in the Native American Community to represent my organization in good light.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/2021-world-series-timeline-of-braves-tomahawk-chop-and-calls-for-the-team-to-stop-using-it/

Partnerships with other organizations are always beneficial for a company focused on entertainment. The goal of this strategy is to expand their audience and gain more viewers by attracting people with different interests and passions. Minor League Baseball announced last week that they will be partnering with Marvel Entertainment for a series that will occur at all levels of minor league baseball starting in 2022. The partnership will last for three years, and will feature an event titled “Marvel’s Defenders of the Diamond.” Not only will all teams host at least one marvel superhero themed game, but teams will also have an event in which they wear special Marvel superhero branded jerseys as part of the campaign.

When I saw this announcement, I was personally excited because it is always fun to see special events in baseball that gather more attention. This PR strategy is bound to make many people excited to watch the games and will increase ratings for MiLB because it attracts people who may not be so much into baseball, but are very into Marvel movies and TV shows. By combining their efforts into a special events campaign, they merge their audiences and create room for more engagement for both organizations. Partnerships like this have always caught my attention, and I am willing to bet they catch the attention of others as well. As a PR professional with MiLB, I think this is a great campaign that can increase engagement among Minor League Baseball viewers and Marvel fans, but I would also add more social media methods to promote these events, as well as promos and commercials that could gather even more attention.

The distribution method is extremely important in this situation because in order forthe partnership to be successful, people need to know about it. The PR department can expand on this campaign by adding a social media plan as well as an engaging promo that could be featured during the 2021 MLB World Series. I think that by expanding on the campaign and adding more ideas that could increase engagement and knowledge about these upcoming events, the partnered organizations could see huge success in the Marvel’s Defenders of the Diamond event.

https://www.milb.com/news/minor-league-baseball-marvel-entertainment-partner-as-defenders-of-the-diamond

Major League Baseball is clearly taking steps to improve the two way communication between the organization and it’s internal publics such as employees and players. As of last week, the organization decided to approve a plan for financial changes in the salaries of Minor League players. League officials have decided to put housing costs of minor league players on the MLB affiliate team’s owner. This means that the owner of the MLB team will pay for lower level affiliate players to stay in a hotel or airbnb. Before the approval of this plan, minor league players were forced to spend a solid chunk of their lower salary on housing costs while traveling, which was clearly a broken and unfair part of the league. With a new system in place, it will be easier for minor league players to make a living and not have to worry about their salary. This move is definitely for the better of baseball and represents good PR for MLB as an organization.

By maintaining the respect of players internally, it is good for the organization because it conveys two way communication among league officials and players on salary. They are able to successfully come to an agreement about what is best for the league and the athletes that the league supports. Additionally, this idea puts the organization on good terms with the general public as well. When fans notice that MLB treats players and employees respectfully and pays players the money that they deserve, it displays the league as credible, fair, and moral. It is important for Major League Baseball’s PR department to make beneficial salary changes like this because there are some parts of the game that have been unsuccessful and unfair for players in lower levels of the organization. By conveying that MLB can make it fair for all levels and leagues, it will give the organization a better reputation among sports leagues.

Making things better for MLB prospects is such an important part of the game to focus on because minor league players are the future of the major leagues. Soon enough, these players will be playing on the big fields in front of thousands and will be the ones making all the money for Major League Baseball. As a result, it is important to treat your prospective money makers with respect even as current lower level players. Overall, I think this was an excellent PR strategy for the organization internally and externally.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2021/10/18/Pirates-minor-leaguers-housing-Martin-Madris-MLB-footing-bill-costs-treatment-players/stories/202110180107

The Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays played in game 3 of the ALDS last night, and were tied 4-4 through 13 full innings of baseball. However, after a line drive off the bat of Kevin Kiermaier that bounced off the wall and hit Red Sox outfielder Kyle Schwarber in the hip causing the ball to bounce back over the wall, there was a big debate on social media about the rules that Major League Baseball currently has in place. The umpires called this hit a ground-rule double, ultimately keeping the runner that could have scored on third base, which changed the whole outcome of the game.

Reporters and angry baseball fans relayed their frustrations on social media by saying that MLB does not have clear enough rules for situations like this. Since this type of play very rarely happens in a game, let alone an important playoff game, the umpires were forced to call the hit a ground-rule double since there is no written rule for when a ball bounces off a player and goes over the wall. This can be considered a PR crisis situation in some aspects for MLB as an organization. Fans, players, coaches, and other publics of major league baseball are upset that the league is not organized enough to have rules in place for situations like this.

As a large organization, a huge part of public relations is planning. Without considering every situation that can possibly happen in a game, MLB leaves room for errors and rare situations such as this one, which can ultimately ruin the outcome of a game. As a PR professional for MLB, it is important to adhere to the public and show fans that the league is looking into this problem and considering a change in rules. Especially since the controversial play happened in a make or break playoff game, this lack of attention to specifics of the game (even if it has never happened before) causes an outbreak of emotions and distrust toward the organization. By making a statement about the string of events in the Boston/Tampa Bay game, MLB can make amends with publics by conveying their care for narrowing out bugs that happen in baseball such as this one.

Overall, it is tough for an organization to handle a rare situation that will most likely not occur again for a very long time, but in order to make the game of baseball a trustworthy game with no questionable rules, MLB must address this issue and the PR department should do its best to communicate potential rule changes with its publics.

https://sports.yahoo.com/ricochets-rules-and-reality-an-instant-classic-will-be-remembered-for-a-golden-red-sox-miscue-rays-151153033.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall

October is here and the American League Wild Card game is just hours away. With a dramatic finish to the season, several teams were on the brink of making the playoffs, which made for a thrilling last few days of baseball. Now, MLB is taking large steps in making baseball playoffs a big deal. The PR department is using several different communications and social media tactics to adhere to the public and make people interested in watching the postseason.

First, MLB social media has been posting loads of content related to the final days of the season. The New York Yankees’ dramatic win that allowed them to enter the playoffs in walk-off fashion made headlines and was very popular among baseball fans on social media. Additionally, Major League Baseball’s social media platforms have used content such as hype videos, graphics, and posts that engage fans to increase ratings for the postseason. For example, the tweet about the Yankees vs Red Sox wild card game engages fans by telling them to comment what team they think will win and move onto the next round of playoffs.

As a PR professional in MLB, these posts are what keep fans interested in MLB as an organization, and makes people excited for upcoming events. The graphics and the engaging captions are vital to increasing views and making baseball playoffs a big deal online. Not only do the graphics that the social media pages use do a great job of highlighting each team in the league and creating excitement around who the World Series champion will be this year, but the use of hashtags to spread the word about MLB playoffs is also an important strategy in the social media department.

In addition to engaging and exciting social media content, the PR department has also created specific promotions related to the postseason in order to get fans more involved in the game, and allow them to further support their favorite team(s). The 2021 bracket challenge on MLB website gives fans the opportunity to compete to win $100k by creating the perfect postseason bracket and guessing which team will win each series. This tactic also gets people more involved in the playoffs because the chance to win a large jackpot of money is a promotion that gets people excited and more interested in the games themselves.

Overall, the organization uses precise, targeted methods to approach the postseason and connect with their audience in a way that gets people engaged and attentive to upcoming Major League Baseball events.

https://www.mlb.com/brackets/postseason?affiliateID=psbc-trending-mlb-2021

Early on during the 2021 baseball season, there was a huge internal debate over the idea of pitchers using sticky substances to improve grip and increase the motion of the ball as it approaches the batter. Several players were accused of using the substance, which consists of a mix of sunscreen, rosin, and various forms of glue to throw better pitches and control their ball movement. After the MLB finally banned sticky substances and created punishments for players caught violating the new rules, there was a huge debate among the baseball community about how sticky stuff impacted the game of baseball, and whether it should be allowed in the Major Leagues.

As a result of this lasting discussion, MLB has recently decided to do some research on what is best for the game and what will have the best result on fans and consumers. In his recent article, Matt Hladik quotes Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser, who reported “that MLB will be trying out a new baseball for select games of the end of the Triple-A season. The ball will be pre-tacked for grip purposes.” As a PR professional for MLB, this idea is beneficial because it allows the organization to communicate their plans for new game rules to the fans and the public. By entering the research phase of this concept through experimentation in lower levels of baseball, the league will be able to collect data to tell what kind of impact pre-tacked baseballs will have on the game, player statistics, and fan engagement.

This strategy is also beneficial for the aspect of two-way communication in public relations because it conveys that the league is interested in satisfying fans, players, and coaches. The long-lasting debate over sticky stuff came to a hault when MLB banned it from being used entirely, which created controversy among fans that believed that sticky stuff was a natural part of the game that has been used for years by pitchers. However, by releasing information to publics about how Major League Baseball is taking steps to figure out this sticky situation, they are putting themselves on good terms with consumers and displaying their trustworthiness as an organization. This information was shared by a ton of baseball reporters and beat writers on social media, which not only brings attention to the sticky substance debate, but also brings media attention to the MLB and the decisions they are making to improve their brand and the game of baseball as a whole.

Link to Article: https://www.aol.com/news/mlb-world-reacts-triple-experiment-215643682.html

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