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