Baseball is an old sport that some people think is boring and traditional. Major League Baseball is trying to appeal to a younger audience by promoting itself on social media and giving players a platform to express themselves to their fans.
Major League Baseball’s Commissioner, Rob Manfred was asked about the steps MLB is taking to “get younger” and connect to the youth of America.
Tim Baysinger of Adweek asked Manfred how he and Major League Baseball are markets young players like Matt Harvey, Bryce Harper, Kris Bryant, and Mike Trout.
Manfred answered by saying, “A significant push is engagement in social media.” He goes on to say that Major League baseball had a “Snapchat Day” in March in which they allowed the players to use devices to post on social media to “show fans a little bit more about what their days are like.”
Manfred thinks these sort of changed are “crucial to having these young stars reach out and connect with young fans.”
The one Snapchat day in March is not going to be baseball’s only involvement with the app. Manfred states that MLB is going to have a “season-long initiative with Snapchat.”
That means that throughout the season, fans will get to view their teams and players through the app they use on a regular basis.
With baseball getting slack for being an “old” game and slow paced, Manfred wants to “broaden” their “foot print and increase the number of platforms.”
This means also using Twitter and Instagram to create a bigger presence and gain more exposure so this sport can gain younger fans and continue on to be popular.
Social Media is important so teams can engage their fans. They want to gain support and loyalty through their social media accounts.
The Chicago Cubs are doing exactly that by making their social media accounts “a little edgier,a little wittier” according to Kevin Saghy, Manager of Communications for the team who was interviewed by Dan Gingiss of Social Media Today.
Part of Saghy’s job is “protecting the Cubs’ reputation and defining the team’s public ‘voice’.”
They do this by interacting with fans and giving them the scoop on trades that could possible occur or even answering the fans’ questions about the stadium or the game itself.
The Cubs have created a hashtag for this 2016 season which is part of the team’s way of boosting followers in a year where they are favorited to win the World Series.
#LetsGo is used to emphasize “the end goal of breaking the longest championship drought in North American sports.” This is all for the fans according to Saghy. The fans create the environment teams need to win in. Social Media is the way to entice fans to be a part of that world.