Southern New Hampshire University Campaign Report Essay

The first of three capstone components, this comprehensive and professional campaign report should have five primary sections and showcase the knowledgeand skills you have honed throughout the MA-COM program:1. Professional Cover: Elements such as company logo, report title, contact name and information, etc.2. Executive Summary: 1–2-page overview of your company and the campaign3. Situation Analysis: Revised version of Milestone Three4. Campaign Proposal: Demonstrate the use of multiple appropriate, strategic, creative, and versatile approaches to decision making and problem solving.The proposal should include but not be limited to the following:a) Strategies and tacticsb) Campaign goal(s)c) Relevant publics and audiencesd) Media choicese) Communication toolsf) Cost of campaigng) Timeline5. Evaluation Process: Since you will not execute the campaign, it cannot be measured, but you can still create the measurement plans in advance.This report should be submitted in a professional and visually pleasing format. Consider your choice of fonts and use of images, charts and tables. You shouldconsider a minimum of four media elements. The final report should be in the range of 15–20 pages. Please do not make images or charts larger than necessaryto achieve a certain page count. Design and proper visual presentation are more important than page count. In the “real world,” there are usually not any pagelength requirements. Therefore, the 15–20-page range is a suggestion, and you should use your best professional judgment regarding the length of your report.

The chosen topic is Major League Baseball and getting them new younger fans and also repairing their image with fans from the lockout and rising ticket costs. The target audience is millennials and younger

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. Overall, you need to polish your work and align it with APA. You are missing proper intext citations, table and figure captioning and headers such as that of the Reference page. Please review my feedback so that you can improve your submission in support of Week Eight. I would encourage you to work with the Writing Center.

Hannah Moore
4/3/22
SNHU
Milestone 2
PR Plan Proposal
Company: Major League Baseball
Function of Company: Coordinates and manages teams, administers regulatory functions for
professional baseball in America.
Identification of PR problem: MLB is losing their fan base between their own actions with the
MLB lockout, the rising cost to attend events, their lack of ability to evolve, and their lack of
reach. They also had a cheating scandal in 2017 involving the Houston Astros that still has many
fans soured on the sport and their lack of real action.
Target Audience: The audience isn’t just baseball fans, but all Americans. The MLB needs to
gain new fans. With the constant decrease in viewing audiences and attendance it is imperative to
expand the audiences and garner a new, younger audience as well.
Goals and Objectives: To garner a new, more expanded audience and regain lapsed fans.
Strategies Giveaways: Most baseball teams have themed nights throughout their seasons where they do
giveaways that feature their team logos and incorporate other things from pop culture, the area of
their team or other relevant things. There are more ways to incorporate such things that can be
explored.
Create Interactive Events: Companies like World Wrestling Entertainment do things like
“Axxess” where they have a ticket price to get in to see memorabilia, a big store with merch, and
extra ticket costs for meet and greets, seminars, and q&as. MLB could host something in the off
season or even during All Star break where they have a more interactive experience with fans
that are not just a single team.
Partnerships: Many places like Busch Stadium have features in their own stadium like the
Cardinals’ “Big Mac Land”. If a homerun is hit into Big Mac Land then everyone at the game
gets a free Big Mac. In 2007 Taco Bell began a partnership of “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco”
during the World Series. If a base is stolen during any game of the World Series then anyone can
claim their Free Doritos Locos Taco. More partnerships like these need to happen. Involving
other popular businesses in with baseball gets more people interested and makes things more
exciting to fans.
Tactics:
•
Offer special deals and prices to college students.
•
Partner with multiple companies to do the giveaway partnerships and also have them as
sponsors for the interactive events.
Timeline: This will be a gradual process but there should be clear indication if it is working or
not if we try it for an entire season start to finish.
Market Research:
•
Conduct surveys on team websites and at games to ask fans what they would like to see
or attend for baseball. Offer discounts in exchange for their responses.
•
Research other sports leagues and how they deal with the ever changing landscape of
sports.
Annotated Bibliography
Harris, Jamie C. “The Astros Cheating Scandal Will Long Linger over Baseball.” New York
Amsterdam News, vol. 111, no. 8, 20 Feb. 2020, p. 39. The Astros cheating scandal will
long linger over baseball – New York Amsterdam News
The New York Amsterdam News article, “The Astros Cheating Scandal Will
Linger over Baseball,” by Jaime C. Harris details the different punishments that have
been doled out for cheating. It details the story of the cheating scandal from the 2017
World Series when the Houston Astros were stealing signs to know what pitch was being
thrown. The author drives home the point that with the stealing of signs the win is
tarnished and no other team had a fair shot. The actions taken by MLB were nothing
more than fines and a one year suspension of the manager and general manager. They
also had to give up their first and second round draft picks and were fined five million
dollars.
The purpose of the article is to explain more about the punishments given, or not
given, during that time. He explains to us how many people don’t find the punishments
sufficient as they weren’t even stripped of the trophy or title. He criticizes Rob Manfred
for his lack of action and flippant response to it all.
Cosler, E. (2020, April 27). An Analysis of the Decline in MLB Stadium Attendance and the
Marketing Techniques that can be Utilized to Fix it. TCU.
https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/39731
With the increase of ticket prices, access to streaming options, and alternate
entertainment options, MLB has struggled to fill the seats in its stadiums. Attendance
rates have been steadily decreasing over the past decade forcing baseballs executives to
developed unique ways to generate revenue. Television/media contracts and licensing
agreements have allowed teams to increase revenue figures, making up for the drop in
ticket sales. But how do teams combat the recent drops in attendance? What marketing
campaigns have been successful? Are there factors that teams can manipulate to boost
attendance? This dissertation aims at identifying ways MLB teams can reverse the
attendance trend and fill their stadiums. After all, this is American’s pastime we’re
talking about.
This is a detailed look into the drop of attendance at MLB games and why it is
happening, while also looking into the ways to fix it and make people want to attend
games again. The author explains to us how owners are more worried about finding new
ways of revenue than fixing what is not working, which is not helping the attendance
rates at all.
Ahead Of Regional Streaming Sports Launch, Sinclair COO Is “Cautiously Optimistic” About
Landing More Baseball Rights Amid “Ongoing Dialogue.” (2022, March 30). Deadline.
https://deadline.com/2022/03/sports-streaming-sinclair-bally-major-league-baseballrights-1234990977/
Sinclair Broadcasting, owner of Bally Sports recently bought out all of the Fox
Sports channels that previously did the streaming of most MLB teams. There has been
very little positive since. The channels are only partnered with AT&T TV and therefore
severely limit who is able to view them. Sinclair Broadcast Group, however, is hoping to
land more Major League Baseball streaming rights despite the public friction between
fans and the MLB itself and Sinclair.
When Sinclair bought out Fox Sports they promised that they would have all the
sporting teams they represented in one place on an app for everyone. This has yet to
come to fruition and with them hoping to gain more teams its causing even more issues
for fans and the MLB itself. Most people are cord cutters and for these people they have
basically no option to watch MLB. And if they can’t watch, they won’t want to go to
games either. This is contributing to another part of the fan base being alienated.
Shaikin, B. (2022, March 8). MLB lockout is making fans lose interest, poll shows. Los Angeles
Times. https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-03-08/mlb-lockout-most-fans-losinginterest-in-baseball-los-angeles-times-surveymonkey-poll
The LA Times conducted a poll among baseball fans and 6/10 respondents said
that the lockout had made them lose any interest in the 2022 season. Baseball is already
struggling to regain momentum after the pandemic shut everything down for them and
the fans were cardboard cutouts. But, even before the pandemic restrictions on
attendance, the average attendance had fallen in seven of the previous eight seasons. The
average attendance in 2019 was only 28,203, the lowest such figure since 2002.
This article details how the MLB was already fighting an uphill battle when it
came to viewership and attendance and with the lockout even more of their fanbase is
uninterested and unlikely to be a viewer or attend games this year. This could be
detrimental for the MLB as they haven’t fully recovered from the pandemic yet. Over a
third of the fans polled said that they intend to watch less and attend less this season.
K. (2018, November 2). Do MLB giveaways and special events influence attendance? Baylor S3
Report. https://sites.baylor.edu/baylors3/2018/10/18/do-mlb-giveaways-and-specialevents-influence-attendance/
Forbes reported that in total all teams planned to do over 1800 special even
promos, including giveaways for the 2018 season. The Cardinals led the way with a
whopping 49 with the Dodgers and Cubs close behind them at 42 and 41 respectively.
The least amount was seen by the Marlins, Athletics, and Diamondbacks. The pattern
seen is not a coincidence. More giveaways and special events give fans more reasons to
go. Without, you’re just selling baseball, but with, you’re selling entertainment and an
event. Teams like the Brewers, Royals and Padres benefitted from the events and
giveaways by appealing to different markets which helped increase their attendance.
This is in line with my entire theory and basis for the PR plan. People want a
spectacle. They want something to attend with their friends and it be a big deal. They
want to feel like they are special and getting something unique, whether a gift or
experience. It can be done well in ways that helped teams like the Royals, or it can have a
good idea but bad execution like when the Houston Astros had ladies’ night but marketed
it as teaching women about baseball.
Situation Analysis – Major League Baseball
Hannah Moore
4/24/2022
SNHU
Major League Baseball is the oldest major professional sports league in the world. There
are currently 30 teams in the league, split half and half between the sub leagues of the National
and American. The current commissioner of baseball is Rob Manfred, who directs the hiring of
umpires and negotiates the contracts including television, labor and marketing. (Major League
Baseball)
•
•
•
•
Strengths
Popular Past Time
Tons of merchandising
Highly Competitive League
Profitability
•
•
•
•
•
Opportunities
Partnerships
Social media
Events
Ease of access
Expanding into the Asian market
•
•
•
•
•
•
Weaknesses
Ticket Costs
Slowing Economy
Changing the rules and regulations
Not changing things to keep up with
current times
Threats
Other sports may steal the fans away.
Losing fans from controversy
Strengths
You often hear baseball referred to as America’s favorite past-time and this is true. For
many of the older generations this was the sport they grew up on and continue to watch to this
day. Because of the longevity of the sport and its popularity the MLB is able to have tons of
different kinds of merchandise. The league is highly competitive and there is never a single team
domination. Over the last 10 years 8 different teams have won the World Series. Different teams
have more profitability than other teams but the average value is $2.07 billion.
Weaknesses
Because of not being able to have fans in the 2020 season ticket prices were increased in
2021. For the 2021 season the average cost for a group of four to attend a game was $253 for
tickets alone, then there were the added cost of parking, food and any merchandise. The $253 is a
4.5% increase from the 2019 season. (Cwik). Along with the cost in ticket sales many other
things are going up in cost, included gasoline, while the wages are not raising to match it. For the
2022 season a lot of new rules are going into effect. In the previous years they have changed
some things to try and shorten games to get more eyes on the product. In extra innings there is
now a ghost running on second base to begin each half inning. The idea is that this will help
shorten the games. Pitchers can now remain in the batting order even after they are taken out
from pitching. For the 2023 season there will be an automatic ball/strike zone so it will no longer
be up to the umpire’s discretion. For the first time players’ uniforms will also feature advertising
including patches and decals. The 2023 schedule will also be more balanced as teams must play
at least one series against every team in both leagues. Some of these changes are fine, others are
not as popular. The issue is that MLB thinks these changes are what will garner a new audience.
Opportunities
The advertising idea is a good idea in theory, but the issue is it is solely based on revenue
instead of actual partnerships, which is what the MLB needs. If the MLB works with popular
brands and celebrities in actual partnerships, they can actually appeal to the younger market.
With these partnerships there can also be partnered events that draw in news eyes. Social Media
is incredibly popular with the Millennial and Gen Z generations. The platforms can be used to
advertise the partnerships and events to draw in the younger fans. Right now there is a struggle
with even being able to watch baseball. Recently Bally Sports took over Fox Sports Midwest and
had made it even more difficult for people to watch the games. Bally claimed they would have a
standalone app to watch the games on, but that has yet to happen. As of now the only way you
can watch baseball games that aren’t being featured on ESPN if you are a streamer is DIRECTV
STREAM (previously AT&T TV). Through the MLB app you can pay a monthly fee to watch
games, but it has blackouts which means you can’t watch games for any teams near you.
The Asian market is untapped and could be a huge opportunity for the MLB to expand
their fanbase. In the past several years about a dozen players have been drafted from Japan,
Korea and China. If the MLB could make a deal to broadcast in these countries it would greatly
increase the fan base, which could lead to an increase in merchandise sales. They could market
for all players to the Asian markets but focus mostly on the Asian players. This could create
greater diversity and competition in the game for years to come.
Threats
Several current and past players made their opinions known during the lockout by
speaking up for the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and against the MLB.
Many bigger names spoke about how the league was unwilling to compromise on a fair CBA to
benefit both sides. (Fleisher) The belief amongst fans was that the owners and MLB had no
desire to compromise and did not care if a season happened because then they wouldn’t have to
pay their players. Many baseball analysts and members of baseball media criticized the league as
well and stated that they didn’t believe the owners even liked baseball.
The LA Times conducted a poll among baseball fans and 6/10 respondents said that the
lockout had made them lose any interest in the 2022 season. (Shaikin) This is a common theme
amongst the comments anyone would see online from other baseball fans.
Major league Soccer Commissioner Don Garber stated “MLS is enters period of
growth”, as the league is currently adding more teams to expand. Garber hoping that with the
geographical expansion it expands the fan base even more. (Palmer) MLS was founded in 1994
as the US bid for the World Cup.
Industry and Market Information
The MLB has 3 major competitors, and they are all major sport leagues, NHL, NBA, and
MLS. The NFL has also lost a lot of fans over controversy in the last few years so they are no
longer really considered a threat. Because of these competitors MLB is not only trying to keep
their fans interested but trying to keep the fans from garnering interest and spending their money
with other sports. The NHL and NBA actually average less attendance per game than MLS,
which holds 18,608 fans per competition in comparison to the NHL’s 17,720 and the NBA’s
17,347. ( Day) While the actual cost of MLB tickets aren’t necessarily higher than the other
leagues the difference is the number of games. MLB has 162, the MLS has 34, the NBA has 82,
and the NHL has 82.
Challenges
On December 2, 2021 the ninth work stoppage in MLB history began when the 2016
collective bargaining agreement between the league and the Major League Baseball Players
Association expired. The MLB owners voted unanimously to enact the lockout. After months of
back and forth, and very little give and take it looked as if there would be no MLB season for
2022. Games were cancelled, spring training was delayed. On March 10, 2022 an agreement was
signed. This was the first stoppage in 25 years and the first lockout in over 30 years. The past
few seasons of MLB play had already dealt with its own issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seasons were shortened, fans weren’t allowed to attend, teams were quarantined and forced to
miss games.
Because of the lockout free agents were not able to be signed during this time. There
were still 250 remaining free agents when the agreement was signed, some being very big names
within the baseball world. Because of the crunch on time and players needing to report to spring
training the next day the teams were scrambling to sign the players they wanted.
Several current and past players made their opinions known during the lockout by speaking up
for the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and against the MLB. Many
bigger names spoke about how the league was unwilling to compromise on a fair CBA to benefit
both sides. (Fleisher) The belief amongst fans was that the owners and MLB had no desire to
compromise and did not care if a season happened because then they wouldn’t have to pay their
players. Many baseball analysts and members of baseball media criticized the league as well and
stated that they didn’t believe the owners even liked baseball.
The LA Times conducted a poll among baseball fans and 6/10 respondents said that the
lockout had made them lose any interest in the 2022 season. (Shaikin) This is a common theme
amongst the comments anyone would see online from other baseball fans. MLB needs to do
some major PR to regain the audience they are losing.
Recently Bally Sports took over Fox Sports Midwest and had made it even more difficult
for people to watch the games. Bally claimed they would have a standalone app to watch the
games on, but that has yet to happen. Right now the only way you can watch baseball games that
aren’t being featured on ESPN if you are a streamer is DIRECTV STREAM (previously AT&T
TV). Through the MLB app you can pay a monthly fee to watch games, but it has blackouts
which means you can’t watch games for any teams near you.
Each of the sports leagues often have casual fans who watch every once and a while and
may go to games casually but don’t follow the league closely. MLB is making that difficult as
they don’t have the games readily available, especially for local teams.
Partnerships
Many places like Busch Stadium have features in their own stadium like the Cardinals’
“Big Mac Land”. If a homerun is hit into Big Mac Land then everyone at the game gets a free
Big Mac. In 2007 Taco Bell began a partnership of “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” during the World
Series. If a base is stolen during any game of the World Series then anyone can claim their Free
Doritos Locos Taco. More partnerships like these need to happen. Involving other popular
businesses in with baseball gets more people interested and makes things more exciting to fans.
Even expanding upon the current partnerships would be beneficial. Their current partnerships
with companies like NIKE are really only beneficial for merchandise sales. They need
partnerships that extend outside of their fanbase to garner new fans.
A big thing in today’s world is influencer marketing. Companies will send things to
influencers for them to review or post about them. Obviously MLB is different, but even just
giving tickets to influencers and asking them to post about being at the games and the fun
they’ve had could help expand to a younger audience.
Forbes reported that in total all teams planned to do over 1800 special even promos,
including giveaways for the 2018 season. The Cardinals led the way with a whopping 49 with
the Dodgers and Cubs close behind them at 42 and 41 respectively. The least amount was seen
by the Marlins, Athletics, and Diamondbacks. The pattern seen is not a coincidence. More
giveaways and special events give fans more reasons to go. Without, you’re just selling baseball,
but with, you’re selling entertainment and an event. Teams like the Brewers, Royals and Padres
benefitted from the events and giveaways by appealing to different markets which helped
increase their attendance.
This is in line with my entire theory and basis for the PR plan. People want a
spectacle. They want something to attend with their friends and it be a big deal. They want to
feel like they are special and getting something unique, whether a gift or experience. It can be
done well in ways that helped teams like the Royals, or it can have a good idea but bad execution
like when the Houston Astros had ladies’ night but marketed it as teaching women about
baseball.
The Savannah Bananas are a lot of inspiration for fun things we want to bring to MLB.
The Bananas are a part of Coastal Plain League . The team had over 91,000 total fans split
between their 25 games in 2016, their inaugural season. They continued to sell out in 2017, 2018,
and 2019, and continued to break the leagues attendance records. The team’s slogan is “Fans
First. Entertain Always. All Inclusive.” (The Savannah Bananas) The Bananas perform
choreographed dances, they do post game interviews in hot tubs, they remind us that baseball is a
game and games should be fun. The Bananas make games fun and exciting so even non baseball
fans will have a blast. While we may not want MLB to go quite that far MLB definitely needs to
take some pointers from them.
Objectives
The biggest objective for this campaign is to regain some of the lapsed audience, and pull
in a new, younger audience. The MLB needs to stop focusing solely on their profitability and
more on their audience and gaining a new audience. The money from broadcasting partnerships
can be used to further expand into more partnerships and events. If your business isn’t expanding
or growing then you are becoming stagnant.
Proposed Budget
MLB is different because not all teams have the same amount of money. This is obvious
when it comes to teams as well because some simply can’t afford what others can. This is why it
is important for Major League Baseball itself to fund this project. It is to benefit all teams and the
entity as a whole. To start the campaign, we will need $750,000. The campaign will need more
as it succeeds, and we can expand further. This is the cost of one beginning event that will
expand across multiple teams, the marketing, and PR for the event. . The focus is not to gain fans
for any specific team but for baseball, as a whole. Baseball needs to be fun again.
Cwik, C. (2021, September 17). Average cost of attending MLB game increased in 2021
following COVID-19 pandemic. Yahoo. https://sports.yahoo.com/average-cost-ofattending-mlb-game-increased-in-2021-following-covid-19-pandemic-001619994.html
Cosler, E. (2020, April 27). An Analysis of the Decline in MLB Stadium Attendance and the
Marketing Techniques that can be Utilized to Fix it. TCU.
https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/39731
Day, D. (2014, August 14). The Designated Player: Major League Soccer’s Business Model.
Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/duncanday/2014/08/14/the-designated-playermajor-league-soccers-business-model/
Fleisher, L. (2022, March 1). As MLB Lockout Causes Cancellations, Players Turn To Social
Media. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryfleisher/2022/03/01/as-mlb-lockoutcauses-cancellations-players-turn-to-social-media/?sh=60fbb6570b6b
Major League Baseball History and Milestones. Major League Baseball.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/
Palmer, B. (2013, August 9). The Triangle:Drexel University. Retrieved from The Triangle
Organization: http://thetriangle.org/2013/08/09/u-s-soccer-growing-in-popularity/
Shaikin, B. (2022, March 8). MLB lockout is making fans lose interest, poll shows. Los Angeles
Times. https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-03-08/mlb-lockout-most-fans-losinginterest-in-baseball-los-angeles-times-surveymonkey-poll
The Savannah Bananas.
About Us – The Savannah Bananas
Hannah Moore
3/20/22
COM 690
Milestone One: Company/Organization Selection
SNHU
Organization
Major League Baseball
Description
Major League Baseball is the oldest major professional sports league in the world. There
are currently 30 teams in the league, split half and half between the sub leagues of the National
and American. The current commissioner of baseball is Rob Manfred, who directs the hiring of
umpires and negotiates the contracts including television, labor and marketing. (Major League
Baseball)
Reasons of Selection
On December 2, 2021 the ninth work stoppage in MLB history began when the 2016
collective bargaining agreement between the league and the Major League Baseball Players
Association expired. The MLB owners voted unanimously to enact the lockout. After months of
back and forth, and very little give and take it looked as if there would be no MLB season for
2022. Games were cancelled, spring training was delayed. On March 10, 2022 an agreement was
signed. This was the first stoppage in 25 years and the first lockout in over 30 years. The past
few seasons of MLB play had already dealt with its own issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seasons were shortened, fans weren’t allowed to attend, teams were quarantined and forced to
miss games.
Because of the lockout free agents were not able to be signed during this time. There
were still 250 remaining free agents when the agreement was signed, some being very big names
within the baseball world. Because of the crunch on time and players needing to report to spring
training the next day the teams were scrambling to sign the players they wanted.
Several current and past players made their opinions known during the lockout by speaking up
for the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and against the MLB. Many
bigger names spoke about how the league was unwilling to compromise on a fair CBA to benefit
both sides. (Fleisher) The belief amongst fans was that the owners and MLB had no desire to
compromise and did not care if a season happened because then they wouldn’t have to pay their
players. Many baseball analysts and members of baseball media criticized the league as well and
stated that they didn’t believe the owners even liked baseball.
The LA Times conducted a poll among baseball fans and 6/10 respondents said that the
lockout had made them lose any interest in the 2022 season. (Shaikin) This is a common theme
amongst the comments anyone would see online from other baseball fans. MLB needs to do
some major PR to regain the audience they are losing.
Recently Bally Sports took over Fox Sports Midwest and had made it even more difficult
for people to watch the games. Bally claimed they would have a standalone app to watch the
games on, but that has yet to happen. Right now the only way you can watch baseball games that
aren’t being featured on ESPN if you are a streamer is DIRECTV STREAM (previously AT&T
TV). Through the MLB app you can pay a monthly fee to watch games, but it has blackouts
which means you can’t watch games for any teams near you.
I’ve been a baseball fan my entire life. I’ve gone to countless games. My oldest son had a
Cardinal’s themed nursery and a baseball themed baby shower. The changes have affected my
fandom, as well. We live in a world where we like the ease of access. Right now the only way I
can watch baseball is to change the streaming service I’ve used for 6 years. The ticket prices to
attend games has gone up, the cost of food and items in the ball park has gone up, and it seems
like the least important part of baseball has become the fans.
Campaign
To regain the audience lost MLB needs to do a full PR campaign to make up for the mess
of the lock out. Fans being soured on the entire league is not beneficial as they no longer want to
spend their money there. Truly they also need to focus on new marketing, as well. This is
America’s Favorite Pastime, but it is very hard to keep your audience up with the new
generations when nothing ever changes or evolves. Things like the game at the Field of Dreams
are a great way to stir up good buzz and such, but there needs to be more done. MLB needs an
overhaul, and it needs it quickly.
Cosler, E. (2020, April 27). An Analysis of the Decline in MLB Stadium Attendance and the
Marketing Techniques that can be Utilized to Fix it. TCU.
https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/39731
Fleisher, L. (2022, March 1). As MLB Lockout Causes Cancellations, Players Turn To Social
Media. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryfleisher/2022/03/01/as-mlb-lockoutcauses-cancellations-players-turn-to-social-media/?sh=60fbb6570b6b
Major League Baseball History and Milestones. Major League Baseball.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/
Shaikin, B. (2022, March 8). MLB lockout is making fans lose interest, poll shows. Los Angeles
Times. https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-03-08/mlb-lockout-most-fans-losinginterest-in-baseball-los-angeles-times-surveymonkey-poll
Situation Analysis – Major League Baseball
Hannah Moore
4/24/2022
SNHU
Major League Baseball is the oldest major professional sports league in the world. There
are currently 30 teams in the league, split half and half between the sub leagues of the National
and American. The current commissioner of baseball is Rob Manfred, who directs the hiring of
umpires and negotiates the contracts including television, labor and marketing. (Major League
Baseball)
•
•
•
•
Strengths
Popular Past Time
Tons of merchandising
Highly Competitive League
Profitability
•
•
•
•
•
Opportunities
Partnerships
Social media
Events
Ease of access
Expanding into the Asian market
•
•
•
•
•
•
Weaknesses
Ticket Costs
Slowing Economy
Changing the rules and regulations
Not changing things to keep up with
current times
Threats
Other sports may steal the fans away.
Losing fans from controversy
Strengths
You often hear baseball referred to as America’s favorite past-time and this is true. For
many of the older generations this was the sport they grew up on and continue to watch to this
day. Because of the longevity of the sport and its popularity the MLB is able to have tons of
different kinds of merchandise. The league is highly competitive and there is never a single team
domination. Over the last 10 years 8 different teams have won the World Series. Different teams
have more profitability than other teams but the average value is $2.07 billion.
Weaknesses
Because of not being able to have fans in the 2020 season ticket prices were increased in
2021. For the 2021 season the average cost for a group of four to attend a game was $253 for
tickets alone, then there were the added cost of parking, food and any merchandise. The $253 is a
4.5% increase from the 2019 season. (Cwik). Along with the cost in ticket sales many other
things are going up in cost, included gasoline, while the wages are not raising to match it. For the
2022 season a lot of new rules are going into effect. In the previous years they have changed
some things to try and shorten games to get more eyes on the product. In extra innings there is
now a ghost running on second base to begin each half inning. The idea is that this will help
shorten the games. Pitchers can now remain in the batting order even after they are taken out
from pitching. For the 2023 season there will be an automatic ball/strike zone so it will no longer
be up to the umpire’s discretion. For the first time players’ uniforms will also feature advertising
including patches and decals. The 2023 schedule will also be more balanced as teams must play
at least one series against every team in both leagues. Some of these changes are fine, others are
not as popular. The issue is that MLB thinks these changes are what will garner a new audience.
Opportunities
The advertising idea is a good idea in theory, but the issue is it is solely based on revenue
instead of actual partnerships, which is what the MLB needs. If the MLB works with popular
brands and celebrities in actual partnerships, they can actually appeal to the younger market.
With these partnerships there can also be partnered events that draw in news eyes. Social Media
is incredibly popular with the Millennial and Gen Z generations. The platforms can be used to
advertise the partnerships and events to draw in the younger fans. Right now there is a struggle
with even being able to watch baseball. Recently Bally Sports took over Fox Sports Midwest and
had made it even more difficult for people to watch the games. Bally claimed they would have a
standalone app to watch the games on, but that has yet to happen. As of now the only way you
can watch baseball games that aren’t being featured on ESPN if you are a streamer is DIRECTV
STREAM (previously AT&T TV). Through the MLB app you can pay a monthly fee to watch
games, but it has blackouts which means you can’t watch games for any teams near you.
The Asian market is untapped and could be a huge opportunity for the MLB to expand
their fanbase. In the past several years about a dozen players have been drafted from Japan,
Korea and China. If the MLB could make a deal to broadcast in these countries it would greatly
increase the fan base, which could lead to an increase in merchandise sales. They could market
for all players to the Asian markets but focus mostly on the Asian players. This could create
greater diversity and competition in the game for years to come.
Threats
Several current and past players made their opinions known during the lockout by
speaking up for the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and against the MLB.
Many bigger names spoke about how the league was unwilling to compromise on a fair CBA to
benefit both sides. (Fleisher) The belief amongst fans was that the owners and MLB had no
desire to compromise and did not care if a season happened because then they wouldn’t have to
pay their players. Many baseball analysts and members of baseball media criticized the league as
well and stated that they didn’t believe the owners even liked baseball.
The LA Times conducted a poll among baseball fans and 6/10 respondents said that the
lockout had made them lose any interest in the 2022 season. (Shaikin) This is a common theme
amongst the comments anyone would see online from other baseball fans.
Major league Soccer Commissioner Don Garber stated “MLS is enters period of
growth”, as the league is currently adding more teams to expand. Garber hoping that with the
geographical expansion it expands the fan base even more. (Palmer) MLS was founded in 1994
as the US bid for the World Cup.
Industry and Market Information
The MLB has 3 major competitors, and they are all major sport leagues, NHL, NBA, and
MLS. The NFL has also lost a lot of fans over controversy in the last few years so they are no
longer really considered a threat. Because of these competitors MLB is not only trying to keep
their fans interested but trying to keep the fans from garnering interest and spending their money
with other sports. The NHL and NBA actually average less attendance per game than MLS,
which holds 18,608 fans per competition in comparison to the NHL’s 17,720 and the NBA’s
17,347. ( Day) While the actual cost of MLB tickets aren’t necessarily higher than the other
leagues the difference is the number of games. MLB has 162, the MLS has 34, the NBA has 82,
and the NHL has 82.
Challenges
On December 2, 2021 the ninth work stoppage in MLB history began when the 2016
collective bargaining agreement between the league and the Major League Baseball Players
Association expired. The MLB owners voted unanimously to enact the lockout. After months of
back and forth, and very little give and take it looked as if there would be no MLB season for
2022. Games were cancelled, spring training was delayed. On March 10, 2022 an agreement was
signed. This was the first stoppage in 25 years and the first lockout in over 30 years. The past
few seasons of MLB play had already dealt with its own issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seasons were shortened, fans weren’t allowed to attend, teams were quarantined and forced to
miss games.
Because of the lockout free agents were not able to be signed during this time. There
were still 250 remaining free agents when the agreement was signed, some being very big names
within the baseball world. Because of the crunch on time and players needing to report to spring
training the next day the teams were scrambling to sign the players they wanted.
Several current and past players made their opinions known during the lockout by speaking up
for the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and against the MLB. Many
bigger names spoke about how the league was unwilling to compromise on a fair CBA to benefit
both sides. (Fleisher) The belief amongst fans was that the owners and MLB had no desire to
compromise and did not care if a season happened because then they wouldn’t have to pay their
players. Many baseball analysts and members of baseball media criticized the league as well and
stated that they didn’t believe the owners even liked baseball.
The LA Times conducted a poll among baseball fans and 6/10 respondents said that the
lockout had made them lose any interest in the 2022 season. (Shaikin) This is a common theme
amongst the comments anyone would see online from other baseball fans. MLB needs to do
some major PR to regain the audience they are losing.
Recently Bally Sports took over Fox Sports Midwest and had made it even more difficult
for people to watch the games. Bally claimed they would have a standalone app to watch the
games on, but that has yet to happen. Right now the only way you can watch baseball games that
aren’t being featured on ESPN if you are a streamer is DIRECTV STREAM (previously AT&T
TV). Through the MLB app you can pay a monthly fee to watch games, but it has blackouts
which means you can’t watch games for any teams near you.
Each of the sports leagues often have casual fans who watch every once and a while and
may go to games casually but don’t follow the league closely. MLB is making that difficult as
they don’t have the games readily available, especially for local teams.
Partnerships
Many places like Busch Stadium have features in their own stadium like the Cardinals’
“Big Mac Land”. If a homerun is hit into Big Mac Land then everyone at the game gets a free
Big Mac. In 2007 Taco Bell began a partnership of “Steal a Base, Steal a Taco” during the World
Series. If a base is stolen during any game of the World Series then anyone can claim their Free
Doritos Locos Taco. More partnerships like these need to happen. Involving other popular
businesses in with baseball gets more people interested and makes things more exciting to fans.
Even expanding upon the current partnerships would be beneficial. Their current partnerships
with companies like NIKE are really only beneficial for merchandise sales. They need
partnerships that extend outside of their fanbase to garner new fans.
A big thing in today’s world is influencer marketing. Companies will send things to
influencers for them to review or post about them. Obviously MLB is different, but even just
giving tickets to influencers and asking them to post about being at the games and the fun
they’ve had could help expand to a younger audience.
Forbes reported that in total all teams planned to do over 1800 special even promos,
including giveaways for the 2018 season. The Cardinals led the way with a whopping 49 with
the Dodgers and Cubs close behind them at 42 and 41 respectively. The least amount was seen
by the Marlins, Athletics, and Diamondbacks. The pattern seen is not a coincidence. More
giveaways and special events give fans more reasons to go. Without, you’re just selling baseball,
but with, you’re selling entertainment and an event. Teams like the Brewers, Royals and Padres
benefitted from the events and giveaways by appealing to different markets which helped
increase their attendance.
This is in line with my entire theory and basis for the PR plan. People want a
spectacle. They want something to attend with their friends and it be a big deal. They want to
feel like they are special and getting something unique, whether a gift or experience. It can be
done well in ways that helped teams like the Royals, or it can have a good idea but bad execution
like when the Houston Astros had ladies’ night but marketed it as teaching women about
baseball.
The Savannah Bananas are a lot of inspiration for fun things we want to bring to MLB.
The Bananas are a part of Coastal Plain League . The team had over 91,000 total fans split
between their 25 games in 2016, their inaugural season. They continued to sell out in 2017, 2018,
and 2019, and continued to break the leagues attendance records. The team’s slogan is “Fans
First. Entertain Always. All Inclusive.” (The Savannah Bananas) The Bananas perform
choreographed dances, they do post game interviews in hot tubs, they remind us that baseball is a
game and games should be fun. The Bananas make games fun and exciting so even non baseball
fans will have a blast. While we may not want MLB to go quite that far MLB definitely needs to
take some pointers from them.
Objectives
The biggest objective for this campaign is to regain some of the lapsed audience, and pull
in a new, younger audience. The MLB needs to stop focusing solely on their profitability and
more on their audience and gaining a new audience. The money from broadcasting partnerships
can be used to further expand into more partnerships and events. If your business isn’t expanding
or growing then you are becoming stagnant.
Proposed Budget
MLB is different because not all teams have the same amount of money. This is obvious
when it comes to teams as well because some simply can’t afford what others can. This is why it
is important for Major League Baseball itself to fund this project. It is to benefit all teams and the
entity as a whole. To start the campaign, we will need $750,000. The campaign will need more
as it succeeds, and we can expand further. This is the cost of one beginning event that will
expand across multiple teams, the marketing, and PR for the event. . The focus is not to gain fans
for any specific team but for baseball, as a whole. Baseball needs to be fun again.
Cwik, C. (2021, September 17). Average cost of attending MLB game increased in 2021
following COVID-19 pandemic. Yahoo. https://sports.yahoo.com/average-cost-ofattending-mlb-game-increased-in-2021-following-covid-19-pandemic-001619994.html
Cosler, E. (2020, April 27). An Analysis of the Decline in MLB Stadium Attendance and the
Marketing Techniques that can be Utilized to Fix it. TCU.
https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/39731
Day, D. (2014, August 14). The Designated Player: Major League Soccer’s Business Model.
Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/duncanday/2014/08/14/the-designated-playermajor-league-soccers-business-model/
Fleisher, L. (2022, March 1). As MLB Lockout Causes Cancellations, Players Turn To Social
Media. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryfleisher/2022/03/01/as-mlb-lockoutcauses-cancellations-players-turn-to-social-media/?sh=60fbb6570b6b
Major League Baseball History and Milestones. Major League Baseball.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/
Palmer, B. (2013, August 9). The Triangle:Drexel University. Retrieved from The Triangle
Organization: http://thetriangle.org/2013/08/09/u-s-soccer-growing-in-popularity/
Shaikin, B. (2022, March 8). MLB lockout is making fans lose interest, poll shows. Los Angeles
Times. https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-03-08/mlb-lockout-most-fans-losinginterest-in-baseball-los-angeles-times-surveymonkey-poll
The Savannah Bananas.
About Us – The Savannah Bananas
Hannah Moore
3/20/22
COM 690
Milestone One: Company/Organization Selection
SNHU
Organization
Major League Baseball
Description
Major League Baseball is the oldest major professional sports league in the world. There
are currently 30 teams in the league, split half and half between the sub leagues of the National
and American. The current commissioner of baseball is Rob Manfred, who directs the hiring of
umpires and negotiates the contracts including television, labor and marketing. (Major League
Baseball)
Reasons of Selection
On December 2, 2021 the ninth work stoppage in MLB history began when the 2016
collective bargaining agreement between the league and the Major League Baseball Players
Association expired. The MLB owners voted unanimously to enact the lockout. After months of
back and forth, and very little give and take it looked as if there would be no MLB season for
2022. Games were cancelled, spring training was delayed. On March 10, 2022 an agreement was
signed. This was the first stoppage in 25 years and the first lockout in over 30 years. The past
few seasons of MLB play had already dealt with its own issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seasons were shortened, fans weren’t allowed to attend, teams were quarantined and forced to
miss games.
Because of the lockout free agents were not able to be signed during this time. There
were still 250 remaining free agents when the agreement was signed, some being very big names
within the baseball world. Because of the crunch on time and players needing to report to spring
training the next day the teams were scrambling to sign the players they wanted.
Several current and past players made their opinions known during the lockout by speaking up
for the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and against the MLB. Many
bigger names spoke about how the league was unwilling to compromise on a fair CBA to benefit
both sides. (Fleisher) The belief amongst fans was that the owners and MLB had no desire to
compromise and did not care if a season happened because then they wouldn’t have to pay their
players. Many baseball analysts and members of baseball media criticized the league as well and
stated that they didn’t believe the owners even liked baseball.
The LA Times conducted a poll among baseball fans and 6/10 respondents said that the
lockout had made them lose any interest in the 2022 season. (Shaikin) This is a common theme
amongst the comments anyone would see online from other baseball fans. MLB needs to do
some major PR to regain the audience they are losing.
Recently Bally Sports took over Fox Sports Midwest and had made it even more difficult
for people to watch the games. Bally claimed they would have a standalone app to watch the
games on, but that has yet to happen. Right now the only way you can watch baseball games that
aren’t being featured on ESPN if you are a streamer is DIRECTV STREAM (previously AT&T
TV). Through the MLB app you can pay a monthly fee to watch games, but it has blackouts
which means you can’t watch games for any teams near you.
I’ve been a baseball fan my entire life. I’ve gone to countless games. My oldest son had a
Cardinal’s themed nursery and a baseball themed baby shower. The changes have affected my
fandom, as well. We live in a world where we like the ease of access. Right now the only way I
can watch baseball is to change the streaming service I’ve used for 6 years. The ticket prices to
attend games has gone up, the cost of food and items in the ball park has gone up, and it seems
like the least important part of baseball has become the fans.
Campaign
To regain the audience lost MLB needs to do a full PR campaign to make up for the mess
of the lock out. Fans being soured on the entire league is not beneficial as they no longer want to
spend their money there. Truly they also need to focus on new marketing, as well. This is
America’s Favorite Pastime, but it is very hard to keep your audience up with the new
generations when nothing ever changes or evolves. Things like the game at the Field of Dreams
are a great way to stir up good buzz and such, but there needs to be more done. MLB needs an
overhaul, and it needs it quickly.
Cosler, E. (2020, April 27). An Analysis of the Decline in MLB Stadium Attendance and the
Marketing Techniques that can be Utilized to Fix it. TCU.
https://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/39731
Fleisher, L. (2022, March 1). As MLB Lockout Causes Cancellations, Players Turn To Social
Media. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryfleisher/2022/03/01/as-mlb-lockoutcauses-cancellations-players-turn-to-social-media/?sh=60fbb6570b6b
Major League Baseball History and Milestones. Major League Baseball.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/
Shaikin, B. (2022, March 8). MLB lockout is making fans lose interest, poll shows. Los Angeles
Times. https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-03-08/mlb-lockout-most-fans-losinginterest-in-baseball-los-angeles-times-surveymonkey-poll