San Francisco Giants

While not overly excited that my Detroit Tigers were lagging (10 games back), and my other team, the San Francisco Giants, were on the outside of the Wild Card race, I was anxious to find out more about MLB’s digital efforts.

I learned that Major League Baseball embraces the Hispanic community and has for a long time.  From Spanish language websites for all the teams to U.S. Hispanic and cross border marketing, MLB is well ahead of the curve.  Compare the MLB, which has significant content agreements with the likes of Terra.com to create and distribute content in Spanish, to the N.B.A., who recently launched campaigns on how to say their name.

In the U.S., Hispanic doesn’t necessarily mean Spanish dominant; nevertheless, a good way to see Major League’s dedication to the market is through MLB’s Spanish site.  Not only do you get MLB team sites in Spanish, but for those players with ties to other countries (such as the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico), there are pages dedicated to the Winter Leagues in those countries, or Ligas Invernales.  The league also actively monitors the news about and public relations for players and prospects.  In addition to the league’s existing efforts, the individual teams have their own events and public outreach to the many local and surrounding communities.  Whether it is the Gigantes de San Francisco reaching out to the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area, or the Florida Marlins or Los Angeles Dodgers reaching outside U.S. borders, the entire MLB community has rightly recognized the opportunity that the Hispanic market offers. Enjoy this dispatch from a Texas Rangers game from Lili Gil here.