How these 5 brands got the most out of their MLB marketing this season

Major League Baseball got the World Series it wanted—and so did its advertisers, which are benefiting from renewed interest in the national pastime. The matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees featured teams in the country’s biggest markets deploying some of the game’s biggest stars—Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts of Los Angeles, and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. The Dodgers won the Series in the Bronx on Wednesday night in Game 5. Judge and Ohtani were featured in postseason MLB advertising before either of their teams reached the World Series. See all of Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 honorees here The matchup was a home run for ratings in the U.S. and in Japan. In the U.S., the series averaged nearly 15 million viewers per game through Game 4 across Fox, Fox Deportes and Fox streaming services, according to Fox, which the network stated was the best start for the series since 2017. The first two games registered a 93% increase in viewers aged 18 to 34 compared with last year, according to MLB. Game 3 drew 13.6 million viewers, according to Fox, up by 63% compared with last year’s Rangers-Diamondbacks Game 3 and narrowly outdrawing the Giants-Steelers “Monday Night Football” matchup on ESPN and ABC. In Japan, where the games were distributed to Fuji TV, NHK BS, and J Sports, the first two games averaged 15.15 million viewers. The series also moved MLB merchandise at record levels, with sales up 68% vs. last October, according to MLB. The allure of the bicoastal matchup was captured in an MLB ad called “Empire State of California Love,” from Good Sports Creative, founded by former Wieden+Kennedy creative director Josh Bogdan. More: Sports uniform sponsorships—what brands should know The World Series success follows a regular season that drew a total of 71.3 million people to ballparks, up 1% from last year and the largest attendance figure in seven years, according to MLB, which also noted that its TV partners ESPN and Fox notched ratings growth in the 18-34 demographic. MLB executives attribute baseball’s rising fortunes to stars such as Ohtani, efforts to spark engagement with young fans and a series of rule changes implemented before the 2023 season that have made games shorter, crisper and easier to watch. These also benefit baseball’s advertising partners, said Uzma Rawn, senior VP, global corporate partnerships for MLB. “Baseball is on fire right now,” Rawn said in an interview from Yankee Stadium during Game 3. MLB has 37 official partners that get the right to use MLB marks in their advertising. A deal between the league and the MLB Players Association last year helped to make it easier for brands to use players in ads. Rawn describes MLB partnerships as an equal exchange, with the sport helping brands tell their story and vice-versa. The length of the season, and its everyday pace, provides a lot of opportunity, Rawn said, with events like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and back-to-school falling within the season, providing opportunities for brands. Ad Age this week caught up with five brands doing MLB marketing via interviews at Yankee Stadium and over the phone. Below, more about their baseball marketing. Strauss If the decals on the side of the helmets teams have been wearing this offseason call to mind baseball in construction gear, Henning Strauss doesn’t mind. The CEO and namesake of the German workwear brand Strauss says the company is all about serving tradespeople. It makes safety gear, including helmets and protective footwear, among other items. Strauss this year became the first company to advertise on MLB helmets in the U.S., a move meant to introduce customers to a brand that’s also new to the U.S. The deal began this postseason. “I really feel we’ve not only made a good decision, but we’ve been lucky as well,” said Strauss. Strauss said he hopes to further tie together baseball and tradespeople—in particular, groundskeepers—as the three-year deal MLB plays out (Strauss-branded helmets will be worn by all Minor League Baseball teams, all season, beginning next year). “It’s interesting for us as a narrative to talk about the people behind the team,” said Strauss, adding that the partnership could also help grow baseball in Europe. Co-branded MLB products are one possibility, he said; Strauss already has a line of NFL-licensed gear in Europe. Strauss said he was prepared for a negative reaction to the helmet logos but the excitement of the postseason has softened the blow, he said. “I get the sense we’ve already overcome this initial response.” Corona Rene Ramos, senior VP of brand activation for Constellation Brands, parent of Corona beer, was careful not to pick sides between the Yankees and Dodgers. “Both markets drink a lot of our beers, so we’re supportive of both teams,” he said. Corona has been the “official cerveza” of MLB since 2022 (Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Budweiser is the official beer). The distinction is meaningful, said Ramos, because it speaks to the brand’s strategy of linking its Hispanic roots to baseball’s Hispanic influence. “The fact that we can call ourselves the official cerveza of the MLB, it signals to everybody what we’re all about in this partnership,” Ramos said. “We are a brand coming in with a different point of view, a different dynamic. And I think that has resonated with fans.” Corona has done in-stadium advertising and paid media programs highlighting Latino players, said Ramos. The brand is looking at dedicated TV spots for next season. “You’ll see a little bit more dynamic, above-the-line approach,” Ramos said. “We think there’s going to be bigger and better things that we can do next, especially coming off a Series like this.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Capital One Capital One’s partnership with MLB, now in its third year, has focused on fan experiences and supporting diversity initiatives, taking a big role as presenting sponsor of the World Series and the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to a player demonstrating character, community involvement and philanthropy. Capital One is also the presenting sponsor of ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.” Byron Daub, VP of sponsorships and experiential marketing for Capital One, said the big bank values baseball’s long summer schedule for its advertising and media presence—Capital One is the nation’s eighth-largest advertiser, according to Ad Age’s Leading National Advertisers report. “MLB, plus some of its high-profile events like the All-Star Game and the World Series provide us a platform to have that always-on presence through a long period of time—a period where we had had a gap in terms of our media presence and advertising presence,” Daub said. Capital One uses its deal to provide what Daub called “elevated experiences” for VIPs and cardholders. At Game 3 of the World Series, for example, invited guests sat for an intimate Q&A with Yankee legends Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter—known as Mr. October and Mr. November for their respective World Series heroics. “I think if you’re going to invest and be a part of league-wide partnerships or other tentpole types of sponsorships, you really have to figure out how to invest behind them and get your brand to stand out among many other brands,” Daub said. New Balance Baseball’s postseason has been a showcase for some of New Balance’s signature athletes such as Ohtani and the Mets’ Francisco Lindor, whose abilities can deliver outsized emotional impact, said Evan Zeder, director of global sports marketing, baseball and tennis, for New Balance. “The emotions that sports brings, if you’re looking to just grab onto it when they have these moments, you’re going to be too late,” Zeder said. New Balance sees its association with MLB as valuable in aligning it with tradition while also finding new fans. While the sport is a good proving ground for high-performance athletic gear it isn’t easy to “flex” that with players in uniform, Zeder said. The brand’s “We Got Now” creative from VML shows Ohtani in workout gear. Booking.com Baseball’s long season coincides with summer vacation time for millions of Americans, making for a good fit for the travel booking site Booking.com, which has partnered with MLB for two years. “There are 175 million Major League Baseball fans. Those fans are spread across the country and those fans travel,” said Ben Harrell, managing director for the U.S. for Booking.com. Many of those travelers take in ballgames on the road. The brand brought in baseball announcer Joe Buck to narrate ads around about baseball travelers. The message to fans is that while you may dislike your rival team, that doesn’t mean you have to dislike their home city. The creative is from Zulu Alpha Kilo. Although he considers himself a big fan of baseball, Harrell said he had some misgivings when the idea of partnering with MLB first came up. “You don’t do a partnership because you like a sport,” Harrell said. “And when the idea was first floated to me my initial reaction was, ‘I love baseball but this probably won’t make sense.’ But we looked at the data. We looked at the numbers. More and more we said, ‘this may actually make sense.’ There’s a lot to like.”

How these 5 brands got the most out of their MLB marketing this season

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