Giving a legendary brand a new lease of life
Major League BaseballA Vision of the Future
Baseball is America’s oldest sport, with the oldest fanbase. Major League Baseball ripped up the rulebook to present a vision of the sport’s future for a European audience.
1m+
viewersof the Home Run Derby on Twitter Live
30k+
attendeesacross the events
80%
of the audienceunder 34
90%
of attendeeswould recommend the event
MLB Battlegrounds
Whether it’s video games, rap battles or twitter beefs, rivalry is a huge part of millennial’s lives. Baseball is built on centuries’ old rivalries that still divide today. Introducing Battlegrounds, our strategic idea that underpinned an unmissable experience where baseball’s historic rivalries were reimagined for a new audience.
Culture, sport and tech collide
The Boston Red Sox and L.A. Dodgers battled it out in London in unexpected ways. Starting with a sporting mashup as stars of cricket and rugby took part in a Home Run Challenge content series. Then we took over Pop Brixton with LA and Boston culture – and a VR batting cage and finished by staging Europe’s first ever Home Run Derby on the main stage of British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park.
Beyond the ballpark
In 2019, Major League Baseball played their first ever regular season games in Europe. The games sold out instantly. MLB knew that the true value of London Series was reaching out beyond the stadium. Launching in a new market meant MLB could communicate in new ways and speak to a new generation of baseball fans.
London Yards
To celebrate the London Series, we created a fan festival, London Yards, at Truman Brewery where there were a number of activations. The world’s first indoor Home Run Derby was live streamed on Twitter. We had performances from UK grime artists such as Lady Leshurr. The Spin Cycle baseball game, the VR batting cages - all of this allowed a new generation of fans to experience the game. Oh, and we had great food inspired by the culinary heritage of Boston and New York.
London Yards is essentially our fan park, our fan festival. It's a take on traditional baseball's challenges and activities, but with a modern twist
Gulraj Purewal
Head of Marketing EMEA, MLB
London Yards was a perfect distillation of everything we are trying to make MLB stand for. It’s not easy moving a brand as entrenched as ours is into new territory, but Imagination has done so with grace and skill.
Charlie Hill
VP International Strategy, MLB
Value for the audience
We opened baseball up to a whole new generation in a brand new continent. The events transformed the way millennials think about baseball and 90% said they would recommend it to their friends.
Value for the brand
With the Battleground experience an audience that was 80% under 34, MLB has disproved the myth that baseball is an old folk’s sport. The levels of eyeballs reached on Twitter Live – over 1 million have increased the brand’s fame in a completely new European market. By hitting baseball into the present, they’re ready to expand even further in the future.
An American baseball invasion of London.
New York Times
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