From MLBSydney2014.com and International Business Times
Analysis by Stephen Dombrowski in SRM 435 (section 2)
Major League Baseball has done a great job reaching out to the global market, but this year their target is a new country: Australia. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the exhibition game between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants. This year’s game will feature the globally prominent Los Angeles Dodgers and a young team that is on the rise, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sydney officials are turning the Sydney Cricket Grounds into a Major League field for March 22 and 23.
From a marketing standpoint of the MLB, this is pure genius. Baseball is on the rise in Australia. There are numerous Australians now in the game including the Rays’ Grant Balfour. After going to Japan for the last several years, they have finally picked a country where there is more potential for growth. The Australian Baseball League was started back up in 2010 and is overlooked by MLB officials. The league’s purpose is to bridge the gap between generations and create a buzz about baseball to the youth to inspire young Australians to play the game. This year was perfect using the 100 year anniversary to bring the game back and to advertise the century mark. However, there are some downfalls to having the game here. Most Australians are more interested in cricket than they are baseball. To some, this game is completely foreign to them and might now understand some of the rules. Lastly, the playing conditions and stadiums in Australia are not adequate to field a Major League ball game.
From the Australian’s standpoint, their advertising of the game in local papers has been fantastic. By having a Major League baseball game here in Australia it shows that the country is serious about getting competitive in baseball. It has been called Aussies Chasing the Dream. The way it is being promoted is to show it is similar to cricket but it being shorter and a lot more convenient to play or watch if you have other things going on in your life. The downfall again for the growth from the Australian standpoint is the lack of adequate and convenient stadiums to play the games at. It is hard to get fans excited about going to a game that does not give the fans a great experience. Cricket again is the challenge facing the growth. David Smith says, “There simply isn’t enough room in people’s minds and lives for new sports.” However, by having this game Down Under, Major League Baseball and Australia are working hard together to overcome these obstacles.
Every professional sports league is trying to branch out and gain global popularity. The NFL in London, the NBA going overseas and in China, the NHL’s large amount of foreign players, and now the MLB playing the first games of the season in other countries. This article is relevant to the course because of the constant change that is occurring throughout sports and how each league is constantly trying to gain a larger audience. It is important for any of us going into the marketing profession to know that there is more to just marketing to your local fans. There is a bigger picture and the world of baseball is becoming a smaller and smaller place.
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Analysis by Griffin Waugh in SRM 435 (section 2)
This year opening day will come with a small twist. Most people can't wait to take the train into the Bronx and smell the fresh cut grass on April 1 of every year; that may just be me. This year the Opening Series of the 2014 MLB season will take place in Sydney, Australia on the 22nd-23rd of March. The Opening Series will feature a National League West match-up between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The game will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The last time a MLB game was played here was an exhibition game in 1914 featuring the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants. Major League Baseball signed a $13 million deal to have the first season opener in Australia. By doing so they are passing up more money and a larger baseball market in Japan, a location that has frequently been used for the Opening Series.
This is all a part of MLB's initiative to push for more local enthusiasm for baseball in Australia. Four years ago, Major League Baseball bought a 75 percent stake in the Australian Baseball League (ABL). With Australia hosting the Opening Series, this is the first step in the process of marketing and promoting baseball in Australia. Major League Baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig recently was quoted as saying "the globalization of our game continues to be paramount to Major League Baseball, and Australia is an essential part our long-term efforts to grow the sport." (The Australian) Just by looking at MLB.com and the amount of jobs it offers with the ABL, it becomes evident that they are pushing for baseball in Australia. This untapped market offers a lot to the MLB in return as they provide a new area to grow the sport of baseball. Unlike other baseball dominant areas like Asia and the Caribbean, they lack established baseball academies. The ABL also provides minor league baseball players a chance to continue their craft as the season occurs from November to January. Many minor league players will go overseas and continue to get better during the winter months by playing in the ABL. Over the years, over 30 Major League players have come from Australia; most famously, Grant Balfour, the new closer for the Tampa Bay Rays. Major League Baseball will look to explore this new territory and market baseball in Australia in order to develop new talent in the hopes of players from Australia coming to play baseball professionally in the MLB.
This growth in baseball in Australia will create globalization for the game. Providing the MLB with new talent, fans, jobs, and revenue. The MLB is already a trillion dollar industry that could now help benefit the economy and the sport of baseball in Australia as well. New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell believes that their marketing and promotional efforts will pay off as "it is estimated that the matches will deliver a direct visitor impact of more than $13 million for the local economy." (International Business Times) The games will also be broadcast live in the US on ESPN. This will serve as a national stage promotion of what Australia has to offer and should increase tourism. It also will put a major sport on display for locals, which should in turn increase local enthusiasm for the game of baseball. The main reason the MLB choose Australia to host the Opening Series was to reestablish the sport of baseball in Australia. They will try to gain new fans and talent after their efforts to resurrect the ABL in 2010 were successful. The impact from the Opening Series along with the revenue generated from ticket sales and TV revenues will help provide the league with new facilities and the chance for continued expansion.
This pertains to this course because it shows what the end result of marketing and promotional efforts can be. It also sheds light on how smaller leagues and corporations grow to establish themselves as entities. I believe thanks to Major League Baseball’s dedication to this effort that baseball in Australia can be sustainable. I would even go as far as saying that it could rival Triple-A baseball, and the Caribbean Series for number of fans and TV revenues.
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