NEW YORK (AP) – Major League Baseball goes from Let the Kids Play to Let the Kids Post.
In a pitch aimed at gaining traction with Generation Z fans, MLB announced Thursday that it was launching a campaign on TikTok to identify between five and ten would-be content creators in order to admit MLB brand ambassador status gain a paid position by the end of the 2021 season.
The influencers – a group the MLB calls the “Creator Class” – will work with the league and gain access during matches to create content that will highlight players on and off the field. You will be paid via TikTok mail until the end of the World Series.
The competition, slated to begin Thursday, is MLB’s latest offering to better market itself to younger audiences.
A 2017 study by the Sports Business Journal found that the average age of MLB viewers was 57, and a Morning Consult survey last year found that only 32% of Generation Z respondents – those born between 1997 and 2015 were – described themselves as at least “casual”. MLB fan, compared with 50% for all adults.
The MLB’s marketing department has launched several initiatives for younger fans in recent years, including perhaps the “Let The Kids Play” advertising campaign, in which the league drew attention to the “unwritten rules” of the game passed down by older generations.
Subsequent advertising campaigns were similarly player-oriented – as opposed to team-oriented – and Gen-Z stars like Ronald Acuña Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Juan Soto were central characters.
These players are also featured frequently on MLB’s TikTok account, which has 2.9 million followers.
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