It’s been a banner year for the sport long known as America’s favorite pastime, as virtually all signs indicate that Major League Baseball is in the midst of a thrilling evolution that’s hitting home runs by a host of measures. New rules introduced this season aimed at improving pace of play and heightening action on the field–led by the pitch clock–have yielded huge dividends.
- MLB teams’ sponsorship revenue surged 23% to more than $1.5B, driven by 500 new sponsorships spanning 30 categories
- Beer no longer dominates MLB’s alcohol sponsorship market, slipping 10% to a 45% deal share this season
- MLB's transition to dynamic digital dugout signage—bought by 67 brands this season, making it the league’s most purchased new asset of 2023
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Methodology:
This report, jointly authored by SponsorUnited's Marketing Research & Insights and Marketing Department, presents an extensive analysis encompassing more than 805 brands, 3,500 sponsorship deals, and 13,500 sponsorship assets involving the MLB league, teams, athletes, and brands. The data used in this report is obtained from SponsorUnited's proprietary platform and covers the period from January 1, 2019, through September 30, 2023.
Social media data is obtained from branded posts on the MLB league account and the accounts of the 30 MLB teams across Instagram, TikTok, X, and Facebook from February 1, 2023, to September 26, 2023. Athlete endorsements are tracked through active brand campaigns and activations in the past 12 months.
About SponsorUnited:
Launched in 2018, SponsorUnited is the leading global sports and entertainment intelligence platform, delivering actionable data and insights to build stronger marketing partnerships. We provide unrivaled knowledge across the sponsorship and media landscape so our clients can make impactful decisions that drive business.
With over 250,000 brands, 1.1 million deals, and 10 million data points across sports, entertainment, media, and talent, our SaaS database enables brands, rights holders, and agencies to partner more effectively. By delivering real-time trends, on-demand research, and the most comprehensive data available, we connect the entire sponsorship ecosystem and are rewriting the partnership playbook.
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It's been a banner year for the sport long known as America's favorite pastime, as virtually all signs indicate that Major League Baseball is in the midst of a thrilling evolution that's hitting home runs by a host of measures. New rules introduced this season aimed at improving pace of play and heightening action on the field–led by the pitch clock–have yielded huge dividends. As 2023 games averaged 24 minutes less than last year–and their shortest length since 1984–MLB attendance increased 9.6% to 70.75 million, rebounding to its highest level since 2017, and the greatest year-over-year increase at the gate since 1993 (not including Covid-impacted seasons).
Fittingly, the postseason is also surprising and delighting baseball fans. While large-market teams didn't make the cut, five teams—Arizona, Baltimore, Miami, Minnesota, and Texas—are back after multiyear absences, contributing to the most diversely competitive tournament in recent memory.
All of these developments spelled great news for teams and sponsors alike. Team sponsorship revenue surged 23% as an astounding 500 new brands entered the league. Against this backdrop, the ongoing migration toward all things digital continued unabated, as dugout digital signage made waves as MLB's most purchased new asset this season–one of nearly 25 to debut this year—while digital innovations keep transforming the sponsorship landscape and present a dazzling new world of marketing possibilities for brands.
And as players like reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani ascend to the rarefied ranks of wildly marketable pro sports superstars like Lebron James and Joe Burrow, a new crop of standout talents including Julio Rodriguez, Elly de la Cruz, and Corbin Carroll are leveraging both their prodigious talents and exploding social followings to rapidly build their brands both on and off the field.
For all these reasons and more, we're excited to unveil our 2023 MLB Marketing Partnerships Report. Jointly authored by SponsorUnited's Marketing Research & Insights and Marketing departments, it encompasses more than 805 brands, 3,500 sponsorship deals, and over 13,500 sponsorship assets from January 2019 through September 2023.
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