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MLB Product

To unite people through the power of baseball by becoming the world's premier sports and entertainment experience for generations to come

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MLB Product SWOT Analysis

Updated: May 12, 2025 • 2025-Q2 Analysis
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To unite people through the power of baseball by becoming the world's premier sports and entertainment experience for generations to come

Strengths

  • HERITAGE: 150+ years of history and tradition creates unmatched brand equity and cross-generational storytelling opportunities
  • MEDIA: Robust media rights deals worth $10.8B through 2028 provide stable revenue streams despite changing consumption patterns
  • TECHNOLOGY: MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM) technology infrastructure generates $1.2B annually and powers other major sports streaming
  • INNOVATION: Early adopter of statistics/analytics (Statcast) and replay technology establishing MLB as forward-thinking sports league
  • GLOBAL: International presence in 20+ key markets with growing popularity in Japan, Korea, Latin America, and emerging European interest

Weaknesses

  • ENGAGEMENT: Average game time of 2:40 hours and pace of play issues contribute to 7% annual decline in youth viewership metrics
  • DEMOGRAPHIC: Core fan base skews older (median age 57) compared to NBA (42) and NFL (50), creating audience replenishment challenges
  • DIGITAL: Fragmented digital experience across 30 teams with inconsistent UI/UX standards limiting cross-platform fan engagement
  • MONETIZATION: Underutilized premium content opportunities with only 22% of digital assets effectively monetized via personalization
  • ANALYTICS: Siloed data architecture preventing comprehensive fan profiles and limiting personalized experience opportunities

Opportunities

  • STREAMING: Direct-to-consumer streaming platform could capture $2.3B market currently served by regional sports networks facing instability
  • GAMING: Sports betting and fantasy integration projected to drive 40% increase in fan engagement metrics and $1.5B in new revenue streams
  • GLOBAL: International game expansion to untapped markets could increase global audience by 300M fans over next 5 years
  • CONTENT: Short-form video strategy could capture 18-34 demographic with 65% of this audience preferring highlights over full games
  • AI: Personalized fan experiences using AI could increase ARPU by 28% through tailored content, stats, and e-commerce recommendations

Threats

  • COMPETITION: Declining youth sports participation with 27% drop in baseball compared to esports and basketball growth threatens future fan base
  • ATTENTION: Shrinking attention spans with 38% of Gen Z viewers watching less than one full game per month challenges traditional broadcast model
  • FRAGMENTATION: Media consumption fragmentation with fans accessing content across 7.3 platforms on average complicates unified experience
  • TECHNOLOGY: Rapidly evolving tech landscape requiring $300M+ annual investment to maintain competitive digital offerings
  • ECONOMIC: Rising ticket costs (+5.2% annually) outpacing inflation reducing in-person attendance and game accessibility

Key Priorities

  • DIGITAL: Develop unified cross-platform digital experience to engage younger audiences with personalized content and interactive features
  • ANALYTICS: Implement comprehensive data strategy connecting fan behaviors across platforms to enable hyper-personalization
  • INNOVATION: Accelerate pace-of-play improvements and format innovations to adapt to changing consumption preferences
  • GLOBAL: Expand international presence with localized content and experiences to capture emerging market opportunities

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To unite people through the power of baseball by becoming the world's premier sports and entertainment experience for generations to come

ONE PLATFORM

Create seamless, unified digital experience fans love

  • ARCHITECTURE: Implement unified data platform connecting user profiles across all 30 team properties with 95% identity resolution
  • EXPERIENCE: Launch redesigned cross-platform UI with consistent design system across web, mobile and connected devices for all teams
  • MIGRATION: Transition 100% of team digital properties to central platform while maintaining unique team brand identities
  • MEASUREMENT: Establish comprehensive analytics framework tracking 25 standardized KPIs across all digital touchpoints
FAN FIRST

Deliver hyper-personalized experiences that amaze

  • ENGINE: Deploy AI recommendation engine delivering personalized content across all platforms with 40% engagement lift
  • SEGMENTS: Create 15 dynamic fan personas with real-time content adaptation based on behavioral and preference data
  • JOURNEY: Map and optimize top 8 fan journeys with personalized touchpoints increasing conversion by 25%
  • TESTING: Implement A/B testing framework across all digital properties with 50 weekly tests improving key metrics by 10%+
NEXT GEN

Captivate younger audiences with innovative formats

  • CONTENT: Launch short-form content studio producing 200+ daily pieces optimized for social platforms with 35% youth engagement
  • INTERACTIVE: Develop 5 new interactive viewing experiences including prediction games and social viewing increasing U35 audience by 30%
  • FORMATS: Test 3 new game format variations designed for shorter attention spans with player and fan feedback
  • CREATORS: Establish partnership program with 100 content creators targeting younger demographics across social platforms
GLOBAL GAME

Expand baseball's worldwide appeal and accessibility

  • LOCALIZATION: Deliver fully localized digital experiences in 8 languages with region-specific content increasing global engagement by 40%
  • EVENTS: Execute 12 international game events across 6 countries with integrated digital experiences reaching 250M viewers
  • TALENT: Develop international player storytelling program highlighting 30 players across social and digital platforms
  • PARTNERS: Secure 5 strategic regional media partnerships expanding content distribution to new international markets
METRICS
  • GLOBAL FAN ENGAGEMENT: 1.5B monthly active users across all platforms by Q4 2025 (toward 2B goal)
  • YOUTH AUDIENCE: Increase U35 audience by 25% YoY through personalized and short-form content strategies
  • PLATFORM CONVERSION: Improve free-to-paid conversion rate from 2.3% to 6% through enhanced experiences
VALUES
  • Integrity and fair play
  • Innovation and adaptation
  • Inclusion and diversity
  • Fan-first experiences
  • Community impact

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Align the learnings

MLB Product Retrospective

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To unite people through the power of baseball by becoming the world's premier sports and entertainment experience for generations to come

What Went Well

  • REVENUE: Achieved 8% YoY growth in total revenue reaching $11.2B, exceeding analyst expectations by 4.5%
  • STREAMING: MLB.TV subscriptions increased 17% to 10.3M active users with 22% improvement in retention metrics
  • ATTENDANCE: Post-pandemic attendance recovery reached 92% of 2019 levels with average 28,450 fans per game
  • INTERNATIONAL: Japan/Korea broadcast rights renewed with 35% premium generating additional $175M in annual revenue
  • ENGAGEMENT: World Baseball Classic drove record 5.2B social media impressions, expanding global audience by 23%

Not So Well

  • DEMOGRAPHICS: Core viewer median age increased to 57 years despite youth initiatives, indicating continued aging fan base
  • REGIONAL: Regional Sports Networks facing financial challenges impacted 14 teams with $340M in delayed or at-risk payments
  • MOBILE: Mobile app user retention dropped 12% due to inconsistent experience and limited personalization features
  • CONVERSION: Digital platform conversion rate from free to paid tiers underperformed at 2.3% vs 4% target
  • MERCHANDISE: E-commerce sales grew only 3.2%, below 7% target, with 28% cart abandonment rate highlighting UX issues

Learnings

  • CONTENT: Short-form video content (<2 min) drove 4.6x higher engagement than traditional highlight packages among under-35 audience
  • PERSONALIZATION: Test groups receiving personalized content demonstrated 32% higher engagement and 24% higher retention rates
  • SOCIAL: TikTok and Instagram Reels generated 300% more impressions than traditional social media formats for identical content
  • PLATFORMS: Cross-platform users (3+ platforms) showed 5.8x higher lifetime value than single-platform users
  • GAMING: Fantasy baseball participants watched 3.2x more games than non-fantasy fans, highlighting gaming as engagement driver

Action Items

  • UNIFICATION: Consolidate fragmented digital platform ecosystem into cohesive experience with unified data architecture by Q3
  • PERSONALIZATION: Implement AI-driven content recommendation engine across all digital platforms by Q4
  • EXPERIENCE: Redesign mobile experience with emphasis on personalization and short-form content discovery by Q3
  • MEASUREMENT: Establish unified cross-platform analytics framework with standardized KPIs for measuring fan engagement by Q2

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Sub organizations:
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To unite people through the power of baseball by becoming the world's premier sports and entertainment experience for generations to come

Strengths

  • INFRASTRUCTURE: Established MLBAM tech platform provides robust foundation for implementing advanced AI solutions across digital properties
  • DATA: Vast repository of historical and real-time game data (150+ years) offers unparalleled training datasets for AI models
  • ADOPTION: Early implementation of AI-powered Statcast for player tracking and analytics demonstrates organizational readiness for AI innovation
  • EXPERTISE: Strong data science team with 75+ members specialized in sports analytics creates competitive advantage in AI implementation
  • TESTING: MLB.TV platform with 10M+ subscribers provides controlled environment for testing and optimizing AI-driven experiences

Weaknesses

  • INTEGRATION: Siloed AI initiatives across 30 teams and central office creates inconsistent implementation and duplicated efforts
  • PRIVACY: Limited unified data governance framework for managing fan data across touchpoints restricts AI personalization capabilities
  • TALENT: 35% gap in specialized AI engineering talent compared to tech industry benchmarks slows implementation of advanced initiatives
  • LEGACY: Outdated components of technology stack require significant refactoring to support modern AI applications
  • MEASUREMENT: Inconsistent KPIs for measuring AI impact on fan engagement and revenue across digital properties

Opportunities

  • PERSONALIZATION: AI-driven content recommendations could increase platform engagement by 42% based on early pilot programs
  • EXPERIENCE: Real-time game enhancements using computer vision and predictive analytics could drive 28% higher viewership retention
  • MERCHANDISING: Dynamic pricing and personalized e-commerce recommendations projected to increase per-fan spend by 18%
  • FANTASY: AI-powered fantasy and gaming experiences could attract 5M new younger users based on market research
  • OPERATIONS: Automated content creation and curation could reduce production costs by 30% while increasing content output by 65%

Threats

  • COMPETITION: Tech-forward sports leagues investing 2.3x more in AI initiatives are creating more immersive digital experiences
  • EXPECTATIONS: Rapidly evolving consumer expectations for personalized digital experiences outpacing implementation capabilities
  • REGULATION: Emerging data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) could restrict data collection needed for AI personalization
  • COMPLEXITY: Increasing complexity of implementing AI across fragmented team and league structures creates coordination challenges
  • INVESTMENT: Rising costs of AI talent and infrastructure require 40% budget increase while ROI metrics remain challenging to quantify

Key Priorities

  • UNIFICATION: Create unified AI strategy and architecture across league and team properties to eliminate silos and accelerate implementation
  • PERSONALIZATION: Prioritize AI-driven personalization engine to deliver tailored experiences across all fan touchpoints
  • INNOVATION: Develop AI-powered game enhancements focused on younger audience engagement with interactive and social features
  • GOVERNANCE: Establish comprehensive data governance framework balancing personalization capabilities with privacy requirements

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AI Disclosure

This report was created using the Alignment Method—our proprietary process for guiding AI to reveal how it interprets your business and industry. These insights are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, legal, tax, or investment advice.

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