Twitter's Impact on Major League Baseball

An analysis of Twitter’s impact on Major League Baseball

Chelsee Moe | Brett Mellon | Chase Holmes | Jordan Bruce | Amanda Bercovitch

Twitter Statistics• Over 650 Million users

• Over 140,000 new users per day

• Over 58 Million Tweets per day

• Over 115 Million monthly users

• 40% of users do not tweet

• 2013 advertising revenue: $405,000,000

Statistics provided by eMarketer

Key Content Creators• Celebrities• Musicians• News Sources• Politicians• Humor Accounts• Fun Facts• Brands• Miscellaneous • Sports teams

Twitter in Sports• Live sports, live tweeting

• Allows out-of-market fans to join in on the conversation

• Player accounts create more “personal” relationships

• League accounts can use large following to increase interest in certain teams (small market)

• Mobile users very active while attending games

Top Sports Twitter Accounts

MLB Twitter Accounts• MLB +30 Team Accounts• Over 11 Million total followers• Over 100,000 Tweets

Different Types of Posts• In-Game updates

• Tickets

• Promotional/Sponsorship

• Photos

• Retweet player accounts

• Fan InitiativesSocial Initiatives Handouts*

Effectiveness• Different from traditional advertising

• Less direct revenue, increased qualitative value

• Retweets and engagement increase reach

• New look at CPM model, CPE introduced

• Tracking and aggregation #works

Effectiveness Handouts*

Group Tweet Example

• Low activity Twitter users, below average followings• Still over 400 impressions• Followers more likely to have similar interests

The Impact of a Popular Tweet• Average Twitter user

has 208 followers

• Users who Retweet have a much higher average

• Many Tweets getting over 1 Million natural impressions, high engagement

Correlation to eSociety 211• “Prior to the Internet, when we talked about media, we

were talking about two different things: broadcast media and communication media. Broadcast media was like a megaphone, amplifying a one-way message from one sender to many receivers” (Shirky 86)

• Cost effective for advertisers

• Better user experience for consumers/viewers

Traditional Advertising• Print Ads• Billboards• Radio• Television• Product Placement

Twitter “Advertising”• Campaigns that have organic appeal• Brand association• Indirect, less invasive

Analysis• More impact than traditional advertising

• Abstract value, qualitative and quantitative impact

• Personal impact meets high volume advertising

• Allows for niche branding and sponsorship

• High growth rate

“Now that’s good TW”

Why Twitter?• Efficient tracking and research

• Data Analytics

• Aggregation

• #Hashtags

• Immediate feedback

• Click through ratios, more in depth metrics via Twitter HQ

Using Feedback to Create Content

Exquisite Corpse: painting a clear picture via Twitter

• Use tags, key words, to track conversation in real-time

• Understand the different ways in which fans engage

• Organize posts by genre, effectiveness, revenue

MLB’s SM Future• Extremely high growth

• Average over 250,000 new users per month (full year)

• Exclusive sponsorship, avoid over advertising

• Strengthen cross-league relationships, player loyalty

• Maintain team loyalty while increasing viewership

Social Growth Handouts*

Conclusion• Engagement

• Efficiency

• Exponential growth

• Avoid over advertising

• Maintain tradition through innovation

Thank You

Chelsee Moe | Brett Mellon | Chase Holmes | Jordan Bruce | Amanda Bercovitch