Driving down the average age of baseball fans isn’t going to come just from shortening the length of games on TV. One of the newer ways MLB is tackling that issue through a partnership with Jomboy Media. The deal is in its first full season and includes an equity stake in Jomboy for MLB.
As Jomboy Media CEO Courtney Hirsch describes it, the company, which produces podcasts and YouTube shows, is a “creator-led sports media company” — and one MLB hopes will create new fans.
“We don’t target anyone,” Hirsch said, when asked what demos the company goes after. “It’s anyone that loves baseball or is interested in learning baseball that wants to have fun with us. Who resonates with our content the most is men 18-34. That’s our sweet spot.”
But there are a ton of content creators tied to the baseball ecosystem, so how does Jomboy Media stand out? “What makes us different is how we do it,” said Hirsch, whose brother Jimmy O’Brien is also a co-founder of Jomboy. “We’re a place for everyone. We are not Disney. We’re not PG-13, but where you wouldn’t describe us as hot takes and controversial and going for the joke for the sake of the joke. It’s a place where everyone can have fun while watching sports.”
Jomboy Media came out of the gate firing on Wednesday night, seeing its best “Opening Day” yet (and the first time it had an “Opening Night” effort). This includes the company’s first Opening Day pregame special, with Corona sponsoring a show using all 12 company creators (as well as some of Corona’s baseball ambassadors).
MLB’s help as an equity partner
Access to footage, new camera angles and archival footage is one way that the league has delivered on its side of the deal. “We are able to create content faster and also create content that does not exist in the marketplace today,” Hirsch said of the official partnership. “MLB does their thing. Their broadcasters do their thing with the content. What we’re doing is totally different.”
Access to jewel events is also part of the deal, and that included the WBC, where the 12 Jomboy Media creators created 11 shows. The company’s “Talkin’ Baseball,” its most popular show, also filmed a live episode from LoanDepot Park in Miami right after WBC games.
The tie to baseball has clearly helped the roster of sponsors as well, including a new one in Fanatics Sportsbook and Fanatics Markets (Jomboy Media was previously with DraftKings). Under Armour does apparel, with other sponsors being Corona, T-Mobile, Amazon and Apple (Jomboy Media is helping to promote “Friday Night Baseball” on Apple TV).
“My favorite thing about our brand partners is they understand us and want to be part of the community and the conversation, not just a very standard kind of commercial or logo slap,” Hirsch said. “A lot of it is very integrated placements.”