My colleague Joe Lemire has the full breakdown of the MLB’s work with Microsoft on its recent Minecraft deployment, which was already the first pro sports league to partner with the gaming platform. Let’s dive in. — Ethan Joyce
In today’s edition of Power Up:
- MLB licenses new downloadable items for use in Minecraft
- LA28 signs data platform Snowflake to sponsorship
- ANC will handle LED upgrade portion of M&T Bank Stadium renovation
MLB licenses new downloadable items for use in Minecraft
MLB collaborated with Microsoft on new officially-licensed items to help gamers create their own baseball fan caves and stadiums in popular video game Minecraft. With the game drawing about 140 million monthly gamers, especially younger players, it’s an effort to meet that audience where it is already congregating.
More than 40 items are now available as downloadable content, many of which are customizable with the logo of the 30 MLB clubs, including pennants and wearable jerseys. There are chairs that look like baseball mitts, a rug adorned with a baseball diamond and even a working popcorn machine that makes food capable of replenishing a character’s health. There’s a workable scoreboard, too.
This new release is in addition to the existing MLB-backed Home Run Derby game -- making baseball the first pro sports league to partner with Minecraft -- that has existed since 2021 and was last updated in 2022 to include all 30 ballparks. Another update is expected this summer around the time of the All-Star Game. With the April release of “A Minecraft Movie,” several clubs have held promotional giveaways, including the Red Sox and Mets.
LA28 signs data platform Snowflake to sponsorship
LA28 has added its fifth new sponsor this year, signing Snowflake as its official data collaboration provider.
Powered by Snowflake’s AI data cloud, the sponsorship will allow Team USA to centralize information -- such as training data and health records -- as well as help LA28 in Games planning.
Snowflake will also be able to connect fan data and build profiles individually to create a personalized engagement with fans.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties -- the joint venture between LA28 and the USOPC -- has now announced official supporter deals with Snowflake, Saatva (official mattress and restorative sleep provider), Archer (air taxi) and Pennymac (mortgage) since March. The additions represent an acceleration of deals after signing six in all of 2024 but are at the lowest of USOPP’s top three tiers of sponsorship.
It also announced a second-tier deal with AECOM (official venue infrastructure partner) earlier this year.
ANC will handle LED upgrade portion of M&T Bank Stadium renovation
ANC is designing and installing nearly 12,000 square feet of new digital signage at M&T Bank Stadium over the next 18 months as the Ravens’ stadium undergoes a three-year, $489M renovation. The project is a reunion of sorts for ANC, which installed the original signage at the stadium when it opened in 1998 and provided integration, service and maintenance until 2010.
Most of this latest project will commence this summer and be completed before the 2025 NFL season. ANC’s contributions include updates to the main concourse’s LED signage, highlighted by a 216-foot video display at Gate A, fine-pitch signage in all field-level clubs, new signage for the Hospitality Village, plaza and gate displays, and replacement of more than a hundred TVs throughout the stadium with larger screens.
Following the 2025 season, a 2,300-square-foot transparent mesh LED display will be deployed across the facade of the stadium’s northwest plaza, while additional high-resolution displays will be added at other plazas and gates.