Looking to stay ahead of the game, MLB has expanded its partnership with Adobe so the league and its 30 individual clubs can quickly create targeted marketing campaigns at scale. Key to the strategy is using automation for data-supported fan engagement approaches that better match how fans enjoy sports in an era of social media, streaming and artificial intelligence.
The new capabilities will begin rolling out this season. Going forward, MLB teams will be able to use the disparate information they have about fans, such as someone who attended a game for a specific promotion over several seasons, to develop targeted campaigns. A fan who has attended Star Wars Day over the past three years can receive an email with art featuring Grogu (aka Baby Yoda). A different fan who has demonstrated loyalty to a particular visiting player can be targeted with a text highlighting that player for an upcoming game.
“We've gotten to a point now where data and the ability to create different [audience] segments is not necessarily the block it had been in the past,” said Kasia Danilczuk, director of product for MLB's enterprise Fan Data Platform. “Now, it's creating the content and the creative elements, and figuring out how to pair that with all of those data elements to make sure that we are delivering the right content to our fans.”
The new partnership builds on a 2021 deal that was largely focused on data refinement. The new deal includes greater access to Adobe’s performance marketing tool GenStudio, creative management tool Firefly Services and Adobe’s LLM Optimizer, a tool designed to increase brand visibility in AI-powered search responses.
Fans are more interactive
Social media and AI have changed how fans enjoy professional sports. No longer relegated to rooting only for the home team or catching highlights on SportsCenter, fans are creating their own rules for engagement, such as making their own fan reels, scouting promotions and seeking information through AI-powered generative search.
“The way people are engaging with sports now moves beyond just watching the game, said Rachel Thornton, CMO at Adobe Enterprise. “It's a much more interactive experience than it ever has been.”
The advanced messaging the MLB is developing is made possible by Adobe’s Firefly Services and Custom Models, which will provide already overstretched marketing teams across the league with access to approved assets and generative tools to streamline campaign creation and approvals, Danilczuk said. The league views the tools as “an assistive layer” for its clubs’ marketing and product teams to speed their processes, so they can focus on business and engagement building programs.
“We want to get to a place where we can fully leverage the automation, so our clubs can focus on much more strategic initiatives about how to communicate with our fans,” Danilczuk said. “They can then take a step back and strategically look at the types of engagement programs and experiences that drive revenue the most.”
Further down the line, MLB will use Adobe’s tools to provide assets for fan use, Thornton said. As social media has become the primary channel for fan engagement — both fan-to-fan and fan-to-team — the league is looking for ways to support this initiative. Case in point: MLB recently launched a partnership with TikTok to drive global discovery and engagement through exclusive content and deeper interaction with MLB players and properties.
Beyond improving creative development and advanced targeting, MLB is looking to Adobe to keep up in an AI-driven world. Using Adobe’s LLM Optimizer, the league and its teams will be better able to understand how they are reflected in AI-driven search results, particularly as fans use the generative tools to find tickets, learn about their teams or get insights into the overall fan experience.
“As a marketer now, you have to think about all of the different ways that content about your brand shows up [on AI platforms], and how you can influence it, impact it and make sure you’re showing up well and the content it is providing is relevant,” Thornton said. “What you really don’t want is having bad content or bad information that’s several months old, and, because you haven’t done anything to counter, that’s what’s being surfaced.”
With all of these new tools, MLB is trying to stay relevant with fans as the world is changing.
“We want to make sure that we’re at the forefront of these really cool technological advances that have been moving so fast over the past few years, while ensuring we have the ability to affect how those technologies reach our fans,” Danilczuk said.
