It’s a well-known fact that baseball is indeed America’s favorite pastime. And while it’s true that there is no shortage of people looking to bet on baseball, there’s also no denying that the majority of people have slowly been losing interest in Major League Baseball, particularly the younger demographics.
For quite some time now, online MLB betting sites have been reporting on the lack of interest on behalf of the US’s youngest citizens for the MLB. It’s safe to say that it’s no sportsbook secret and the league has certainly taken notice and has begun to implement strategies to get younger audiences invested in the historic sport.
In fact, the latest sportsbook headlines show that the MLB is prepared to adopt some unorthodox tactics in their plight to reach out to younger citizens. Specifically, Major League Baseball is headed to HBO.
“We’ve had a longstanding partnership with HBO” MLB’s EVP of Business, Noah Garden informs the nation. “This was something we could do on a much larger scale with a partner we’re much closer to.”
Garden’s comments are in reference to the fact that HBO Now’s streaming service is run by MLB’s BAMTech technology platform. This helped strengthen the relationship between the two countries, and ultimately motivated the MLB to choose HBO over other potential partners like Disney or Marvel.
Most online MLB betting fans probably caught the smaller promotions Disney and Marvel ran with some individual teams, the league felt that this project was of a much grander scale and required a deep, knowing, and trusting relationship.
HBO has still not released the official inaugural date for Season 7, but it is expected to be released sometime this summer. Furthermore, neither the HBO nor the MLB have shed too many details on what kind of promotions sportsbook players can expect, but it is known that it will include “development of collectible and co-branded merchandise, ticket packages, giveaways, theme nights, and social media events.” Also, the promos are expected to vary slightly between teams.
According to Garden, fans can look forward to “a tremendous amount of tie-ins, not to mention what’s going to happen locally with each club.”
Both parties have refrained from making any specific financial arrangements public, but it is known that both the MLB and HBO will split the revenue from the promotions.
The promotions are not scheduled to take place during the MLB All-Star sportsbook Game, but they will be crossing over into apps and other digital properties that the MLB owns. The MLB is hoping that the timing of GoT episodes, which are released in the middle of the baseball season, will help this deal become successful. At the end of the day, Games of Thrones has a huge millennial audience, which is just the demographic the MLB is looking to hit.
These types of promotions are a clear indicator that we are entering a new age of technology, entertainment, and online MLB betting. No longer will tuning into watch a TV show be considered a waste of time. Rather, fans of the tube can now get in on some lucrative deals simply by tuning in.
