However, Crane noted the campaign wouldn’t have been possible without MiLB’s centralized approach. MiLB’s central office, he said, has been integral in coordinating the execution of “the absurd amount of assets and activations we delivered to them.” Collaboration between the Oatly team and MiLB helped the brand maintain its marketing standard while helping the league ensure its needs and those of its teams were being met.
“The central control that we have and the clubs’ support of the central national initiatives [mean] we can go out create a theme, create a new alternate identity and incorporate a brand in a thoughtful way,” Brett said. “We’ve been able to find success, and I think it’s a playbook now that we’re starting to run with.”
Waiting your pitch
T-Mobile has been an MLB sponsor since 2013, but the five-year extension it signed with the league in 2023 made it one of the newest national supporters of MiLB as well.
Through that new deal, T-Mobile now has its magenta branding in 96 of MiLB’s 120 stadiums—including cameras on some of the nation’s best ballpark bat dogs—and has sent local marketing teams to activations at many of those same stadiums. Throughout the summer, T-Mobile is also sponsoring the Music on the Diamond series that brings artists including Miranda Lambert and Thomas Rhett to minor-league parks in Altoona, Pa.; Midland, Texas; Pearl, Miss.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Fresno, Calif.
Amy Azzi, senior director of sports marketing at T-Mobile, noted that the brand had done local partnerships with Minor League Baseball teams individually under the old system but saw a chance to reach new fans in coveted territories once the minors became part of T-Mobile’s MLB agreement.
“Our network has seen significant growth over the years, making this a natural evolution that aligns with our connectivity to customers in small towns and rural communities,” Azzi said. “We cover more than 330 million people across the country, and Minor League Baseball leans into some of these smaller communities, which is such a wonderful opportunity.”
MLB has also tested its automated ball-strike (ABS) system featuring T-Mobile’s 5G mobile network during MiLB games. When prospects, including the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Druw Jones and the Washington Nationals’ Dylan Crews, played in the Futures Game during All-Star Week, that T-Mobile-powered balls-and-strikes technology followed them to Arlington.
