Major League Baseball’s latest move to grow its fan experience, as reported by Todd Spangler, is an agreement with Snapchat to launch what it calls “MLB Wednesdays,” a weekly series of baseball stories made up from MLB and fan clips or “Snaps.”
The “Our Story” feature by Snapchat was launched in June 2014. The way the app works is it collects user Snaps from major events and then pieces them together to create a narrative. Professional organizations such as the NFL, NBA and NHL have used Snapchat to post stories, but MLB is the first to provide regularly scheduled content. And, unlike regular Snapchat messages that disappear ten seconds after they are viewed, Snapchatters will be able to view the MLB series post for 24 hours.
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Each week of the regular baseball season, highlights and other content from three to five high profile matchups will be featured in the MLB series. Fans that use Snapchat can become part of the series by sharing their experiences at a live game which will be captured via a curated feed. Also on deck to provide material for the weekly series will be a team of MLB “real-time correspondents” also known as the “social media squad,” who will be present at all of the games. The completed story will consist of live game and fan action.
The deal between Snapchat and MLB has been in the works since early last year, and debuted at spring training in February 2014, according to Spangler’s report for Variety. All 30 MLB teams have Snapchat accounts. By cutting deals with professional sports leagues, Snapchat will gain opportunities for sponsorship of its Stories app, as well as continue to establish itself as a legitimate platform for branded content.
Snapchatters can view “MLB Wednesdays” under the “live” heading of the Snapchat Stories screen. The first story in the “MLB Wednesdays” series was posted during Wednesday’s Washington Nationals vs. Arizona Diamondbacks game.