MLB.com Sets New Standards: Records Include 142 Million Page Views on April 20
MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, on April 20 drew the largest page view day in its history as fans visited 142.3 million pages. Overall during over the first 20 days of the season (March 31 – April 19), baseball fans have shattered traffic records at MLB.com and the 30 club sites, including daily averages of 7 million video streams delivered and 11.5 million visitors.
“We are gratified fans responded so favorably to the material changes we made this off-season across our web sites, mobile applications and live game products,” said Dinn Mann, Executive Vice President, Content, MLB.com. “As we do every season, we will continue to develop and deploy additional technology and content offerings to further daily fan engagement with the game.”
Among the traffic records established at MLB.com during the first days of the season (March 31 – April 19) include:
- Fans watched 7 million video streams per day during the season’s opening 20 days, including 1 million live video streams per day.
- MLB.com averaged 11.5 million visitors per day, representing an increase of 17 percent from 2010 (9.8 million), highlighted by its single-highest visited day ever in the month of April with 13 million visitors on Friday, April 8.
- MLB.com averaged 122 million page views per day, 48% higher than the comparable 2010 average, and reached 2 billion page views earlier than ever before.
- MLB.com’s mobile sites have totaled 992 million page views across all Internet-enabled devices, a 138% increase from the 2010 season’s first 20 days.
- At Bat 11, the #1 selling suite of mobile applications available on iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android and BlackBerry, has been accessed 35 million times since Opening Day, a daily average of 1.75 million accesses and a 115 percent increase over the 2010 comparable time period.
Spring Training Powerhouse Hitter, Michael Morse, Named #1 MLB “Rising Sports Star”
Brand Affinity Technology Ranks Baseball Stars with Greatest Preseason Popularity Gains as Season Opens
Washington Nationals’ left fielder Michael Morse has earned the top spot on Brand Affinity Technology’s monthly list of Rising Sports Stars. This special MLB-only edition of the list identifies baseball players with the most significant leaps in popularity during the preseason – athletes poised for greatness as the season starts. Morse turned heads with nine home runs during spring training, making him one of the most watched players as the regular season begins. His popularity increased a whopping 92% over the preseason, putting him at the top of the list of stars to watch in the month of April.
This month’s Rising Stars list is the youngest to date, with none of the athletes more than 25 years old. The top three spots on the list were rounded out by up-and-coming young pitchers Brett Anderson of the Oakland Athletics and Jeremy Hellickson of the Tampa Bay Rays. The full list and additional details are available at: www.brandaffinity.net/RisingStars/april2011.
Rising Sports Stars is distributed by Brand Affinity Technologies (BAT), a company that calculates daily consumer affinity based on a proprietary combination of media exposure, performance, awards, popularity, engagement, and fan base, among other indicators, for more than 45,000 athletes and celebrities. The list identifies sports stars with the greatest leaps in popularity, on a percentage basis. A meteoric rise may indicate a standout on-the-field performance, off-the-field achievement, or emergence from utility player to celebrity.
Washington, DC Tops List of Most Depressed Pro Baseball Cities, According to Data Compiled by Avvo
Oakland Crying Foul at #2, Followed by Baltimore, Seattle and Houston
Washington, DC, whose hometown Nationals have finished in last place in all but one year since relocating from Montreal in 2005, is the unhappiest pro baseball city, according to analysis by Avvo, which offers free ratings and profiles for 90 percent of licensed doctors and lawyers in the U.S. Interestingly enough, Baltimore, located about 40 miles north of the nation’s capital and home to the Orioles, who last won a World Series in 1983, is the third most depressed baseball city, with Oakland (Athletics) sandwiched between.
Batting cleanup in the lineup of brokenhearted baseball cities is Seattle, then Houston, San Diego, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago (Cubs fans), Pittsburgh, Denver, Los Angeles, New York (Mets fans), Tampa, Dallas, Kansas City, Detroit and Milwaukee.
“Baseball fans are incredibly passionate about their teams so it’s no surprise they suffer from bouts of depression and disappointment after a big loss or after the seemingly endless succession of losing seasons,” said Mark Britton, founder and CEO of Avvo.
Below is a list of the most depressed baseball cities (in order): Read more
MLB.com At Bat 11 is Here
Live Baseball Wherever You Go, Available Earlier Than Ever Before
#1 Grossing App returns with first live mobile streaming for Spring Training games in February
MLB.com At Bat, the top-selling, award-winning suite of mobile applications developed by MLB Advanced Media, is back for the 2011 season today and earlier than ever before will deliver a special free preview of MLB.TV live streaming video for At Bat 11 on Apple devices starting Saturday, February 26. At Bat 11, which is available now for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android and BlackBerry, also introduces a new favorite Club home screen customization functionality for select devices.
With Opening Day just five weeks away, At Bat 11 will deliver additional updates prior to the regular season, including brand new features, offers and functionalities.
Spring Training 2011
MLB.com At Bat 11 across each of these platforms offers the most comprehensive coverage of Grapefruit and Cactus League action with access to live Spring Training games, including every available radio feed and in progress statistical data. Among the At Bat 11 features available for Spring Training are:
- Customize home screen to feature a designated favorite team (iPhone, iPod touch, Android only).
- Watch live streaming of about 150 available Spring Training games with a special mobile free preview of MLB.TV (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad only).
- Listen to available radio broadcasts of Spring Training games
- Follow league-wide scoreboards and batter-by-batter action for every Spring Training game
- Enhanced video library archive, searchable by player or team
- Breaking news, schedules and interactive rosters and players stats for every team
- Full-season schedule calendars
MLB.com At Bat 11 is available to subscribers for a one-time fee of $14.99 for the entire 2011 season.
MLB.TV has served one billion live video streams since its inception
As one of the largest subscription video offerings on the Internet, MLB.TV has served one billion live video streams since its inception, 25% of which were delivered in 2010 alone. The 2011 season packages for MLB.TV are on sale now at MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball.
“Fans have continued to demonstrate, in record numbers, their desire to consume live baseball in the most convenient ways possible,” said Noah Garden, Executive Vice President, Revenue, MLB.com. “We remain committed to expanding MLB.TV for our subscribers by leveraging emerging technological platforms and partnerships that deliver a rich experience.”
In 2011, fans will be able to follow every game wherever they are with MLB.TV support across a variety of mobile and connected platforms, including iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices through the top-selling MLB.com At Bat apps for each and Sony PS3 and other connected devices. Additional platform offerings for MLB.TV live streaming will be announced as they become available.
Along with portability, this year’s product offers subscribers a host of cutting-edge features in the award-winning MLB.TV media player, delivering a dynamic live viewing experience for every out-of-market regular season game. Those include:
- HD Quality Picture – Speed detection technology delivers live high definition video at the industry standard of 720p on any size monitor.
- Home and Away Feeds – Watch either the home or away teams’ broadcasts.
- Alternate Audio Options – Overlay the home or away teams’ radio broadcasts over the live video or use the “Park” option to include the ballpark’s natural sounds.
- Live Game DVR Functionality – Pause and rewind or fast-forward live games.
- Clickable Linescores – Go directly to any at-bat or half-inning of a game.
- Multi-Game Viewing Options – Watch up to four games simultaneously.
- Picture-in-Picture – Choose one game and track another or watch in-game highlights simultaneously in a secondary window.
- Live Game Highlights – Real-time highlights and player stats automatically load into the media player. With one click, the clip instantly launches in a picture-in-picture window.
- Player Tracker – Customize a list to feature entire fantasy rosters and receive on-deck notifications to watch live at-bat look-ins for each player.
- Spring Training – Watch about 150 live games from Florida and Arizona.