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.
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.
MLB.com Captures Multiple Awards for its Mobile Technology Offerings
MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, was a multiple-category winner for its mobile technology offerings at the annual MOBI Awards, garnering top honors for Best Mobile Video and Best iPad Branded App. The awards were presented on Monday night during ceremonies hosted at the W Hotel in New York.
At Bat 2010, MLB.com’s industry-leading mobile application, won for Best Mobile Video. The application offers subscribers on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad access to their MLB.TV subscriptions to watch the live home and away broadcast feeds for every out-of-market regular season game and get access to an array of enhanced features such as statistical overlays and controls to pause or rewind live game action. At Bat 2010 also offers the At Bat.TV Free Game of the Day, subject to blackout restrictions.
At Bat 2010 for iPad, the most recent addition to MLB.com’s lineup of At Bat mobile applications, was named Best iPad Branded App. Launched in April 2010, At Bat 2010 for iPad introduced baseball fans to a live game simulation designed exclusively for the device’s larger and more powerful multi-touch screen. Subscribers can customize their in-game experience with access to live home and away radio broadcasts, video highlights, and detailed box scores, game summaries and player cards.
MLB.com’s mobile web site, wap.mlb.com, earned finalist honors in the category of Best Mobile Website. The MOBI Awards, presented by DIGIDAY, recognize overall excellence and breakthrough achievement in mobile media, marketing and advertising.
MLB.com At Bat 2010 is available from the App Store on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
Fans with visual impairments gain enhanced access to MLB.com
Baseball fans with visual impairments will benefit from the implementation of functional improvements to MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, and all 30 individual Club sites as a result of a joint collaboration between MLB Advanced Media, LP (MLBAM), the American Council of the Blind, Bay State Council of the Blind and California Council of the Blind. All three organizations applaud this fan initiative taken by MLBAM.
“MLBAM has undertaken groundbreaking work to make its web sites accessible and has assumed a strong leadership position among sports, media and entertainment properties in doing so,” said Mitch Pomerantz, President of the American Council of the Blind. “We certainly urge similar sites to make this level of commitment in following MLBAM’s lead.”
As part of its initiative, MLB.com launched an accessible media center for its MLB.com Gameday Audio(TM) subscribers, offering features such as volume control, ability to choose the home or away feed and access to archived games. Additionally, MLB.com has ensured that fans with visual impairments can continue to participate in the annual online voting programs associated with the All-Star Game and will be providing an accessibility page on its site detailing information on accessibility, usability tips and customer service resources. As it continues to deliver technological innovations for following baseball games, MLB.com will make additional accessibility enhancements available to fans with visual impairments.
Brian Charlson, a Boston baseball fan and Director of Computer Training Services at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts, described how MLB.com’s accessibility efforts have improved his enjoyment of the game: “As a member of the blind community, the kind of changes MLB.com was willing to make on its web sites keeps me coming back for more. It shows how much can be done when people with disabilities find willing partners. For example, with the changes in Gameday Audio, I find myself enjoying switching back and forth between the home and away broadcasters the same way my sighted friends do. And knowing my votes were counted in this year’s All-Star balloting made listening to the game much more meaningful. I’m excited about what MLB.com has done and about its commitment to further improvements.”
MLB.com utilized guidelines issued by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The web content accessibility guidelines are of particular benefit to blind baseball fans who use a screen reader, through which information on a page is read aloud, or magnification technology on their computers and who rely on a keyboard instead of a mouse.
Source: MLB.com