• by Tanya Gazdik , Yesterday

MLB Players Inc. is launching a new content platform designed to serve as the umbrella for original programming, talent, and brand partnerships across the players organization’s growing business initiatives.

MLB Players Studio has tapped content company Portal A to develop and produce a slate of original programming that will be distributed across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok via MLB Players and athlete-owned channels.

Portal A works with brands to create original social content. Its previous partnerships include Stephen Curry, Anthony Edwards, and Carmelo Anthony.

The launch marks a step in MLB Players’ expansion into content and creator-driven media. It aims to help facilitate partnerships between players and brands looking to tap into the global reach of baseball.

“The baseball’s players’ union has spent decades as a licensing machine,” according to The Drum. “Now it wants to be a studio.”

The slate from Players Studio will include a variety of original series concepts featuring MLB players and optimized for social distribution.

“Forget those cookie-cutter promo videos—here, MLB players show off their real personalities, from off-field passions to personal stories you’ve never heard before,” according to AlBat.com. “The secret sauce of MLB Players Studio? Players aren’t just in front of the camera—they’re executive producers and content advisors, too. That means every episode has that spontaneous, genuine flavor fans crave.”

MLB Players is the business arm of the Major League Baseball Players Association. The association is the collective bargaining representative for all professional baseball players of the 30 MLB teams. MLB Players serves as the exclusive group licensing agent for all commercial business interests and licensing activities involving active Major and Minor League Baseball players.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen our players take ownership over their story and their audience like never before,” said Evan Kaplan, president of MLB Players, Inc., in a release. “This move allows us to amplify what our players are already doing and take it to the next level, by creating opportunities for brands to use content across multiple player channels.”

MLB has already gone in heavily on a marketing relationship with major movie studios. 

“What do New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, San Diego Padres pitcher Mason Miller, MVP and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, and The Mandalorian’s Grogu have in common?” asks Adweek. “All four have been featured in MLB creative spots promoting the ongoing baseball season and this year’s slate of summer movies.”