Students share Gen Z insights with Major League Baseball executives
By Travis McGuire
Engaging with younger audiences is a whole new ball game for professional sports leagues and franchises, and Generation Z is a key demographic for Major League Baseball.
To continue MLB’s goal of connecting with young people, league marketing executives invited Linfield students to participate in a panel discussion during the winter 2019 MLB Club Marketing Meetings in Portland.
Molly Danielson ’20, Elazar Konsker ’20, Brooke Snyder ’20, Amanda Reser ’21, Keaton Wood ’20 and Jacob Calo ’20 discussed their social media habits, how and if they watch sports broadcasts, where they read news, their video game use, their opinions about the stadium experience, and more during a 45-minute conversation moderated by Barbara McHugh, MLB’s senior vice president of marketing.
“Our marketing executives across the league gained honest, candid, genuine feedback from the students on how they consume content, what makes them interested in following a player or team or sport, and what they enjoy about a live sports experience,” McHugh said.
The six panelists are all student-athletes who study sport management. MLB wanted insights from a diverse set of sports fans, not just die-hard baseball fans, so the students fit the bill.
“I thought it was refreshing that they want to change and that they want to have us impact that change,” said Snyder, who plays softball.
The opportunity to speak to more than 100 league and team representatives came from an inquiry to MLB by Natalie Welch, assistant professor of business, who offered the students as volunteers to help out at the meetings.
McHugh instead suggested the students attend the event and share their perspective through a panel discussion during the final day of a three-day meeting at The Nines Hotel in Portland.
The audience asked students about their involvement in content creation at Linfield and how they purchase tickets.
“I loved seeing them share on stage and network afterwards,” said Welch, who was hired in August to teach sport management. “They have thoughtful insights on customization and the experience of attending games.”
McHugh also appreciated the students’ unfiltered opinions: “Any time you can get first-hand feedback from your target audience, it’s a win.”
