Photo by Thomas Levinson/MLB Photos
A social media junkie’s dream, and a job every baseball fan wishes they had!
In its third season of existence, the MLB Fan Cave has taken MLB’s social media presence to a whole other level. Over 25,000 baseball fans applied this year to become a Fan Cave Dweller and live for a season in the MLB Fan Cave on 4th and Broadway in the heart of New York City.
Fan Cave Dwellers have one goal: watch every baseball game throughout the entire MLB season and document their amazing lives as Cave Dwellers across many different social media channels. The cave dwellers blog, post videos, take photos through instagram, tweet and post to Facebook everything that goes on in the cave as well as add their own baseball commentary during the games. But being all over every social media channel is not what makes the MLB Fan Cave so successful – there are a few different elements that make this a brilliant social media strategy for MLB.
The MLB Fan Cave
Real People.
Unlike the celebrity sports journalists of ESPN and SportsCenter, the members of the Fan Cave could have been you, or your neighbor, or your buddy Kyle – they were ordinary people who had to compete with thousands of applicants to become cave dwellers. These people are baseball fans just like you or me who provide their own commentary and allow you access to their amazing lives as cave dwellers. The beauty of social media is the “social” aspect of it all – these 9 cave dwellers are entirely accessible and easy to interact with.
Reality TV at its Finest
Our society loves reality T.V.: American Idol, The Voice, Survivor, The Apprentice – we can’t get enough of these shows! What better way to appeal to our love of competition and un-scripted entertainment than to make it a competition to become a member of the Fan Cave? Not only did these nine cave dwellers have to compete just to be there – they could be voted out of the Fan Cave by MLB fans at some point during the season. By the end of the season, only one will remain as the 2013 MLB Fan Cave winner. If you’re not just in it for the celebrity appearances and the wealth of baseball content, you’re in it to see who will win. And just like American Idol or any other reality T.V. show – if you’re following these cave dwellers on social media, you’re likely to begin identifying a favorite and routing for them.
A Perfect Blend of Pop Culture & Baseball
A truly skilled social media person or brand knows how to interweave their messages with pop culture. They know just what their fans and followers like and they can incorporate that into their everyday content to add some flare and interest to their social media presence. Not only does the Fan Cave bring in the biggest names in MLB, they host concerts and bring in other celebrities to interact with the cave dwellers and fans. They’ve had performances by Nas, OneRepublic, The Fray, Ziggy Marley and many more big names. According to a post on MLB.com, since the Fan Cave’s first season, they’ve had more than 400 celebrity visitors including nearly 200 current MLB players.
Ultimate MLB Access
Aside from celebrity visitors and the hilarious videos they put together with MLB players, the Fan Cave has something even more powerful at their fingertips: MLB access. This is MLB – which means that there is a wealth of old photos, old scouting reports, videos and stats at their fingertips to share with fanatical baseball fans. The newest trend in Fan Cave posts has been sharing old scouting reports on the page. Their post of Derek Jeter’s scouting report has 998 shares, 3,876 likes and 204 comments (and those numbers keep going up)!
They’re Good at Social Media.
I just have to point out the obvious here, if the cave dwellers weren’t funny and interesting we wouldn’t follow them! Part of the reason they were chosen was their social media savviness and their personalities. Their ability to gain fans and followers, create engaging and interesting content, their social media personality and ability to engage fans, and amount of content they produce are all factors in the competition to be the last Fan Cave Dweller standing (or dwelling?).
You can find out more about the MLB Fan Cave on the website: MLBFanCave.com where you’ll find videos, blogs, photos and more! You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter @MLBFanCave, Instagram (MLBFanCave) and Google+. The cave dwellers also have their own Twitter and Instagram accounts, which you can find here.
If you’re already a fan, tell us who your favorite Fan Cave Dweller is by leaving a comment. Make sure to like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @SportsNetworker
We are discussing this right now at http://www.mlbboards.com
By some estimates, over 12000 attendees converged at the location to catch a glimpse of the latest in resort and swimwear collection. Besides, you can also avoid the rush of
people in choosing the best of trinkets at local shops and
unusual price bargains- one can easily get the attractively
unique fashion jewels at home at amazingly reasonable prices compared to the conventional
shops. You need not spend too much just to get the latest trendy clothes for the season.
The key is to add a pop of color in your footwear selection. They are what
is known as “kinesthetic” people and usually need something they can hold
onto and feel and possibly even try on. Rajpur Road, the hub of the
town has become the centre of all activities and in the last five years has seen immense growth.
A death mask, Ms Watson wrapmichael kors handbags
sale ,Cheap Oakley Sunglasses For Sale. Fake Oakleys,Cheap Michael Kors Sale,
Michael Kors Handbags Clearance,Fake Oakley Sunglasses For Sale.
That is very fascinating, You’re an excessively skilled blogger.
I’ve joined your feed and sit up for in the hunt for
extra of your fantastic post. Also, I have
shared your web site in my social networks
I’m the big fan of tank trouble pro because of simplicity.
Sorry for bad English, but I got totally lost on the fifth step, can you explain it more?
New here, I hope you are doing well, can anyone help me with community rules?
LOL, he said that he would give a try, like rly? Will you???
I admit it, I missed you so much and I’m really glad to see you after all these years.
Reality TV sure is a fine thing, very useful as well, especially nowadays.
You said they are good at social media, but what does that exactly mean? What one has to do in order to be good at social media?
I really don’t like reality shows, because there is nothing real in it. In most cases it is all fake and staged moments.
I always wondered how you determine if someone is good at social media, in terms of followers or what? 😀 So the more followers you have the better you are?
Do you guys think that aliens are really? That they are among us? Kind of spooky isn’t it?
Work is like school for grown-ups, we all hate it, but we can’t live without it.
Before reading this article I was sure that mixing Pop Culture & Baseball was impossible, now I’m a little bit more open-minded 😀
I’m trying to follow of their social media pages but some links seem dead, can you change them, please?
Hey, I wanted to know how do you get this so-called ‘Ultimate MLB Access’?
Until this, I had no idea that you could Blend Pop Culture & Baseball 😀
I just love ESPN so much, I used to play their games called Return Man.
I hate drinking, I hate the taste of alcohol and I don’t like feeling which it gives you, I always feel depressed and down, IDK other people feel another way around usually.
So the other day I got flamed hard as hell in COD and do you know what was a reason? Being good…
Well done, hope it wasn’t as hard as previous project. Do you also have to complete another one? Or you can already take vacation?
My cat sleeps all day and at night she goes crazy and starts running all over the house.
And then they wonder why I no longer answer their calls. Behave well people and no one will push you away!
Is there any way to clone ancient animals? If so, why don’t we have mammoths yet?
Your tips are helpful not only in specific situations, but they can also work as a life guide.
Over-thinking is as bad as de-motivation, it kills all startings and brings only destruction and pain
Sharing positive posts is really awesome, I love when people bring positivity 🙂
I am scared of earthquakes, I wonder if it is some sort of phobia? And if it phobia what is the name of it?
I used to hate Meruem, but after last episodes my heart is broken, ending was so sad…
I’m also scared of eathquakes. But i don’t think that is phobia.
I still remember how impressive my first visit to theater was… First one is always so memorable.
Change your behavior, you are doing something wrong, this is exactly why you cant achieve your goals.
I wish people cared as much about the Earth as they did about who they think created it.
Not sure if it is a correct way to be honest, check the map again before we get lost in this place.
I just read old books and I can’t stop thinking how awesome old days were, people had respect for each other and people had real values…
As I find my self, in the diary of Jane. Do you guys remember this song? It is pretty awesome, isn’t it?
I just broke my old chair, the good thing is that I didn’t break my neck while falling, I was really scared : D
Details please, list more details, otherwise, I can’t help you.
Simpsons as a cartoon scares me, it predicted some major historical events and I don’t know-how.
Some games start to lag out of sudden, for no reason, just random lag and I have no idea how to fix it, I don’t even know what causes this problem.
Reinstalling windows 10 is so much more easier compared with windows XP, ROFL.
I waste money too much, I buy a lot of useless things and it is an annoying side of me, annoying for me in the first place.
Whoa, calm down guys, he actually brings good points here, relax and read the article once again, you will find why I think so.
I like your motivation, no I really do, but I am afraid it is not enough, you need more to achieve your goals.
People think I’m too cold, well I’m introvert, what did you expect from me?
I tried to forgive him, but I realized that it was beyond me, I just couldn’t forget all the deeds he had done in the past.
He made his choice, now he will suffer the consequences, there is nothing you can do about it.