Major League Baseball has partnered with a youth sports app for livestreaming in a multiyear agreement designed to help strengthen connections with youth athletes.
GameChanger — with a baseball and softball audience of 13 million young athletes and more than 750,000 teams — and MLB announced the agreement Wednesday.
The collaboration provides MLB with an established platform to help fuel the growth of baseball and softball at the grassroots level, according to the news release. GameChanger was used at the youth level by 100 percent of the Top 50 prospects in the upcoming 2023 MLB Draft.
As part of its coverage of the MLB Draft on July 9, MLB and MLB Network will use highlights and stats collected from GameChanger during these youth, user-generated experiences in broadcast and across its social and digital channels.
The partnership will also make youth baseball and softball content and information more accessible to underserved communities. Free subscriptions to GameChanger will be provided to select teams participating in MLB's Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program.
"We are excited for all the possibilities that our partnership with GameChanger will bring to our sport's experience for parents, coaches and players," said David James, vice president of Baseball & Softball Development for MLB. "As we bring outstanding content to the literal fingertips of our youth baseball and softball community, we see this as a great opportunity to enhance our efforts to build a foundation for growth into the future."
GameChanger said it consistently ranks as a top sports app in the App Store each month. More than 36 million games have been scored, three million games video streamed and 29 million auto-generated highlights have been produced on the platform. The company said more games are covered on GameChanger in one spring month than have been played in the entire storied history of MLB.
For GameChanger, partnering with MLB will enhance the app experience, provide multiple branding opportunities and give users the potential for superstar treatment across league channels.
Additional specifics of the agreement include:
- GameChanger will help MLB identify participation trends and overall health of the sport.
- GameChanger will promote and drive submissions for "Chevrolet's PLAY BALL Monthly Awards," a program geared toward highlighting youth athletes, with a chance to win a trip to the World Series.
- MLB will have the ability to utilize GameChanger's scoring and streaming services for official youth baseball and softball events such as the RBI World Series and the High School All-American Game.
- Joint coverage opportunities with high-profile events such as the MLB Draft Combine and the MLB Little League Classic on GameChanger platforms.
- Highlights and content generated from youth baseball and softball coverage on GameChanger will appear regularly on MLB Network and MLB.com, including a weekly segment featuring video highlights from youth events across the country.
- GameChanger will have access to MLB content, which will provide accessible instruction for parents and coaches.
GameChanger is based in New York City and is owned and operated by DICK'S Sporting Goods.
