MLB Fan Demographics: Who’s engaging with the MLB in America

November 16, 2022
SponsorPulse Staff

2022 has been a banner year for the MLB.

The league has struck up new partnerships in uncharted territory with their Charlotte’s Web deal, not to mention new agreements with major brands including Adobe, Gatorade, and Corona. It’s estimated that all told the league pulled in a total of $1.19 billion in annual sponsorship rights fees, up 5.6% year-over-year.

Brands are putting their money into MLB, but is the investment paying off?

Measuring sponsorship impact can be a tricky thing to do without a clearly established baseline to work from. At SponsorPulse, we start by unpacking property health using fan insights.

Here’s what we know about Major League Baseball fans in the US.

MLB engagement is high across the country

Long cited as America’s favorite pastime, Major League Baseball's status has been up for discussion amid the continued rise and fervor of football among US audiences. But is it true that fewer Americans are engaged with MLB?

At SponsorPulse, we measure engagement based on several factors including whether the individual watched on TV or online; follows events, updates, or news; follows on social; has bought or worn merchandise; made a bet on it, or recommended to a friend in the past 12-months.

In the case of MLB, the league does trail behind the NFL when it comes to engagement among US consumers. However, MLB still outpaces other major sports leagues, including the NHL, and MLS, and is equal to the NBA at 54%. Not to mention, the league has gained momentum and is returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Taking stock of the numbers, a total of 115MM+ Americans between ages 13-64 have engaged with MLB in the past year.

Breaking down the MLB fan profile

53% of US residents between 13-64 have engaged with the MLB in the past year. Among engaged audiences, 56% are male, and the most engaged age group is between 35-54 years old.

Geographically, fans are pretty evenly spread across the county, with those in the South skewing slightly higher at 38%.

Other core stats among MLB engaged:

87% of us residents engaged with the MLB were born in the US
45% have kids in the household
41% earn under $50K
Engagment has grown 5% among 13-18 year olds from H2 2018 to H1 2022

The consumer connection in sponsorship

Having a robust understanding of property engagement is important for brands and properties alike, especially when establishing reporting baselines. SponsorPulse’s Sponsorship Impact Reports can help you uncover audience insights based on thousands of consumer data points so that you can adopt a common measurement system when measuring sponsorship performance.