Today on Sports Business Update we discuss partnership activation in sports. With so much emphasis on our new normal with the pandemic including no fans at events, teams and players working in a so-called bubble and revenues lost, we thought it would be interesting to speak to a leader in minor league baseball. Our guest is Sarah Leo, Director of Partnership Activation for the Macon Bacon on the Coastal Plain League.
The following is taken directly from www.MaconBaconBaseball.com:
When a star baseball player graduates from high school, they have two choices in pursuing their baseball career:
1. Get drafted to play pro baseball. If they’re drafted, and sign a minor league contract, they generally play in a Short-Season A-League team for a couple of years. Then they either advance to Single-A baseball or poof, they are sent home to start a different career.
2. Play college baseball. If a player commits to play college baseball, then he cannot be drafted until after his third college season. If he is then drafted, he’ll play in Single-A or Double-A baseball. Major League Baseball scouts typically recommended to CPL teams college players they want to see more of.
In the Coastal Plain League’s 20 year history, more than 1400 players have been drafted by Major League Baseball teams. That’s about 70 players per year. The quality of play is generally regarded at Single-A level.