After a five-year hiatus, MLB is reviving its Players’ Weekend, restoring one of the league’s most well-known tools for promoting individual players.
The initiative, which begins Friday and ends Sunday, brings back a program that ran from 2017 to 2019 but was then put on hold for a variety of reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the transfer of the league’s on-field uniform contract to Nike. As before, Players’ Weekend is designed to highlight the personality of individual athletes. But instead of special uniforms with player nicknames, specific plans include the use of custom sticks and personalized cleats, in-game and social media content, and segments within game broadcasts. Special game caps for the weekend will also feature player numbers on the side panels.
Each of the three days of Players’ Weekend revolves around set themes: Friday’s games focus on showcasing players’ interests off the field, Saturday’s focus on charity and community involvement, and Sunday’s games focus on players’ appreciation for those who made it to the big leagues.
“It was time to bring this back and give players the opportunity to express themselves beyond the nightly stats,” says Noah Garden, MLB’s deputy commissioner for business and media Front Office Sports“This is for the fans, but also for the players, and it’s about finding new ways to connect.”
The program comes as MLB’s efforts to develop its players continue to be the subject of heated debate, both among fans and within the industry. Most recently, Mets President of Business Operations M. Scott Havens said at the FOS Huddle in the Hamptons event that the MLB has not adequately marketed its player talent, especially those beyond megastars Aaron Judge (above) and Shohei Ohtani.
However, the league is combining the Players’ Weekend with a new edition of its brand campaign “Baseball Is Something Else” with new spots featuring Oscar nominee Brian Tyree Henry.
Small big leagues
Players’ Weekend also coincides with the seventh annual MLB Little League Classic on Sunday in prime time. The game between the Yankees and Tigers will be played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, home of the Little League World Series, and the crowd will consist primarily of participating players and coaches from the high-profile youth event.
ESPN will once again broadcast the MLB Little League Classic, an event that has long been a central part of its overall baseball schedule, and will follow on Sunday with the network’s broadcast of the Little League World Series. The Yankees-Tigers broadcast will be complemented by a return of ESPN’s alternative production KidsCast, featuring teen commentators.
“This idea of appreciation and the path to the majors has always been part of this special game, but is certainly reinforced here,” says Phil Orlins, ESPN VP of Production FOS“Players are encouraged to let their defense down, but here in Williamsport, it all happens in a way that’s authentic, just because of the environment and how special it is.”
