The New York Mets want to build out a larger content business, and the baseball team is turning to Range Sports to help it do so, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Major League Baseball team is partnering with the sports division of Range Media Partners on a wide-ranging content deal.
The deal will kick off with short-form digital content “that focus on off-field storytelling around the team, players and the culture of Mets fans,” per the companies. The Mets will work with Range’s roster of clients, including musicians and influencers, who may be Mets fans with stories of their own to tell.
This is the second deal that the Mets have signed with Range. In 2021 the team signed a brand bolstering deal with a handful of partners, including Range. Investor Steve Cohen, who owns the Mets, also owns a minority stake in Range Media via his Point72 Ventures.
“We are excited to join forces with Range Sports to drive more widespread cultural awareness of our brand while also attracting new fans to our iconic franchise,” said Mets president of business operations M. Scott Havens. “We see tremendous opportunity in developing original, off-the-field content that lies at the intersection of sports and lifestyle and provides new marketing opportunities for our brand partners.”
“Content plays a key role in the ecosystem of an organization like the New York Mets as both an extension for the brand, providing more touchpoints for fans to engage with the team, and as a path to new revenue streams,” added Range Sports co-presidents Will Funk and Greg Luckman. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with the Mets to mine the expansive ecosystem for great IP and stories, cultivate a robust content pipeline and build new monetization opportunities.”
Sports leagues and teams have been investing in both long and short-form content in recent years to help drive interest, and revenue. Platforms like Netflix and Prime Video have ordered a slew of series, including from MLB, with Netflix ordering a pair of Boston Red Sox series. The Mets clearly want a bigger piece of that pie.
