MVPindex Presents Major League Baseball's Most Valuable Teams, Players And Posts For 2017 Season

DALLAS, Nov. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- After an epic World Series that lasted seven games, the 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) season has come to a close, and today MVPindex unveiled the teams, players and content that defined the year in social media for MLB.

To determine the most valued MLB athletes, teams and posts on social media this year, industry-leading social measurement and valuation platform MVPindex ranks them using a proprietary algorithm that evaluates social activity throughout the past year. The MVPindex score is composed of three different variables: Reach, Engagement, and Conversation. Scores are displayed as a normalized scoring range between 0.00 and 1.00, and are measured relative to the other entities in their respective categories.

Beginning with Opening Day 2017 through the end of the World Series, the most Socially Relevant MLB Athletes (based on their MVPindex score) are:

1. Javier Baez
2. Bryce Harper
3. Mike Trout
4. Marcus Stroman
5. Anthony Rizzo
6. Adrian Gonzalez
7. Yadier Molina
8. Hunter Pence
9. Robinson Cano
10. Justin Turner

Javier Baez was able to grow his social media reach by 26 percent during the season to become the top MLB player on social, with the biggest growth occurring after he was featured in the ESPN Body Issue. Baez was also the top brand ambassador on social for David Seeds and Toyota.

Despite Aaron Judge's rise this season, he ranked just 36^th on social among MLB players due to lack of posting on his channels. But when he did post, fans responded: Aaron Judge took four out of the Top 10 spots among social media posts from MLB players, specifically his Instagram posts during the 2017 post-season and during his first All-Star Game in Miami where he won the Home Run Derby. In fact, Judge gained more than 100,000 new followers in one day after his Home Run Derby championship.

2017 saw teams and players using Twitter for real-time updates, energizing fans who were following the conversations around the games. Instagram was the winning MLB platform as fans engaged with fun and authentic content posted by their favorite players. Instagram also had the largest growth of all platforms, increasing from 565 million engagements in 2016 to 773 million in 2017.

According to Kyle Nelson, co-founder of MVPindex, MLB teams and players are realizing that social media is the future of building authentic fan engagement. And for those who have the right playbook, it's also a cost-effective way to generate real value – not only for themselves but for the brands they represent.

From a team standpoint, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers finished the season #1 and #2 respectively on the MVPindex, dominating the Top 20 team posts with content that featured the Yankees beating the Cleveland Indians to advance to the ALCS and the Dodgers' first World Series appearance since their win over the Oakland A's in 1988.

The Houston Astros, this year's World Series champions, started the regular season ranked 20th. After their World Series win, the Astros reached the 1 million followers mark on Twitter and rose to the 12th spot in the MVPindex team rankings. The Cleveland Indians went up six spots from last season, coming in at #10 for 2017.

The Top 10 most socially valuable teams on the 2017 MVPindex are:

1. New York Yankees
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Boston Red Sox
5. Toronto Blue Jays
6. San Francisco Giants
7. New York Mets
8. Texas Rangers
9. St. Louis Cardinals
10. Cleveland Indians

When it comes to being an effective brand ambassador, Marcus Stroman took top honors – generating more than $2 million in value (MVPindex EVA™) for his partners, which include Jordan Brand, New Era and American Express. During the 2017 MLB season, players combined to post more than 67,300 times across all social channels, including 3,745 posts on behalf of brands. $141 million worth of social value was generated from the MLB (league, teams, and players). In 2016, the MLB generated $98.9 million worth of social value.

"This season we saw fans consuming sports content differently. They turned to digital, mobile and social platforms rather than traditional media channels, and it created compelling opportunities for brands," MVPindex's Nelson said. "It's now more important than ever for brands to have a dedicated social strategy to meet fans where they are and a measurement platform to help them understand the true value of their marketing spend."

The Top 5 MLB-activated brand campaigns and their respective social media value for the year are:

1. Papa John's Papa Slam campaign ($10 million)
2. Esurance's All-Star Game Ballot campaign ($8.5 million)
3. T-Mobile's Home Run Derby sponsorship ($6.5 million)
4. Majestic Athletic's Starting Lineup campaign ($3.4 million)
5. Mastercard's All-Star Game sponsorship ($2.3 million)

About MVPindex
Founded in 2014, MVPindex was the first social media intelligence platform to analyze athletes' social media portfolios and calculate their digital brand value. Today, MVPindex is a comprehensive social media index and valuation platform for the sports and entertainment industries, offering real-time analytics on more than 65,000 athletes, entertainers, teams, leagues, and brands ranked across the most popular social platforms. The MVPindex Engagement Value Assessment™ (EVA) has become the de facto industry standard for calculating the monetary value of social media campaigns and properties. MVPindex clients rely on this data and insight to make strategic decisions about brand ambassadors; evaluate their partnerships; maximize sponsorships; and see what is resonating with their fans. For more information or to request a demonstration, visit www.mvpindex.com.

SOURCE MVPindex

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