Sports Business Daily recently published results on their “Most Marketable In MLB Survey“. In this post we review how the most marketable fair with their online activation strategies.

Our review includes searching for the player’s official site, and then seeing if they are active on either of the two most popular social media channels (Twitter & Facebook). In evaluating their social media accounts we keep it simple: search for it on google, review the top 3-5 that show-up and determine if any appear to be official accounts.

1. Derek Jeter
Official Site: www.DerekJeter.com – focus is more on his Turn 2 Foundation, than being setup as official player site. Produced by MLB, the site really does not offer a strong visual representation of the Jeter brand. Suprisingly for being the most marketable player, his official site does not mention one sponsor partner.

Social Media: Derek’s official site has no SM integration. No official presence on Twitter or Facebook could be found.

2. Albert Pujols
Official Site: Albert does not have an official fan site, but does have a Foundation website: www.PujolsFamilyFoundation.org. The Foundation site lists a “Sponsor” section, but does not include any companies, just includes info to “Become a Sponsor”.

Social Media: Albert’s Foundation site has no SM intergration. No official presence on Twitter or Facebook could be found.

3. Joe Mauer
Official Site: Joe does not have an official fan site, but does have a business site at JoeMauer.com that redirects to – www.MauersQuickSwing.com.

Social Media: No official presence on Twitter or Facebook could be found.

4. Stephen Strasburg
Official Site: Stephen does not have an official fan site.

Social Media: No official presence on Twitter or Facebook could be found.

5. Ryan Howard
Official Site: Ryan does not have an official fan site.

Social Media: No official presence on Twitter or Facebook could be found.

6. Evan Longoria
Official Site: Evan does not have an official fan site.

Social Media: Evan has a Twitter account @Evan3Longoria , but no Facebook account.

7. Tim Lincecum
Official Site: Tim does not have an official fan site.

Social Media: No official presence on Twitter or Facebook could be found.

8. David Wright
Official Site: www.DavidWright.com – produced by MLB, the site similiar to Jeter’s doesn’t really present a unique impression of Wright’s brand, but does have all the basic content (ie News, Photos, Videos, Stats). The site does include a “Partners” section with logo links.

Social Media: The site does not include any SM integration, and no official presence on Twitter or Facebook could be found.

9. A-Rod
Official Site: www.ARod.com – produced by MLB, just like Jeter’s does not represent A-Rod’s brand that well visually at all. Includes basic info (Journal is almost 3 yrs out-of-date). Includes a “Corporate Partners” sub-section page with logo/links.

Social Media: The site does not include any SM integration, and no official presence on Twitter or Facebook could be found.

10. Torii Hunter
Official Site: www.TorriHunter.com  & also has a Foundation site at TorriHunterProject.com.  Oddly enough the site does not include any relative baseball information (ie Standings, Stats, Schedule, News Updates, Photos etc.). No partner information is included on the site.

Social Media: The site includes a link to Torii’s Facebook account. Could not find a verified Twitter account.

Conclusion:
For guys that are supposed to be the “most marketable”, they sure don’t help themselves or their sponsors by providing solid online activations. Goes back to the question if you’re a sponsor paying an athlete – who is responsible for activating that partnership on the only 24/7/365 marketing channel available? In the ends, the player’s are missing a huge opportunity to build their brands (props to the players that did have Foundation sites though), and sponsors seem to just not care.