CASE STUDY
Learn Why 50+ MiLB Teams Use DIGIDECK
From Single-A to Triple-A, more than 50 Minor League Baseball teams use DIGIDECK to generate revenue through sponsorship sales, digital game programs and more
The Challenge
With 160 revenue-generating teams and thousands of players spread across 14 leagues, Minor League Baseball is a pillar of many local sports communities and a key pipeline for the major leagues.
And while their connection to the big leagues is critical, the minors remain a draw in their own right. Attendance increased by 2.6% in 2019, as more than 41 million fans took in a minor-league game last season.
Sportsdigita believes in giving MiLB teams the same tools as their major-league counterparts.
More than 50 minor-league teams use Sportsdigita’s cloud-based presentation platform, DIGIDECK, to quickly and easily create big league-caliber presentations for current and prospective partners.
Securing game-changing sponsorships, creating recaps and cutting costs on game day, all while effortlessly integrating their unique and creative branding into the platform; the minors are using DIGIDECK to play in the big leagues.
One of MiLB’s newest teams, the Amarillo Sod Poodles, a Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, made DIGIDECK a priority early, rolling out their Master Deck in March of last year — before their first season had begun.
The Sod Poodles had yet to play a game, but worked with a designer at Sportsdigita to build a deck that incorporated their branding and existing assets.
“It was easy. Mackenzie was super helpful. She gave us a rundown of what’s been successful with other teams,” Matt Hamilton, the Sod Poodles’ Director of Partnerships, said. “It really was [the Sportsdigita team] who took the photos we actually had at the time, which were mostly renderings, and made them look nice with our logos.”
From there, the Sod Poodles were off and running. “We started using it the second we could,” Hamilton said.
Kelly Schuberg, a Corporate Partnerships Activation Specialist, says transitioning from PowerPoint to the new platform was a smooth process.
“Once we had all those slides set and ready to go it just kind of took us a couple of days to figure out the system,” she said. “After that it was nice and easy to use.”
Like many organizations, the Sod Poodles made the switch after growing frustrated with the limited capabilities of tools like PowerPoint.
“The biggest thing for us is just the speed at which we can get proposals done. We of course were in the PowerPoint world just like everybody else was before we started using the DIGIDECK system. As you can imagine, you can only copy and paste so much and try to make things as exciting as you can so many times before you just kind of get bored and over it.”
—Matt Hamilton, Amarillo Sod Poodles Director of Partnerships
But while DIGIDECK has been a game-changer for the Sod Poodles, bringing a suite of sharing and analytics tools to the sales process, Hamilton and the team prefer to present in person.
“Whenever we build our proposals we actually make sure that we go and give them in person before we send out the link,” he said. Prospective partners are often impressed. “This helps make it a little more exciting, a lot more 21st century.”
Schuberg says the Sod Poodles have been turning around presentations quickly without compromising on quality. “It’s a huge time-saver, but it doesn’t look like that,” she said. “It looks like we spend so much more time on these presentations when we give them to people, just because of the format and how sleek and innovative it is.”
The Sod Poodles aren’t alone. A representative from the Nashville Sounds, a Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, agreed with Schuberg’s assessment.
“DIGIDECK has completely transformed how the Sounds connect with our partners and prospects. From proposals to season recaps, the process is easy yet looks amazing. DIGIDECK allows us to showcase our ballpark opportunities in a unique way, always impressing the client. The platform has also streamlined our control and management of our sales reps and our inventory, helping the sales reps deliver both quality and consistent presentations that keep the brand integrity.”
—Danielle Gaw, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Nashville Sounds
Like the Sod Poodles, the Aberdeen Ironbirds made the move to DIGIDECK from another platform, web-based Lucidpress, and noticed major differences.
“We’re producing the presentations at a much faster rate,” Ryan Christy, the Ironbirds’ Director of Corporate Partnerships, said. However, they were drawn to Sportsdigita by another problem: Printing traditional game programs was eating up a significant portion of their budget.
“One of the teams in our league went to a digital program last year, but it was basically just a PDF online,” he said. However, the Ironbirds were looking to take things a step further.
Christy plans to use DIGIDECK’s easy-to-use sharing options to create game programs that incorporate everything from video interviews to special offers from their partners. Sponsors are already taking notice.
“It’s been a great selling tool,” Christy said. “Lots of sponsors are very interested in it, because they can do video, and they can hyperlink to their page or hyperlink to a special offer, where we couldn’t do that in print.”
A Single-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, the Ironbirds had a unique opportunity on their hands last year with the arrival of former Oregon State star Adley Rutschman, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.
Rutschman spent several weeks with the Ironbirds the following summer before moving on to another Orioles affiliate.
In the future, the Ironbirds plan to use DIGIDECK to keep star prospects like Rutschman front and center in their programs.
“If we’re able to do a quick interview with him and throw it in our program, people are going to look at our program and they’re going to spend more time in it,” Christy said.
If any issues arise as Christy and his team begin building their game programs, Kyle Day of the Spokane Indians, a Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, says they’ll have access to a standout support system at Sportsdigita.
“The DIGIDECK team has been incredibly helpful, from the initial stages of building our deck to the CRM integration, they are always quick to respond with any questions that we may have. Additionally, they are extremely open to our suggestions about functions that could help make our user experience better."
—Kyle Day, General Manager, Spokane Indians
Meanwhile, the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, used DIGIDECK to solve a slightly more conventional problem last year, and the No. 1 item on their to-do list: Securing a naming rights partner for a new premium club area at Werner Park.
“Before DIGIDECK we were fully PowerPoint. It was good, it was O.K., but we needed that next level,” Sean Olson, the team’s former Assistant General Manager, Sales, said. That next level: DIGIDECK, which Olson and his team used to secure a partnership with whiskey brand Jack Daniels. “DIGIDECK has allowed us to take the ballpark out to them,” he said.
David Dwyer, the Frisco RoughRiders’ Senior Director of Ticket Sales and Services, appreciates the ability to fine-tune the organization’s approach. With a team of 24 employees creating presentations, Dwyer prefers a hands on approach, but says DIGIDECK has been a huge asset when it comes to keeping his team on brand. “It’s very easy for a rep to send me a presentation they want me to look through before they send it out, and I go can go through and edit it,” he said. “We have an interactive and on-brand presentation throughout. That is a huge plus in my book.”
The RoughRiders, a Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, rolled out DIGIDECK for their ticket sales and sponsorship teams last year, but Dwyer says that’s just the beginning. “I’ve got a laundry list of things I want to do in order to clean the presentations up for multiple different departments here.” After working with Sportsdigita throughout a smooth onboarding process, the RoughRiders should have few problems integrating DIGIDECK even further into their operation.
“The fact that we started the deck-building process after our season opener, yet our staff were able to begin making presentations with ease by the All-Star break, is a testament to Sportsdigita’s team and the exceptional level of customer service and efficient onboarding process."
— David Kosydar, Director of Partner Services, Frisco RoughRiders
Lakewood BlueClaws Director of Sponsorship Services Zachary Nicol advocated for adopting DIGIDECK after using the platform extensively as an employee of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
“The fact that you can put in pictures, video and radio clips; there’s just so many different options for what you can do to send to a partner, and they’re always very impressed,” he said. Standards have changed, Nicol says, and DIGIDECK is helping the BlueClaws, a Single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, keep pace. “We’re in a different kind of age now, where clients aren’t impressed by a couple pages of paper.”
Whether they’re using DIGIDECK to bring the ballpark to prospective partners or to reinvigorate their game programs, Sportsdigita’s family of MiLB teams are among DIGIDECK’s most vocal advocates.
“Our first DIGIDECK presentation became our biggest sales success for this year,” Tom Bendetti of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs said. The power DIGIDECK brings to franchises of all sizes has revolutionized the business behind the game of baseball.
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