Baseball is a staple sport for the summer season. Whether you’re a dedicated or casual sports bar looking to market to diehard or casual baseball fans, now is the right time to start prepping your location for baseball. This way you have plenty of time to build a game plan and put it into action.
One of the best ways for bar and restaurant operators to win over fans is to focus on engagement. How can you get baseball fans and guests engaged and invested in both the games, the sport, and your business?
In this blog post we’re going to look at four ways bars can engage baseball fans this summer.
Think Beyond the MLB
When we think of baseball, most of us will instantly think of the MLB. And while we expect this to be the main traffic driver for a lot of bars out there, it shouldn’t be the lone avenue of baseball content. There’s so much more beyond the major leagues that operators should consider.
And by diversifying what games your bar shows, you demonstrate that you’re serious about baseball, cast a wider net of fans, and keep folks engaged with baseball events they might not have otherwise considered watching.
⚾ NCAA Baseball. While it can’t compete with the hype of college football or basketball, NCAA baseball is growing in popularity. The 2024 NCAA World Series saw a 75% increase in viewership over the previous year. It’s also seen a boost in social media engagement (25.5%).
All this means is that bars and restaurants can leverage the game’s growing popularity and fill out their entertainment offerings with some solid weekdays afternoon tilts.
🥎 NCAA Softball. College softball is even bigger than college baseball. The 2025 NCAA Women’s College World Series – aka “The Greatest Show on Dirt” – had a higher average viewership compared to men’s college baseball finals (1.3m vs 1.2m). It also was the most-watched softball finals with 2.2 million views; viewership was up 24% from 2024.
On top of that, NCAA softball “not only has a marketing edge over baseball among younger demographics, but it’s drawing more attention on social media and bringing brands more value…”
In short, bars looking to leverage baseball should strongly consider adding women’s softball into the mix. Bar operators can get an updated schedule of every game based on their location and content providers through their SportsTV Guide/FANZO subscription. If you’re not signed up yet, you can start an STVG free trial here.
🧢 The Women’s Pro Baseball League (WPBL). This summer will also debut the inaugural season of the Women’s Pro Baseball League. Four teams will play 30 total combined games over the course of a month before rolling into the playoffs. All games will be played on neutral ground at Robin Roberts Stadium (capacity 5,200) in Springfield, IL.
The league is coming on the heels of two amazingly successful seasons of the Women’s Professional Hockey League (PWHL) and a rebirth of sorts with the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). Bars can help guests experience history being made. TV rights and broadcasting info is still forthcoming, so stay tuned.
🌎 World Baseball Classic. Still in its infancy as far as world sporting events go, the WBC is one of the world’s most viewed baseball events with the 2023 Classic broadcasting in 163 territories through 63 media partners globally. The event is especially popular among South American countries, so bars near high density South American neighborhoods should strongly consider showing the tournament.
The WBC isn’t an every year event. It operates more like the Olympics of FIFA World Cup, playing every four years. This creates natural scarcity and excitement that operators can lean into when marketing the event to fans.
Connect with Local Leagues
Your bar or restaurant doesn’t have to limit itself to just baseball games on TV. Operators can also tap into the myriad local baseball and softball leagues in the area to engage folks interested in baseball and softball.
There are two primary ways most businesses will approach this:
Sponsor a Team. A classic way is sponsoring a local team – be it Little League or an adult “beer league.” Often in exchange, the team will wear the name of the sponsor on their jersey.
Sponsor a League. Similarly, bars and restaurants can sponsor a local baseball or softball league, helping with the operating overhead costs of renting fields, gear, and other administrative costs.
Both use cases are good for building brand awareness, as well as a little good will for the local community.
Operators can go a step further and give discounts for participants in the league or team they’re sponsoring, keep tables reserved for post-game social time for players, and offer to rent their dining room (at a discount) for end-of-season celebrations and award nights.
Build a Baseball Specials Menu
Like most sports, baseball has specific foods associated with the game. Operators looking to build an immersive experience can add these foods and flavors to their menu during game days. Common baseball treats:
- Hot dogs
- Crackerjacks
- Cotton candy
- Popcorn
- Soft pretzels
- Nachos
- Peanuts
- Ice cream helmets
Alternatively, you can see what the most popular signature dishes are for your local team(s) and create something similar.
These flavors, along with good game audio, will help build an atmosphere where your guests feel like they’re at the game itself, keeping them fully engaged.
Don’t Forget About Fantasy Baseball
Just like with football, fantasy is big with baseball fans. Operators can host their own fantasy baseball leagues using a third-party service. The benefit of the third party is it does all the hard work of compiling stats for you, so all you need to do is create the league and promote it to guests.
This gets baseball fans and your guests engaged by giving them a thing to check on daily that’s connected to your restaurant. Have your bar’s name in the league name and that’ll help ensure players are thinking about your business regularly.
There are three main types of fantasy baseball to consider:
Roto. Teams are ranked from first to last in a stat category. Points are awarded for each category based on rank at the end of the season. Player with the most points wins. This is old school fantasy baseball.
Head to Head: Points. Similar to fantasy football. It allows league owners to assign a point value to individual statistic categories (i.e. HR=4, RBI=1, etc.). The winner of the match up is whoever scores the most points. Teams end each week with an 1-0-0, 0-1-0, or 0-0-1 record.
Head to Head: Categories. This combines the above two leagues. Matchups are head-to-head but each category provides its own points. This creates for a very dynamic scoring league. For example, if you do a 7 category league, a fantasy player could end a week with a 7-0-0 record, 0-7-0 record, 0-0-7 record or anywhere in between (e.g., 3-4-0, 5-1-1, 0-4-3, etc.). This is the most common H2H format in fantasy baseball.
Once you build your bar’s league, market it to guests through your usual channels – email, promotion, in-house posters, etc. Provide a prize for the overall winner and consider offering discounts for participants as an extra way of incentivizing them to visit you all season long (a Fantasy Baseball VIP, of sorts).
You can also do a weekly newsletter specifically for your league, updating players with the current standings, and offering them special discounts.
If you don’t want to run your own fantasy baseball league, operators can also run promotions to host draft parties for private leagues among their customers.
Play Ball
Baseball is America’s national pastime for a reason and is a staple sport during the summer. The long season can sometimes feel monotonous, however, so operators looking to leverage baseball need to focus on engaging fans.
One way is to add non-MLB baseball games into the mix such as NCAA baseball and softball, women’s pro baseball, and the World Classic. Sponsoring a local team or league is a nice, passive way of creating brand awareness as well as build good will with the locals. Game day baseball menus full of baseball food and flavors can make for an immersive experience. And fantasy baseball is a great way to engage your bar’s most diehard baseball fans and connecting with them on a regular basis.
Now’s the time to start planning what and how your bar or restaurant will leverage baseball, so you’ll be ready for the opening pitch this spring. Good luck!
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