MLB Advanced Media

Major League Baseball Advanced Media was formed in 2000 by Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig to consolidate online rights and ticket sales for Major League Baseball teams. MLBAM was to be capitalized with $120 million with $1 million per team contributed each year for four years. The company hired an outside consulting firm to build its websites which failed to work properly, which led them to develop their own tech. In 2002, MLBAM attempted to run a streaming package around Japanese player Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners, which achieved little success. With these failures, MLB Advance Media used its ticket rights to get an advance from Ticketmaster in mid 2002.{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/4/9090897/mlb-bam-live-streaming-internet-tv-nhl-hbo-now-espn|title=The Change Up: How baseball's tech team built the future of television|author=Ben Popper|publisher=Vox Media|work=The Verge|date=August 4, 2015}}

MLBAM used its $10 million advance from Ticketmaster to meet payroll and make another run at video. A Texas Rangers - New York Yankees game was produced and broadcast online on August 26, 2002. The company continued to tweak online broadcasting. A nine-game pennant race package was sold two weeks later followed by a $19.95 postseason package. Concurrently with 2003 spring training, MLB.tv was launched at $79.95 for a full season package, which garnered 100,000 subscribers. Those revenues halted the need for additional capital from the teams, taking only $77 million of the original planned $120 million.

In 2005, MLBAM bought ticket sales company Tickets.com in a deal worth approximately $66 million.{{cite news|title=Company News Major League Baseball Unit Purchasing Tickets.com|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907E5DD133AF935A25751C0A9639C8B63|access-date=August 17, 2016|work=New York Times|date=February 16, 2005}} MLBAM indicated at the time that the move was spurred by increased attendance at both the major and minor league levels of the sport and the need to make ticket purchases convenient for fans.{{cite web|url = http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3483356/MLB+Acquires+Ticketscom.htm |title = MLB Acquires Tickets.com |website=internetnews.com }} In 2007, MLBAM signed a five-year deal with StubHub.{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/business/02tickets.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1186055554-vOtc68yre4UCA8MHBpsRVA&oref=slogin | title = Baseball Gets Into Resale of Tickets | last1=Stone | first1= Brad |last2= Richtel |first2= Matt | date = August 2, 2007 | website = The New York Times | access-date = August 1, 2016}}

In April 2008, MLBAM signed a three-year deal with Yahoo for ad sales. The company replaced Yahoo with Auditude in a multi-year deal in April 2011.

In 2011, MLBAM worked with Glenn Beck to stream his new media services GBTV.{{cite news |last1=Terkel |first1=Amanda |title=Progressives Pressure MLB to Drop Glenn Beck |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/progressive-major-league-baseball-glenn-beck_n_1008136 |access-date=October 29, 2021 |publisher=Huffington jPost |date=October 13, 2011}}

On February 20, 2014, Sports Illustrated announced the formation of 120 Sports, a streaming sports video service, with financial backing from MLBAM, the NHL, and Silver Chalice.{{cite news |title=Time Inc, sports leagues to launch online streaming sports network |url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/2014/02/21/time-inc-sports-leagues-to-launch-online-streaming-sports-network/ |access-date=August 17, 2016 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |agency=Reuters |date=February 21, 2014 }} Four days later, WWE launched its streaming platform WWE Network, with MLBAM as its operating partner.{{Cite web |last=Spangler |first=Todd |date=February 24, 2014 |title=WWE Blames MLB for Signup Problems with Online Video Network |url=https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/wwe-blames-mlb-for-signup-problems-with-online-video-network-1201118936/ |access-date=April 3, 2023 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}

In 2014, 2K announced that it would not exercise its license to publish a 2015 MLB video game for the Xbox. Thus, MLBAM developed a game from scratch in one and a half years with only a dozen programmers. The game, R.B.I. Baseball '14, was poorly received by the critics.

In February 2015, it was reported that MLBAM was planning to spin off its streaming technology division as an independent company, with investments by MLB and other minority partners. MLB-specific properties (such as MLB.com) would remain under league control.{{cite web|title=MLB considers spinning off its powerful streaming business|url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/2/23/8092439/mlb-considers-mlbam-spinoff|website=The Verge|date=February 23, 2015|access-date=August 4, 2015}} The formation of the spin-out, known as BAMTech, was approved by the company's board of directors on August 13, 2015.

On August 4, 2015, the National Hockey League announced a six-year deal with MLBAM for it to take over its digital properties, including its websites, mobile apps, operations and distribution of its digital streaming service NHL GameCenter Live (renamed NHL.tv outside of Canada), and migrating NHL Network to the facilities of MLB Network. The deal is worth $600 million over the life of the contract, and also granted the NHL an equity stake of up to 10% in BAMTech.{{cite web |title = Pro Baseball's Streaming Video Unit Gets Ready for a $3 Billion Spinoff by Adding Pro Hockey |url = http://recode.net/2015/08/04/pro-baseballs-streaming-video-unit-gets-ready-for-a-3-billion-spinoff-by-adding-pro-hockey/ |website=Re/code|date = August 4, 2015 |publisher=Vox Media|access-date=August 4, 2015}}{{cite news|title=MLB's Tech Unit Wins NHL Streaming Business |url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/mlbs-tech-unit-wins-nhl-streaming-business-1438715135 |access-date=August 4, 2015 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal }}{{subscription required}}

As of January 2018, MLBAM has a video game development team of 30+ employees who are working on R.B.I Baseball 18, the R.B.I. Baseball franchise was revived by MLBAM in 2014.{{Cite web|last=Sarkar|first=Samit|date=January 22, 2018|title=Exclusive: Why MLB decided to develop R.B.I. Baseball 18 itself|url=https://www.polygon.com/features/2018/1/22/16911760/rbi-baseball-18-ps4-switch-xbox-one-mlb-mlbam-history|access-date=January 24, 2018|website=Polygon}} With R.B.I Baseball 14, 15, 16, and 17, MLBAM had outsourced development to several external development studios and had a small group dedicated to overseeing production and managing publishing duties, that had all changed with R.B.I Baseball 18 when MLBAM decided to move development in-house. R.B.I Baseball is a unique product due to the fact that this is "the only instance of a professional sports league producing its own console video game," MLBAM is now a video game developer, producer and publisher as a result.

In 2017, the company's chief executive, Robert Bowman, was forced out after allegations related to his workplace conduct.{{cite news | url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/baseballs-rainmaker-forced-out-after-alleged-misconduct-1513882805 | title = Baseball's Rainmaker Forced Out After Alleged Misconduct | newspaper = Wall Street Journal | date = December 21, 2017 }}

MLBAM is responsible for the At Bat app for the iPhone and iPad, which is downloadable from the iTunes store and also available as an Android app on Google Play.

In April 2012, MLBAM announced that the MLB.com At Bat 12 application surpassed the three million download mark, achieving the milestone only eight days into the 2012 MLB regular season and more than four months earlier than its record-setting 2011 campaign.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2015/08/13/mlb-approves-new-digital-media-company-spin-off-that-will-create-billions-in-new-revenues/#3145e97a2f01|title=MLB Approves New Digital Media Company Spin-Off That Will Create Billions In New Revenues|date=August 13, 2015|last1=Brown|first1=Maury|work=Forbes}}

MLBAM CEO Robert Bowman had this to say about MLBAM in an article entitled "What did you learn in 2012 that you will carry forth with you into 2013?":

The toughest thing to do in a poker hand and in this business is stand pat. This year we decided to make our At Bat app universal between the iPad and iPhone, which we knew going in would cost us 100,000 subscribers. We threw in At Bat for free with an MLB.tv subscription, which would also cost us revenue. And we added up a monthly At Bat subscription to get people to test the product out. We gave customers more options and a better deal, and we had a record year in paid content. We learned we're at an inflection point. Customers now understand and appreciate the nuance of content economics. You'll see more of that value pricing from us going forward.{{cite web|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/3003078/mlb-advanced-media-ceo-bob-bowman-users-adopting-and-adapting|title=MLB Advanced Media CEO Bob Bowman On Users Adopting And Adapting|work=Fast Company|date=26 November 2012}}

MLBAM signed a five-year, $50 million interactive rights deal with the MLB Players Association in 2005 to acquire most of the players' online rights, including fantasy sports. The deal exacerbated tension between fantasy sports companies and professional leagues and players associations over the rights to player profiles and statistics. The players associations of the major sports leagues believed that fantasy games using player names were subject to licensing due to the right of publicity of the players involved. During the 1980s and 1990s many companies signed licensing deals with the player associations, but many companies did not. The issue came to a head when MLBAM denied a fantasy baseball licensing agreement to St. Louis-based CBC Distribution and Marketing Inc., the parent company of CDM Sports. CBC filed suit as a result. CBC argued that intellectual property laws and so-called "right of publicity" laws don't apply to the statistics used in fantasy sports.{{cite news|title=Fantasy leagues permitted to use MLB names, stats|url=http://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2543720|work=ESPN|date=August 8, 2006|access-date=February 26, 2018}} The FSTA filed a friend of the court brief in support of CBC which argued that MLBAM's step to deny CBC a license was the first step to limit the number of companies in the market, that could result in MLBAM having a monopoly.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} CBC won the lawsuit as U.S. District Court Judge Mary Ann Medler ruled that statistics are part of the public domain and can be used at no cost by fantasy companies. "The names and playing records of major-league baseball players as used in CBC's fantasy games are not copyrightable," Medler wrote. "Therefore, federal copyright law does not pre-empt the players' claimed right of publicity." The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision in October 2007.{{cite web|url=http://www.svmedialaw.com/Fantasy%20Baseball%20opinion.pdf |title=svmedialaw.com |publisher=svmedialaw.com |access-date=October 14, 2012}} "It would be a strange law that a person would not have a First Amendment right to use information that is available to everyone," a three-judge panel said in its ruling.{{cite news|first=Bob|last=Van Voris|author2=Jeff St. Onge|title=Fantasy Sports Win Right to Player Names, Statistics|date=October 16, 2007|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=aVMAY0beLSoA&refer=home|work=Bloomerberg|access-date=July 28, 2007}}

On June 2, 2008, the United States Supreme Court denied MLB's petition for a writ of certiorari.[{{SCOTUS URL|orders/courtorders/060208pzor.pdf}} Order List - June 2, 2008]

MLBAM has lost nearly $2 million on the case and may now opt out of the agreement with the MLBPA and also faces the potential loss of millions of dollars of licensing fees from major media companies, such as Fox.{{cite news|first=Eric|last=Fisher| title=Fantasy challenge costly for MLBAM, union|date=October 22, 2007|publisher=Street & Smith's Sports Group|url=http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.show_article&articleId=56793|work=Sports Business Journal|access-date=November 1, 2007}} ESPN opted out of a seven-year, $140 million deal with MLBAM after three years in January 2008. The decision to opt out came less than three months after the CDM case was upheld on appeal as "ESPN thinks the court's decision means that it was paying a license fee for fantasy rights that others, such as CDM, were getting free."{{cite news|first=John|last=Ourand|author2=Eric Fisher|title=ESPN seeks better MLBAM terms|date=January 21, 2008|publisher=Street & Smith's Sports Group|url=http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.main&articleId=57806|work=Sports Business Journal|access-date=January 25, 2008}}

MLBAM has been issued some patents with others still "patent pending" before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. For example, MLBAM was awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,486,943 for geolocating and blocking fans from viewing local games online.{{cite news|last=Klayman|first=Ben|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-baseball-patent-idUSTRE54E5Y220090515|title=Major League Baseball awarded geolocation patent|publisher=Reuters|date=May 15, 2009|access-date=October 14, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3252:mlbam-issued-patent-for-geolocation-could-mlb-extra-innings-for-mobile-be-far-behind&catid=65:mobile-devices&Itemid=151|title=MLBAM Issued Patent for Geolocation. Could MLB Extra Innings for Mobile Be Far Behind?|publisher=Bizofbaseball.com|date=May 14, 2009|access-date=October 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730072202/http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3252:mlbam-issued-patent-for-geolocation-could-mlb-extra-innings-for-mobile-be-far-behind&catid=65:mobile-devices&Itemid=151|archive-date=July 30, 2013|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090514&content_id=4724126&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb|title=MLB.TV granted landmark U.S. patent | MLB.com: News|publisher=Mlb.mlb.com|date=June 19, 2012|access-date=October 14, 2012}} In addition, MLBAM was issued a patent for a system and method for allocating seats for a ticketed event.{{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US8121872|title=Patent US8121872 - System and method for allocating seats for a ticketed event - Google Patents|access-date=October 14, 2012}} Another example of an MLBAM patent is U.S. Patent No. 8,045,965 entitled "System and method for venue-to-venue messaging,"{{Cite web|url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,045,965&OS=8,045,965&RS=8,045,965|title = United States Patent: 10129569 - Wireless transmission of sports venue-based data including video to hand held devices}} which lists MLBAM CEO Robert A. Bowman{{cite web|url=http://www.patentbuddy.com/Inventor/Bowman-Robert-A/7747765|title=Robert A Bowman|work=patentbuddy.com}} as a co-inventor (inventorship).

MLBAM has been the subject of patent infringement lawsuits. See, for example, DDB Techs., L.L.C. v. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.{{cite web |url=http://www.filewrapper.com/index.cfm/2008/2/14/Discovery-needed-to-determine-effect-of-employment-agreement-on-patent-ownership-but-no-jury-trial |title=Filewrapper® | A patent, trademark, and copyright law blog by MVS: Discovery needed to determine effect of employment agreement on patent ownership, but no jury trial |access-date=December 6, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730125902/http://www.filewrapper.com/index.cfm/2008/2/14/Discovery-needed-to-determine-effect-of-employment-agreement-on-patent-ownership-but-no-jury-trial |archive-date=July 30, 2013 }} This case began as a patent infringement suit between DDB Technologies (DDB) and MLBAM over several patents for generating a computer simulation of a live event for display on a viewer's computer as well as one patent for a method allowing a viewer to search for certain information about a live event.{{cite web|url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-federal-circuit/1381818.html|title=DDB TECHNOLOGIES v. MLB ADVANCED MEDIA|work=Findlaw}} The technology at issue was being used for simulation of baseball and other sporting activities.{{cite web |url=http://ebglaw.com/files/19912_DDB%20Technologies%20Client%20Alert.pdf |title=Archived copy |website=ebglaw.com |access-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022064555/http://ebglaw.com/files/19912_DDB%20Technologies%20Client%20Alert.pdf |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |url-status=dead}} The case was finally settled with MLBAM acquiring rights to the DDB patent portfolio.{{cite news| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=adj7UdFW6cis | work=Bloomberg | title=DDB Technologies and MLB Advanced Media Reach Patent Portfolio}}

MLBAM has also been sued for patent infringement of the Front Row Technologies{{cite web |url=http://www.frontrowtechnologies.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210104850/http://www.frontrowtechnologies.com/ |archive-date=February 10, 2009 |title=MyFrontRow - Your Personal Multimedia Experience}} patent portfolio{{cite web | url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=Front+Row&FIELD1=ASNM&co1=AND&TERM2=Ortiz&FIELD2=INNM&d=PTXT | title=Patent Database Search Results: AN/"Front Row" AND IN/Ortiz in US Patent Collection }} covering the delivery of sports and entertainment video to hand held devices such as smartphones (e.g., iPhone, Android), pad computing devices (e.g., iPad, Kindle, etc.), laptop computers and the like.{{cite web|url=http://www.law360.com/media/articles/166729/front-row-hits-mlb-with-hand-held-video-patent-suit|title=Front Row Hits MLB With Hand-Held Video Patent Suit|work=law360.com}} According to the patent infringement complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas,{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/94843577/Front-Row-Technologies-v-MLB-Advanced-Media-et-al|title=Front Row Technologies v. MLB Advanced Media et. al.|work=Scribd}} MLBAM infringed U.S. Patent Number 8,090,321{{cite web | url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=5&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=%22Front+Row%22.ASNM.&s2=Ortiz.INNM.&OS=AN/%22Front+Row%22+AND+IN/Ortiz&RS=AN/%22Front+Row%22+AND+IN/Ortiz | title=Patent Public Search | USPTO }} entitled "Transmitting sports and entertainment data to wireless hand held devices over a telecommunications network."{{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US8090321?oq=8%2C090%2C321|title=Patent US8090321 - Transmitting sports and entertainment data to wireless hand held devices ... - Google Patents|work=google.com}}

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Category:Major League Baseball mass media

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