The Major League Baseball season was originally delayed for almost four months after concerns about the Coronavirus threatened the safety and health of MLB players, personnel, and fans. After weeks of negotiations, the MLB season officially began with Opening Night on July 23 and Opening Day on July 24, 2020. Over the weekend BrandGraph, IZEA’s social intelligence platform, reported a spike in social media content and engagement for MLB brands as the delayed season finally began. Here is a look at BrandGraph’s Top Trending Brands for this week:
Trending Brands for the Week of July 26, 2020
- Washington Nationals (@nationals)
- Los Angeles Dodgers (@dodgers)
- San Francisco Giants (@sfgiants)
- St. Louis Cardinals (@cardinals)
- Baltimore Orioles (@orioles)
The Washington Nationals, the 2019 World Series Champion, faced off against the New York Mets for Opening Night on July 23 in an empty Nationals Park Stadium. Before the game, both teams knelt in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement reigniting conversations on whether kneeling is an appropriate form of protest. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the Coronavirus Task Force, threw the first pitch while wearing a Washington Nationals face mask. The Nationals lost 4-1.
The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium 8-1 on Opening Night July 23. Before the National Anthem, players from both teams knelt in a moment of silence honoring the Black Lives Matter movement. It was announced on July 22 that Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts signed a 12-year contract extension with the organization for $365 million. The deal includes a $65 million signing bonus, keeping Betts with the Dodgers through the 2032 season. Betts now has the second-largest contract in MLB history.
Alyssa Naken, San Francisco Giants coach and the first female coach in MLB history, made her debut opening night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants joined the Dodgers by kneeling for a moment of silence in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement. However, Pitcher Sam Coonrod opted out of kneeling with his peers arguing that he “can’t kneel before anything besides God.”
St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, wore an “I Can’t Breathe” Black Lives Matter t-shirt after the National Anthem during the Spring Training game against Kansas City Royals. Flaherty’s t-shirt added to the conversation of whether sports are appropriate spaces for socio-political issues. The 11x World Series Champions won their opening game on July 24 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium 4-5.
The Baltimore Orioles game against the Miami Marlins was canceled after at least 14 Marlins players and coaches tested positive for Covid-19. On July 29, Orioles players and community mourned the loss of Mosilla “Mo” Gaba. The 14-year-old Orioles super-fan was blind and battled cancer. Gaba is the second fan to ever be elected into the Orioles Hall of Fame.
BrandGraph Trends is designed to help marketers identify, compare, and contrast momentum among brands, topics, and concepts in social media. Powered by IZEA’s proprietary content classification engine, BrandGraph Trends allows marketers to benchmark any keyword against a brand or groups of brands in a general industry or specific category.
Those interested in learning more about BrandGraph Trends can request a product demonstration at izea.com/brandgraph/get-a-demo.
