The Top Trending MLB Celebrity Couples and what makes them stand out? How players’ wives and girlfriends have helped create marketable brands.
Major League Baseball (MLB) has gone global, and the market is currently growing in leaps and bounds. While the number of fans at individual games may be down to the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains one of the most popular and biggest sports in the USA. The MLB continues to dominate ticket sales across the other major leagues due to the large number of games played.
A large part of this interest is also in the players’ wives and girlfriends (wags). In addition, there is a renewed respect for the importance of the power couple, or ‘the other half’ in sporting circles. Top players with a healthy brand generally have stable relationships respected worldwide and are able to grow a team following on the global stage.
Baseball is a major sport in the USA
Second only to the NFL, baseball or the MLB is seeing records in viewership and, in particular, streaming numbers. The first two weeks of the season saw more than 1.5 million viewers watching the Sunday night game – more than all of the viewers for the entire 2020 season. A large proportion of these followers also follow the lifestyles of the players and the glam and glitz that accompanies them and their entourages. The main point of interest is the wags.
Wags and baseball
There is a long history of heightened popularity of players and their wives or girlfriends, and there are some power couples that have emerged over time. But the use of social media and reality segments of player lives on MTV, sports programs, and the news has meant that the players’ lives are just as important as the effort they put in for their teams on game day.
Mike Trout and Jessica Cox: He has been the best player in the game, and she’s his wife after being his longtime girlfriend. They are the perfect baseball couple, and his lifestyle and their unity go a long way to making him the fan’s choice that he is.
Jamie Edmondson and Evan Longoria: They are the epitome of a celebrity couple, and many have said that Jamie’s game has gone up a notch or two with Eva’s influence. They are a modern career couple, and he continues to show real hunger for the game on the field for the Giants.
Clayton and Ellen Kershaw: They present a very different side of the celebrity couple; having been together since their teens, their faith and involvement in charity have seen them gain popularity across the globe. He will also be a hall of famer; again, beside him will be a powerful, strong, beautiful woman.
Some of the best MLB teams have realized the importance of the power couple to their brand, and gone are the days where the beautiful lady on a player’s arm was only that. The growth of social media and the ability of baseball greats to connect directly with fans means that fans now feel a personal connection with their favorite sports players and their personal lives.
There are now players managed by their partners, player and partner brands that are bigger than the player, and the ability to go global based on both their on and off-field games.
