Baseball United Awarded Top Honors in AVA Digital Marketing Awards
The new league was recognized for excellence in integrated marketing, live events, and international broadcasting
Published March 12, 2024
DUBAI, UAE (March 12, 2024) – Baseball United, the first professional baseball league focused on the Middle East and Indian Subcontinent, announced today that it has received the highest recognition at the 2024 AVA Digital Marketing Awards, a global marketing and creative competition administered by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.
Baseball United earned a Platinum-level award for its Live Virtual Player Draft, as well as two Gold-level awards for its Dubai-based Integrated Marketing Campaign and International Broadcast serving more than 120 countries. Together, these awards represent the highest tiers of recognition among thousands of entries from top agencies and businesses around the globe for work completed in 2023.
“We are very grateful to receive this recognition honoring such a historic year for our business and for the game of baseball,” said Kash Shaikh, Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Baseball United. “As we worked to bring America’s pastime to a new region, we knew that differentiated marketing - especially within the digital and social space - would be critical. Despite the many challenges that come with building a new league and constructing a global ecosystem, our team continued to imagine, develop, and create content and campaigns that connected with people across the world. I am very proud of the team’s great work.”
Baseball United’s first-ever Player Draft was hosted as a completely virtual event in which the league’s first four franchises selected 80 professional players from around the world. The Mumbai Cobras, Kararchi Monarchs, Dubai Wolves, and Abu Dhabi Falcons each added 20 players to their rosters, including former Major League Baseball (MLB) stars like Robinson Cano, Bartolo Colon, Pablo Sandoval, and Andrelton Simmons. Nearly half of the players selected played for MLB teams. Players were announced with custom graphics and content packages through an online stream at baseballunited.com.
The AVA Digital Marketing awards recognize outstanding achievement by creative professionals who lead the concepting, direction, design, and production of media that is driving the evolution of digital communication. The awards are judged by several thousand production, marketing, communication, advertising, and public relations professionals seeking companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry. Past AVA Award winners have included AT&T, McKinsey, Saatchi & Saatchi, and NBCUniversal.
Baseball United partnered with BSB Group International as its agency of record to lead the strategy and execution of its core marketing initiatives in the United States and the UAE. BSB Group International is an end-to-end growth agency that provides marketing and business-building services to fortune 500 companies and fast-growing startups.
To learn more about Baseball United, visit baseballunited.com.
About Baseball United
Baseball United is the first professional baseball league focused on the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent. Baseball United’s inaugural Showcase event in Dubai was broadcast in 127 countries, reaching 200 million households. Our mission is to inspire one billion new fans to fall in love with baseball. Our ownership group includes award-winning entrepreneur, Kash Shaikh, and several inspiring baseball legends, including Mariano Rivera, Barry Larkin, Adrián Beltré, Felix Hernandez, Robinson Cano, and Ryan Howard. In addition to our professional league, the Baseball United ecosystem spans youth development, federation partnerships, media and content production, merchandise, and non-profit outreach. With over 30 nationalities represented on our team rosters and a new suite of innovative game changes, Baseball United is working to create a new future for baseball in one of the fastest growing and most culturally diverse regions in the world.
Media Contacts:
Allison Baker, VP BSB Group International –
allison@bsbgroupintl.com,
513.607.0911