MLB invests a minority stake in Jomboy Media, a breakdown
What does it mean?
Jomboy media has come a long way from the days of lip reading and pointing out goofy fan reactions. Jimmy O’Brien, aka Jomboy, and his partner Jake Storiale started Jomboy Media back in 2017, seeing it as a “fun hobby,” just making YouTube videos and seeing if anyone even likes them. Eight years and millions of subscribers later, Major League Baseball has given them the ultimate cosign… investment.
According to an article from APNews.com, “Both sides are also expected to collaborate on IP growth and ad opportunities around MLB’s key events, including the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby.”
Jimmy has also said in his own announcement that Jomboy Media will “maintain compete creative control” moving forward. I love that Jomboy made that a priority and its going to see what guardrails that the league’s involvement set. Will content continue to feature swearing? How will the upcoming CBA negotiations be covered? I guess we will have to wait and see.
All of that aside, I’m extremely happy for everyone at Jomboy. It’s hard to grow a business at all, especially a media company. Also, this move opens up IP and loosens the iron copyright grip on content that MLB is notorious for. Hopefully this marks a willingness of the game of baseball to open up even further to more independent creators in the spirit of growing the game. The real indicator will be if they begin partnering with creators without needing a level of ownership. That is something we haven’t yet seen, but I am hopeful for what the future may bring.
This is a big step in the right direction. There is so much innovation in baseball content out there and thats where the next generation of baseball players & fans are. MLB seems to be finally meeting them where they’re at. W.