Major League Baseball and WWE announced a multi-year partnership on Thursday to, according to a release, “create MLB-inspired WWE Championship title belts and accessories featuring the logos of all 30 MLB Clubs from around North America.
"“As part of the agreement, MLB and WWE will collaborate to design and manufacture team-branded title belts as well as belts that celebrate some of the league’s Jewel Events such as the World Series, All-Star Game and Home Run Derby. Additionally, the two sides will create custom side plates and unique Lucha Libre masks.”"
.@MLB and WWE announced today a multi-year partnership to create MLB-inspired #WWEChampionship replica titles, coming to stores in 2022!
— WWE (@WWE) August 19, 2021
For more 👉 https://t.co/1G4Gg4boVl pic.twitter.com/1Xpx024sEt
So yes, Pete Alonso will likely be holding up a WWE-style belt if he wins the Home Run Derby next year at Dodger Stadium. Off the top rope, it’s a new way to market product to consumers.
Here are some of the biggest questions surrounding the WWE-MLB partnership
What happens to the Swagg Chain the San Diego Padres have bestowed upon those hitting home runs? What’s the future for the MVP chain for the Colorado Rockies, given to each player who contributed the most to that game’s win? Will we now be seeing belts WWE-style belts floating around after a win or even during a game? It will be little surprise to see Juan Soto smack a home run and be bestowed with the Nationals WWE belt when he gets back to the dugout in 2022.
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But it’s not just next season where the two corporations have already crossed paths. The WWE-MLB crossover has already been happening with plenty of MLB players flashing replica belts during interviews or in the clubhouse. An example was earlier this season after the Opening Day win for the Detroit Tigers as Matthew Boyd brought a belt in with him to the postgame Zoom interview.
And don’t forget the Dodgers had a custom belt created by WWE after their World Series win last season.
With team-branded title belts in the merchandise mix, don’t be surprised to see more and more of the individualized celebrations going away and replaced with more opportunities for MLB to market an item that can be easily purchased in stores. The WWE-MLB partnership is, at its very core, a marketing deal, and one that should be quite lucrative.
Yes, we can smell what MLB and WWE are cooking, and it is profits and possibilites.