Ballpark Food As A Tune-In Strategy?

Inside Apple TV’s creator play for Friday Night Baseball

Author

Alex Kopilow
October 02, 2025

👋 Welcome back to Sponcon Sports, a weekly newsletter dedicated to sponsored content strategy in the sports industry!

Three athletes. 10M views. One repeatable format. Red Bull doesn’t just “get” social media, they’ve built a playbook your content team should copy.

This summer, the brand teamed up with Texas QB Arch Manning, Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith, and LOVB Austin’s OH Madisen Skinner. The result? A format that’s as entertaining as it is repeatable.

The setup: challenges that get harder with every round—think Dude Perfect’s Impossible Wall, but with a Red Bull twist (although, they’ve even used the format before in cricket).

  • Jeremiah Smith: Catches footballs dropped from drones (8.3M views)

  • Arch Manning: Hits drones with a football (2.9M views)

  • Madisen Skinner: Serves at faster and faster targets (660K views)

In each video, the can shows up right as the athlete levels up, linking Red Bull directly to peak performance.

And that’s the bigger lesson: repeatable formats win. They scale across athletes, sports, and audiences, delivering views, engagement, and consistent brand positioning every time.

In Today’s Edition:

  • Apple Hungry For Viewership 📺️

  • Pirates Coffee Break 🃏

  • Storm Grin And Win 😁 

Busy fall ahead—excited to share where I’ll be speaking!

First up: the SBJ NSF Virtual Fall Summit next Thursday.

In my session (pictured above), we’ll dig into why content and partnerships teams keep getting stuck—and how to fix the system so everyone wins: the brand, the fans, and your team’s sanity. Whether you’re building your first digital inventory or trying to stretch limited resources into better ideas, you’ll leave with actionable tools, seven research tricks, and six must-have processes to create content that’s not just sellable—but worth celebrating.

👉 Register for free here.

Then on November 18, I’ll be on a panel at SBJ Media Innovators in New York City with Leanda Helms (VP, Creative & Content, Boston Celtics) and Jason Lavine (SVP, Brand Creative & Content Production, L.A. Chargers). Together, we’ll break down how to monetize sports content fans actually want.

👉 Register here.

And there’s more to come! If you’re planning to attend any of these events, let me know so we can connect.

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
Inside Apple TV’s Creator Play For Friday Night Baseball

Ballpark food and baseball go hand in hand—but ballpark food as a tune-in strategy? That’s exactly what Apple TV+ pulled off by teaming up with food creator Jack Goldburg (@JacksDiningRoom) for Friday Night Baseball.

Rather than leaning on a traditional sports creator, Apple tapped Jack to bring a fresh—but still authentic—lens to baseball. He’s known for reviewing everything from over-the-top premium dining to hidden gems around the world.

With 4.1M followers across Instagram and TikTok—and videos that regularly hit 7–8 figure view counts—Jack brought reach, engagement, and cultural credibility to Apple’s campaign.

And his track record speaks for itself:

How The Campaign Worked

From August 22 to September 20, Jack attended Friday Night Baseball games in Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. He posted three stadium review videos across Instagram and TikTok, highlighting the best ballpark food and including verbal + written calls to action to watch that night’s game on Apple TV+.

Results: 6 posts → 6.7M views, 411.5K engagements, and a 6.2% engagement rate.

Let Jack Cook Eat

Apple showed restraint here. Many brands would have likely asked Jack to share content of himself physically watching or preparing to watch Friday Night Baseball. Imagine Jack at home, reviewing a full spread of delivery food with the same tune-in call to action.

Instead of forcing Jack into contrived concept, they let him stick to his proven format:

“I’m at [stadium] trying the best food at [stadium].”

That hook feels native to his channel, keeping fans engaged without screaming ad.

Plus, the verbal call to action isn’t forced into the beginning of the videos. Instead, it shows up midway and again at the end. While many marketers might insist on branding within the first three seconds, it’s balanced out by a clear caption push. The message was always present, even if it’s not spoken right off the bat.

It’s Evergreen

Keeping the video consistent with Jack’s usual content is essential to the evergreen nature of this series.

Ballpark food reviews are highly searchable, especially before each new season when fans plan their trips. That means these videos can resurface in search long after the campaign ends, continually tying back to Friday Night Baseball.

The stronger the performance and the more balanced the integration (rather than an ad interruption), the more likely this campaign’s content will surface in fan searches—giving the Friday Night Baseball message new life.

Quick disclaimer: Apple may lose Friday Night Baseball rights despite its seven-year deal. If that happens, the evergreen angle won’t matter, but the strategy remains a smart playbook for your next campaign.”

And placement mattered: Fenway Park, Truist Park, and Dodger Stadium are iconic venues—highly searched and primed to pull in big audiences.

Smart Channel Mix

It was great to see Apple (likely) pay more to maximize distribution, having Jack cross-post on Instagram and TikTok. Both channels have ~2M followers, but the results skewed differently:

  • Instagram: 4.08M views | 159.1K engagements | 3.9% ER

  • TikTok: 2.60M views | 252.4K engagements | 9.7% ER

Instagram delivered 57% more views, while TikTok generated 59% more engagements and a 149% higher engagement rate.

Case in point: Jack’s Dodger Stadium TikTok drew 1.8M views (22% fewer than the Instagram Reel at 2.3M) but pulled 169.8K engagements—7% more than all three Instagram Reels combined.

What I’d Do Next Time

If I were running this playbook again, I’d make a few small tweaks:

  • Timing: Launch the series in March/April to capture SEO value throughout the entire season.

  • Retargeting: If budget allows, pay to have Jack share a custom audience of anyone who viewed the posts for retargeting.

  • Market Selection: Keep focusing on large fan bases, but expand into New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Also look at stadiums with new or noteworthy premium experiences worth highlighting.

These optimizations turn a strong campaign into a more impactful one and push the strategy beyond awareness.

The Takeaway

This campaign worked because Apple let the creator do what he does best—while backing it up with smart distribution and strategic placement. If you want sponsored content to resonate, stop trying to reinvent the creator and instead plug into what already works.

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🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

If you’re working with a coffee or cards brand, you NEED to steal the “Coffee Breaks” concept from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Sheetz.

I’ve seen plenty of teams do Speak Out challenges, but the Seattle Storm nailed it by putting Delta Dental on their twist of Shot Clock Trivia.

After signing a multi-year deal with On, Afrobeats superstar Burna Boy joined tennis legend (and fellow On ambassador) Roger Federer on Complex’s GOAT Talk. They rocked On gear, picked their GOAT On sneaker, and the brand even had the pre-roll ad.

This week I found out there’s a Philadelphia Eagles fan podcast called Chips and Salsa. Naturally, the team brought them to Lincoln Financial Field and surprised the hosts with sideline passes—hidden in a Tostitos bag, the NFL’s official chip-and-dip sponsor.

Real Madrid slid in some Nivea Men product placement during a dressing room preview. Smart, subtle, and associates the brand with pregame prep. This strategy can be used for uniform reveals, if the featured players have brand deals of their own.

Shoutout to the Brooklyn Nets, whose ticket-sales content (sponsored by Ticketmaster) on paid social borrows from organic trends, making it feel like native content fans already consume.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

Tunnel Vision: When you’re trying to grow a fanbase, you’ve got to stand out. The WNBA nailed it, announcing Paige Bueckers as Rookie of the Year via The Jennifer Hudson Show’s viral spirit tunnel series.

High-Income Sports Fans: PwC surveyed affluent sports fans about their habits. The takeaway? Go social-first to give high-income fans the experience they expect [via Alyssa Meyers, Marketing Brew].

Kickstart The Brand: Ricardo Fort made the case for how clear brand positioning and strong marketing can unlock new revenue streams in football.

No Logo, No Problem: Nirupam Singh shared a case study on how Smartsheet drove growth with McLaren F1, not by slapping on a bigger logo, but by removing it. The deep dive includes exclusive interviews and internal docs from the SponsorX campaign [via The Commercial Table].

Live And Kicking: Oliver Trenchard broke down Dan Gorringe’s (@DanDoesFooty) collab with the AFL: a live YouTube watch-along being the latest indicator that could shape the future of sports content and sponsorship [via Notice].

🏃 BEFORE YOU GO
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