Briefs

A new customer relationship management system that MLB.com is installing from SAS will help Major League Baseball use past site search information to deliver more effective online promotions that could boost e-commerce sales.

Right now MLB.com, which also operates MLB.com/Shop, uses multiple information and interactive marketing databases, including past site search data. But MLB.com is embarking on an ambitious CRM system upgrade that will tie together for the first time all disparate data and CRM platforms.

One important component of the project is that now MLB.com/Shop can more easily and thoroughly analyze site search data from millions of baseball fans who click on MLB.com to watch web broadcasts, read content about professional baseball, gather and compare player statistics and shop. By analyzing the site search data MLB.com can then decide which items or specials running on MLB.com/Shop they can use as online advertising during the league`s growing web cast programs. MLB.com offers live audio broadcasts of all games, and in 2003, began selling live video webcasts for roughly half of regular-season games, depending on local-market blackout restrictions. MLB.com had over 500,000 paid subscribers last year, including over 150,000 for its live video service.

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