ESPN Deportes unveils campaign for Dominican League B-Ball

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Just as the season of Major League Baseball comes to a close, ESPN Deportes has launched its coverage of winter baseball from the Dominican Republic with a new campaign.  Dubbed, “Durante el invierno el béisbol viaja al Caribe,” (During winter, baseball travels to the Caribbean), the campaign trails baseball as it travels south with ESPN Deportes as the winter baseball season returns yet again to the network.  The campaign features animated spots highlighted by a winter baseball themed ‘flight to the island’ and baseball terminology, identifying that the ultimate destination for winter baseball coverage can be found only on ESPN Deportes.


In many Hispanic communities, Baseball is more than just a sport; it is part of their heritage.  As the winter approaches, Caribbean communities, mainly on the east coast, begin to think about the traditions they shared back home, where the weather is warmer and baseball is part of their childhood.  So through this campaign, ESPN Deported is transporting Caribbean fans back to their hometowns for just a few months and this campaign plays on the communities desire to go home for the holidays.

The TV and radio spots feature the voices of Carolina Guillen, host of the network’s weekly baseball show Béisbol Esta Noche as a flight attendant and Dominican Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal along legendary baseball commentator Ernesto Jerez, as captains of the flight. The print creative also reflects this ‘travel’ theme. The designs feature an airline ticket and a safety aircraft card which highlight the message of the campaign as well as contain network tune-in information.

Produced by ESPN Deportes and its creative agency LatinWorks, the campaign will feature television, print, radio, and online support.  Local radio, print and non-traditional executions will be targeted in New York City, Miami, Orlando and Tampa, with NYC’s Washington Heights’ community receiving extra attention. This creative campaign is designed to attract viewers to watch the best of winter baseball from back home while keeping the true sport fan’s passion for baseball burning. 

That’s not all–street teams will infiltrate the streets of Washington Heights the weekend of 11/21 using guerrilla marketing.  Driving Segways around the area, the street team consists of women dressed up as flight attendants with baseball team logos on the caps and men with Dominican baseball uniforms.  The street teams will encourage fans to jump “on-board” and travel with ESPN Deportes to follow the winter baseball season.  Branded items such as travel tags and faux airline tickets complete with information of ESPN Deportes’ coverage of the Dominican Baseball will be distributed in the community to help create a buzz.

“ESPN Deportes challenged us to find a way to connect with both hardcore and casual baseball fans with the goal of increasing awareness and ratings throughout the season, leading up to the Caribbean Series,” said Jaime Gonzalez-Mir, Group Account Director for LatinWorks.  “For this effort, we wanted to show fans that baseball doesn’t end in October and that they can still see top-notch baseball with current and future MLB stars throughout the winter. Additionally, our creative team wanted to reinforce that ESPN Deportes’ on-air talent are baseball experts who share the same passion as the fans watching at home.” 

As part of the ESPN Deportes’ efforts to promote, the network also launched an exclusive theme song called El Rey de la Pelota, written by Leonte Landino and performed by Hector Acosta ‘El Torito.’  The merengue song is inspired by the passion Dominicans have for their baseball and ESPN Deportes’ commitment to their audience and their culture. 

Dominican baseball-related content will be featured across ESPN Deportes and ESPNdeportes.com. ESPN Deportes will feature the return of the network’s renowned group of Dominica baseball commentators.