Sutton said the All-American Classic marquee game broadcast in particular featured much shorter preparation than normal for him thanks to the turnaround from the home run challenge. But he said that worked out because of the year-long preparation he had from covering the players at other Perfect Game events and doing advanced storytelling preparation with them.
“It was the purity of the storytelling we were doing, and knowing the kids allowed that style of a broadcast,” he said. “You don’t want to minimize the game aspect of it, because kids are throwing 95 and stealing bases and doing spectacular things defensively, but really the goal of the show is to introduce each human being, to introduce their families, their educators, their coaches. So for me, I was reminded that the prep time comes in the weeks and the months and the years leading up that we’ve been with those kids. It was at no point overwhelming, but it was very rewarding when it’s all said and done.”
Sutton does some of that storytelling work in advance through custom surveys and biographical questionnaires sent out to athletes and communication with them around those. He said that’s worked out very well.
“I’m pretty proud of that. You gain that personal touch. …At the end of the day, we do really want to do the quality storytelling and not just pitch a tent for a weekend and be done, ‘See you kids later.’ Other networks could do that, and they should; the resources, they’re doing six thousand sports and six million events, the larger networks, so they don’t have time for that. But we do. And we really challenge ourselves for that part of it.”
Jenks said the storytelling around these prospects is a key differentiator for Perfect Game, and a big part of why fans should check out their broadcasts.
“What they’ll see in addition in our broadcasts is the storytelling that we do. When a broadcaster rolls in for the weekend, they’re not getting that. We’ve spent our lives with these kids over the past how-many years. The Perfect Game All-American Classic spawned the 14U, 13U, 12U and 11U festivals, which are very similar events but at younger ages.
“Ultimately, in the marketing argument, in the marketing case, we’re with these kids at this level, at a national level, presenting to our viewership, from an 11U up. And they introduced the Perfect Game Invitational, which went down from a media side to ages 9, 10, 11, 12.
“Ultimately, we are a marketing arm. But I think Daron and I both like to look at it as ‘We are the storytellers of the future of baseball.’ When we did 750,000 viewers for the sophomore and junior national showcases, yeah, we have to do a junior All-American Game or an All-Star Game, you have to. Those are television-rated numbers right there. We want to do more, we will challenge ownership to do more, and see where it takes us. We’re going to grow.”
Sutton said the storytelling, and the media arm devoted to it, is a big part of how Perfect Game has grown as an organization.
“I think the amazing thing about Perfect Game is it started with the simplest of goals in the mid-90s. ‘We’re an Iowa-based company, we have a lot of great Iowa baseball players, this thing called the internet is starting, how can we gather data and have tryout simulations for athletes so that the University of Florida and USC and UCLA can hear about our midwestern players?’ That’s where it started.
“And now it’s come to the fact where you see 40,000 teams a year, you have MLB alumni of 2,000 athletes. I think conceptually the information about these athletes, you’re looking at the history of the game at the earliest stages. It’s the Genesis of the Bible for these athletes. That’s Perfect Game itself.”
“And then the concept of Perfect Game TV is just the storytelling that goes on, the stories of these athletes. In a world where stories are valuable, where young, passionate people are inspiring, let’s be honest. And then the business side of it, live events draw eyeballs. And I think, for me, that’s where if folks are passionate about great stories and/or baseball at any level, I think it’s wonderful.”
“We’re proud of our storytelling ability. We put the athletes first and their families.”
But he said it’s also vital for them to deliver high production values for their live events.
“The concept of the live game and watching young people play, and the quality of what they’ll see…with all due respect to everyone else doing this, because if everyone’s intentions are good, I don’t care if it’s a single-camera feed. But quite frankly, the quality of what they’ll see will match what they’ll see on a regional sports network for 95 percent of our programming. There are times when we take one for the team because we’re not a billion-dollar budget, and there’s something smaller. But 95 percent of what they’ll see will match anything on a regional sports network. So the quality is a big part of it too.”
Jenks said high production values there also enhance the value of their content in replay syndication to traditional channels, which helps new people learn about Perfect Game and then check out their new content live.
“We have a syndication network that isn’t part of our live, but we syndicate programming to, and that’s 60 million homes strong. So that introduces it to a whole different set. If you’re not in tune with PGTV Media and you stumble onto it on your cable, your NESN or your Bally Sports or whatever, we’re going to tap more there.”
Sutton said working for Perfect Game has been fantastic, and the effort from everyone involved in broadcasts like those around the All-American Classic shows through.
“I find myself working for this unique company in a space where I’m pretty blown away with the amount of support we get in the media and content space. And certainly that kind of support should net the kind of effort that I hope they saw out of all of us, from interns to leadership at the very top.
“At the end of the day, it’s everyone who carries it out. Red hats during games, producers; we have Jason Cardona, who’s worked a full generation on Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy and their production teams and is a really good sports producer, who worked that whole classic with us.”
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“One of the coolest cappers for the whole concept was Hunter Pence, who hosts a show with us weekly. Jim and I and Hunter are in the virtual studio weekly, covering college baseball, and he’s passionate about it. But look, Hunter’s star is rising like crazy right now. He is really, really exploding in content, content creation, he’s an influencer, he’s so unique. And wherever he wants to go be an analyst, he will, whenever he pauses for one second to maybe sit in a booth.
“But the fact that Hunter wanted to remain doing that game with us and take a red-eye to his next commitment in Philly the next day for a three-game series to do Giants’ TV, that blew me away, and made me feel responsible for bringing a high level, a good production, a quality truck. If someone like that wants to be with us, that speaks to the passion for the game.
“Jim and I talked about that for the months leading up, when he said ‘Tell me more details’ and then ‘While it’s a red-eye, I’ll be there.’ And then all of a sudden, you think to yourself ‘Wow, this is special.’ I think it was that simple moment of someone who could do what they want whenever they want choosing us, staying, taking a red-eye to the game…you won’t find a lot of big-leaguers that are comfortable in the life that they’ve led choosing that, and I don’t know that I’d blame them for not choosing that.”
And Sutton said the reception they’ve received from athletes, families, and fans is also a reason to keep going.
“To see that people are watching is really exciting, to understand the growth of our network, the streaming partners that have welcomed us and want us with them,” he said. “I’m very proud of who we are and what we do and how we always keep the kids first.”
