How Does The Future Of Baseball Fandom Look? Online Personality Jimmy O'Brien Turns Commentary Around
DENVER (CBS4) - One of baseball's rising personalities went to a Denver bar to meet with local fans and prove the youth movement among fans is strong.
"We've made our presence felt in the baseball space. We plan on going past baseball when we can. We just love the game so it's really just about being fun, being passionate and letting your opinions speak for yourself I guess," said Jimmy O'Brien, or as some know him, Jomboy. "There's definitely a huge space for fan-made media. We're a Yankees company. We love it. We love baseball. We like the players and giving them a voice and exposing their personalities. Shinning a light on the players and the fun of the sport."
O'Brien started tweeting about Yankees games a few years ago, but has sense grown a company into a media empire consisting of huge social media following and growing podcast library.
"It started because I was living at my now-wife, then-girlfriend's house with her family, and I had no one to talk about baseball with. I love the Yankees. I watch every single game. I took to Twitter, I just started tweeting every game. Took that into making videos, making a podcast, and seeing if people would tune into longer form stuff and now it's everything," O'Brien said.
Jomboy Media added live events to the portfolio as dozens of fans paid for a VIP-experience and watch party for the MLB All-Star Game at Improper City in the RiNo neighborhood on Tuesday.
"They're nothing like SportsCenter. They cover what's actually important. Yea they go off on tangents occasionally, but that's the fun of it. They cover what's actually happening," said Thomas Gentry who made the trip up to Denver from his home in Colorado Springs. "It isn't every day that the All-Star game is an hour and a half away, and the guys I listen to three times are week are coming. I had to come meet them."
Concerns have swirled around baseball for years that the fanbase is too old. The crowd at the event on Tuesday night proved there's a following of very young fans, and their interest can be captured on multiple platforms where Jomboy Media is thriving.
"They're funny, they breakdown complicated subjects like stats that aren't just batting average and ERA and make it easy to understand. It's that combination of the fan perspective and the pro perspective that make it so easily digestible," Gentry said.
"Those are the people that make it all worthwhile," O'Brien said about his fans. "For us, and other people just like us, to come in, make fun content and let baseball fans know you're okay, you're allowed to like this sport. It's awesome!"
