Social Media Day 2011 on MLB.com Delivers Exclusive Sweepstakes, Contests and Ballpark Mobile Check-In Offers

NEW YORK, June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- As fans are casting their final online votes for the 2011 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot Sponsored by Sprint on June 30, MLB.com and the 30 Club sites will celebrate fan connections to their favorite Clubs and All-Stars and deliver a broad array of digital initiatives to reward fans for those Club loyalties as part of Social Media Day 2011.

Fans "liking" their favorite team's official Facebook page on or before June 30 will be able to enter into a special Social Media Day All-Star Sweepstakes to win a personalized 2011 All-Star Game jersey. In addition, one grand prize winner will be drawn from all eligible entrants and receive four tickets to this year's Midsummer Classic, to be played Tuesday, July 12 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Fans also will be prompted to vote in the 2011 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot Sponsored by Sprint after entering the sweepstakes to help make a final push for their team's top stars.

The 18 Clubs playing games on Social Media Day 2011 each will have a specially-designated All-Star Game-themed hashtag for fans to use in hashtag battles on Twitter. MLB.com will track the results throughout the day, providing regular updates from Club Twitter accounts and @MLB on which fan base is best representing its Club in the hashtag competition, and deliver an exclusive discount to the winning team's online shop.

Each Club, as well as @MLB, will post a memorable photo on its official Web site and allow fans to submit their own personal captions, which automatically will be tweeted to their friends and followers. The best captions will be re-tweeted by the Club's official Twitter account and one tweet will be posted by @MLB to its 1.3 million followers.

Fans attending one of the nine scheduled games on Social Media Day can utilize the check-in feature within MLB.com At Bat 11 to win a free team-specific 'checked-in' t-shirt. All nine home ballparks will have shirts to distribute to fans that check-in via At Bat 11 on iPhone, iPod touch or Android devices at the park. Through At Bat 11, fans additionally will be able to view interactive ballpark maps, post and track messages on Twitter, get expanded video highlights and more.

Social Media Day originally was created in 2010 by Mashable.com as "a day to celebrate media becoming social."

Fittingly, the MLB Fan Cave will mark Social Media Day by passing the mid-way point of the regular season, with 1,215 games watched by MLB Dream Job winner Mike O'Hara and his wingman Ryan Wagner, and "only" have 1,215 games – plus the Postseason – to go at their 15,000 square foot Manhattan "office."  The MLB Fan Cave is a fan engagement platform centered around shareable online content and fan interaction with O'Hara and Wagner via Facebook and Twitter.  O'Hara (@mikeyoh21), Wagner (@rwags614) and the Fan Cave itself (@MLBFanCave) combined have sent more than 7,000 tweets since Opening Day and written more than 160 blog posts, while visits by more than 90 celebrities and MLB players past and present have resulted in more than 150 videos on MLBFanCave.com and distributed through social media and other digital channels.  

SOURCE MLB.com