Major League Baseball All-Stars shined bright in Los Angeles contributing to a successful week of All-Star ballpark and fan events, innovative broadcast elements, community enrichment activities, social engagement, youth baseball and softball events, and more. Following are highlights from a memorable 2022 MLB All-Star Week.

Innovative Game Presentation & Special Tributes

Two-Way Conversations During the Game: Seven MLB All-Stars participated in entertaining live two-way conversations with FOX Sports announcers Joe Davis and John Smoltz while competing on the field. This video captures the highlights of the conversations: Mic'd Up All-Star Highlights. MLB continues to be at the forefront for delivering live two-way conversations with players competing on the field while interacting with announcers in the booth.

Ump Cam Debuts: Home Plate Umpire Bill Miller wore a newly created Ump Cam capturing a clear and unique perspective of action from behind the plate. Development of the new camera system started in 2019 and was most recently tested in the Arizona Fall League and 2022 Spring Training. Here is a link: Best of Ump Cam

Jackie Robinson Tribute: MLB partnered with The Famous Group to pay tribute to Jackie Robinson, 75 years after he broke the color barrier through the use of Mixed Reality technology prior to the All-Star Game. The tribute, which featured Academy Award-winning Actor Denzel Washington, showcased key moments from the Baseball Icon's career and legacy inserted digitally into the live ceremony. Here is a link: Jackie Robinson Tribute

Rachel Robinson Tributes: Two special tributes were made to Rachel Robinson in appreciation of her contributions to our sport and society and in celebration of her 100th birthday. First, Dodgers All-Star Mookie Betts gathered his fellow All-Stars to the field rallying the crowd to collectively say "Happy Birthday Rachel!" MLB also celebrated Rachel Robinson’s 100th birthday with a video tribute honoring her legacy, voiced by Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer and produced by MLB Network. Here is a link: Rachel Robinson feature.

New Derby Stats and Record Viewership: ESPN2’s Statcast alternate presentation of the T-Mobile Home Run Derby introduced four new metrics which included swing speed, attack angle, contact point, and squared up percentage. Derby champ Juan Soto posted the highest average swing speed in each round of the alternate presentation which drew 858,000 viewers making it the most-watched Statcast simulcast since its debut in 2018.

Event Attendance

Dodger Stadium Packed: The three days of MLB All-Star ballpark events generated combined attendance of 152,182, making this the most-attended series of All-Star ballpark events in 14 years (2008, Yankee Stadium).

Fan Events Turn Out Big Crowds: Combined attendance for Capital One PLAY BALL PARK and the Capital One All-Star Oceanfront at the Santa Monica Pier and Beach was 151,600. The breakdown saw PLAY BALL PARK attendance at 122,375 over four days and the Oceanfront registered 29,225.

MLB Draft Expands: MLB All-Star Week produced the first-ever outdoor MLB Draft which took place from Xbox Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles. The event drew more than 1,100 fans and more than 200 media, both records for the expanding event.

MLB Goes Hollywood: The MLB All-Stars and their families dressed up to walk the red carpet Hollywood-style in front of a large crowd of fans at Xbox Plaza for the MLB All-Star Red Carpet Show on Tuesday before heading to Dodger Stadium for the 92nd All-Star Game.

Merchandise Records

Ballpark Record: Dodger Stadium set an All-Star ballpark merchandise sales record surpassing the previous record by more than +60% over the 2008 All-Star events at Yankee Stadium.

PLAY BALL PARK Record: The Fanatics-operated MLB Store set an all-time sales record for PLAY BALL PARK at the Los Angeles Convention Center over the course of only four days.

E-commerce Record: All-Star merchandise sales on MLBShop.com and Fanatics recorded the highest sales in history and are up +57% from 2021. More Nike All-Star jerseys and New Era All-Star caps were sold on MLBShop.com than ever before.

A Diverse & Global Game

Diverse Draft Class: The MLB Draft featured historic gains in diversity. Black players made up four of the first five selections for the first time in Draft history, with all four players being alumni of the DREAM Series, a diversity-focused development programming offered in part by MLB & USA Baseball. Additionally, six of the first 18 picks were Black (33%), with all being alumni of MLB Development programming. Overall, nine players in the first round were Black (30%), the most by total and percentage since 1992 when 10 of the 28 first round selections were Black (35.7%).

Diverse All-Star Rosters: There were 31 internationally-born players on the All-Star rosters (38.8%) from 10 countries and territories outside of the U.S. Additionally, 45 of the 80 All-Stars (56.3%) come from diverse backgrounds.

Worldwide Distribution: The 2022 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard was broadcast live to 210 countries and territories in 16 languages.

Japan: The 2022 MLB All-Star Game averaged a 7.1 household rating on NHK G in Japan, the most-watched All-Star Game on any NHK channel since at least 2009.

Canada: With six Blue Jays representing the American League in this year’s Midsummer Classic, the 2022 All-Star Game was the most-watched All-Star Game since 2016 with an increase of +37% vs. 2021 and +126% compared to 2019. This was the second most-watched All-Star Game there since at least 2009.

Dominican Republic: Four home-grown talents, including the champion Juan Soto and runner-up Julio Rodríguez, competed in this year’s T-Mobile Home Run Derby, driving it to be the most-watched Derby since 2012 with an increase of +82% vs. 2021 and +12% compared to 2019.

Dominican Republic: The 2022 Midsummer Classic was the most-watched All-Star Game in the DR since at least 2009 with an increase of +114% vs. 2021 and +145% compared to 2019.

Media Interest: MLB issued 3,405 media credentials for Dodger Stadium, which is the highest All-Star total since 2013 when Citi Field hosted All-Star festivities and 3,537 credentials were issued.

Community Engagement

$6 Million Legacy Program: MLB, the Dodgers and Dodgers Foundation completed more than $6 million in contributions – dating back to 2020 – to benefit nonprofit organizations and make an impact on the lives of individuals throughout Greater Los Angeles. The 2022 All-Star Legacy initiative addressed equity gaps in sports-based youth development, education, homelessness and military veterans’ issues.

Cleaning the Beach: MLB partnered with Heal The Bay, Players For The Planet and Corona to clean-up a portion of the Santa Monica Beach. More than 375 volunteers picked up 167 pounds of trash over the course of the two-hour event.

Play Ball at All Levels: MLB hosted players, ages 17 and under, from 10 of its Youth Academies and RBI programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico for a baseball and softball tournament at its original academy, the Compton Youth Academy. MLB Develops Program in Puerto Rico won baseball’s Commissioner’s Cup and Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy won softball’s Jennie Finch Classic presented by Arm & Hammer. In addition, the league hosted the MLB-USA Baseball High School All-American Game, Jr. Home Run Derby National Finals, the High School Home Run Derby, the Miracle League Game for L.A. kids with special needs, and clinics for kids connected to Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS).

On-Field Recognition and Access

Active Legends Recognized: Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera were chosen as special All-Star selections by MLB in recognition of their outstanding careers and their contributions to the game. Pujols and Cabrera are two of the three players in history to register 3,000 hits, 500 home runs and 600 doubles, along with Hall of Famer Hank Aaron.Playing in his final season and last career All-Star Game, Pujols addressed the National League team before the game, which was captured by MLB Network here.

Hometown MVP: Giancarlo Stanton was named the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP presented by Chevrolet after total of 549,979 fans voted on the award. Stanton, a Southern California native, received the award from Dodger partner, tennis legend and social trailblazer Billie Jean King and former Dodger All-Star Steve Garvey.

Ceremonial First Pitch Featuring Mexican Stars: The ceremonial first pitch of the Midsummer Classic was thrown by Dodger legend Fernando Valenzuela, whose batterymate was a fellow Mexico native, All-Star catcher Alejandro Kirk of the Blue Jays.

Play Loud: The T-Mobile Home Run Derby participants were mic’d up for the competition as part of MLB’s Play Loud original content featured on YouTube. Here is a video which captures player interactions and personalities during the event: Play Loud: HR Derby

Fan Engagement

Player Social Program: 57 MLB players posted All-Star content provided by the league through the Player Social Program.

MLB.com Traffic Increases: MLB.com article traffic from All-Star Sunday-Tuesday was the highest in the history of the site on those three days and marked an increase of +47% over last year during the same period.

The First Latin Verzuz at MLB All-Star House: The first Latin Verzuz producer battle between reggaeton pioneers DJ Nelson and Luny from Luny Tunes registered more than 204 million impressions and more than 587,000 views on the livestream eclipsing the total views of the first producer battle between Timbaland and Swizz Beatz (March 2020). The event was streamed across multiple platforms and was hosted at MLB All-Star House, a social hub for creators, celebrities, and influencers.

Sony’s MLB The Show Puts on a Show: Gamers hit over 1.5M home runs in MLB The Show 22 with the eight Home Run Derby participants between July 16-20; this is the second-most homers hit during the All-Star Week time period in the history of the video game.

Virtually Outta Here: Fans hit nearly 25,000 home runs in Home Run Derby VR over the four days of PLAY BALL PARK in the LA Convention Center.

All-Star Creator’s Cup Debuts to Big Crowd: In between Media Day and Workout Day batting practice, over 500,000 people tuned in to watch the first-ever All-Star Creator’s Cup – a video game tournament of MLB The Show inspired by the pro-am concept.

Home Run Derby in Your Hands: MLB’s Home Run Derby Mobile game saw a +40% increase in number of fans installing the game on their personal devices.

Predictions Gone Long: The T-Mobile Home Run Derby Bracket Challenge saw a +15% increase in entrants over 2021 as everyone tried to predict who would win the long ball contest in Los Angeles.

Catch a Signed Ball: Derby participants each signed two dozen baseballs that were used during the event giving lucky fans the chance to catch balls autographed by the players.

Social Media Engagement

Video Views: MLB accumulated over 74M video views of Celebrity Softball, Home Run Derby, and the All-Star Game across TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Twitter: Twitter posts around the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game generated +63% more video views vs. 2021.

Facebook: Facebook video posts saw +33% more engagements for the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game vs. 2021.