In New York, there are only about 10 miles separating Yankee Stadium in the Bronx from the Mets’ Citi Field in Queens. In the Southeast, the Atlanta Braves are the only MLB team for hundreds of miles. That leaves the Braves’ marketers with the Southern-sized task of fostering a hometown fanbase that spans six states.
The territory, dubbed by the team as “Braves Country,” got its first big promotional push in 2024, when the team rolled out a campaign platform called “We Are Braves Country.” This year, in time for the team’s home opener on Friday, the team is updating the now-annual marketing effort.
The platform includes traditional ads as well as a wide range of events and initiatives designed to broaden the Braves’ audience while still serving longtime fans. It’s a task that many MLB teams—and the league itself—have undertaken in recent years, but for the Braves’ marketing team, it’s had to stretch across more states than the average remit.
To grow the fanbase without losing touch with the team’s Southern roots, SVP of Marketing Adam Zimmerman told us he is merging classic media tactics like player-centric ads and radio buys with more modern strategies like entertainment and influencer partnerships.
“The Braves are a real source of pride for the region,” Zimmerman told Marketing Brew. “We’re the first professional sports team in the South, and us being a part of the culture is really important. As the South has changed, and as it’s gotten more diverse…the idea of Braves Country continues to change.”
Southern charm
This season’s “We Are Braves Country” campaign, centered around an approximately 90-second hero spot, features studio and action shots of a chunk of the team’s roster, including outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., first baseman Matt Olson, third baseman Austin Riley, and center fielder Michael Harris II.
The creative will change slightly depending on the market it’s running in, Zimmerman said. (Riley, who was born in Memphis, might show up more in ads around Tennessee.) What won’t change, however, is the core message of the campaign, which is about showcasing Southern values, Zimmerman told us.
“One of the things that we do to start each of our ball games is you stand up and you greet your neighbor,” he said. “We are the Atlanta Braves, but we have a responsibility for the city, for the metro area, and for the region.”
The campaign, which will run for the duration of the season, also includes out-of-home, radio, and social ads, as well as spots on the Braves’ new owned-and-operated regional sports network, BravesVision. To make sure the campaign is doing its job across regions, Zimmerman said his team is looking for YoY growth in metrics like ratings, ticket sales, and merch sales, tracked down to the zip code.
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The team’s parent company, Atlanta Braves Holdings, increased its overall revenue by 11% YoY in 2025 to $732 million, with baseball revenue specifically up 7% to $635 million in that time. One-third of the Braves’ ticket sales come from outside of Georgia, according to Zimmerman.
Peanuts and Cracker Jacks
With the debut of BravesVision, which rolled out earlier this year in the wake of an exodus from Main Street Sports Group’s FanDuel Sports Network of regional channels, Braves execs are focused on the broadcast experience. Equally important is engaging fans in real life, Zimmerman said, and not only at Truist Park in Atlanta, where the team plays.
The team is continuing its Braves Country Road Trip this year, which takes experiences, merch, and memorabilia from the Braves’ museum like its World Series trophies on the road to other states in the Southeast. Closer to home, the Braves are hosting a country music festival at Truist Park in June, featuring artists with ties to the region including Cody Johnson and Ella Langley.
“As we think about the brand and how to grow it even more into a lifestyle brand, we lean into the South and things that southerners are proud of,” Zimmerman said.
Beyond country music, the Braves engage with verticals including food, fashion, and college sports, he said. The team, for instance, sells a line of cobranded merch with a handful of colleges in the area. Zimmerman said he often looks to college sports fandom for inspiration, and is considering starting up fan clubs in different markets to further stoke Braves passion outside of Atlanta.
Social media is another clear avenue to connect with fans across state lines, and Zimmerman said his team is working more with influencers and creators and expanding its presence on platforms where its fans are active, like Reddit.
“We’re constantly thinking about, ‘How do we lean into things that define values of the South that everybody can rally around?’…and then also embracing a changing, diverse, technologically savvy South,” he said.
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