Monster.com Teams With MLB

Monster.com has struck a deal to recruit job candidates for MLB.com for the 2005 Major League Baseball season. It’s an agreement that also involves heavy promotion for the jobs site on the sports league’s Web presence.

Financial terms of the all-online deal weren’t disclosed, but Doug Hall, Monster.com’s director of marketing services, pointed to benefits for both MLB and Monster in the deal.

“Monster has the biggest access to job seekers online, and MLB has a hiring need, so it was natural for them to come to us,” Hall said. “For Monster, we have the opportunity to become affiliated with Major League Baseball at a time when consumers across America are focusing on the great sports property.”

MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the league’s interactive media arm, began showing Monster.com ads in early October on the homepages of MLB.com and its 30 team Web sites. A banner, titled “Click to Get The Ultimate Job with MLB.com,” on the sites’ homepage allows visitors to search job opportunities with MLB.com.

Current openings listed include baseball columnist and stats stringer for many MLB teams. MLB.com is looking for “candidates with solid reporting skills and a strong voice who are as well versed in writing about the sport off the field as they are about the games themselves.” A penchant for long hours, constant travel, and a taste for hot dogs may be considered a plus.

“As the leader in our industry, Monster has been successful helping both national and local companies find quality candidates to grow their businesses,” said Brad Baker, SVP of product and marketing at Monster. “Through this relationship, Monster will help drive talented candidates to nationwide opportunities available with Major League Baseball at a time when traffic to MLB.com is at its highest levels of the year.”

MLB.com saw record single-day traffic and page views on October 20, with more than 8 million fans visiting the site to read about the league championship series, more than double the number of visitors for the same games last year, according to MLB.com.

“Monster appeals to a very broad demographic, as does MLB.com — even more so during the playoffs,” Hall said.

MLBAM last week announced an expansion of its relationship with America Online, launching an Instant Messenger service to access MLB.com content through IM. Since March 2003 AOL has delivered MLB.com’s audio and video content to its broadband members. A similar deal with MSN makes MLB content available to its premium members.

The league has had such success with its interactive offerings, that it has even considered spinning off MLBAM and taking that company public.