Major League Baseball continues to evolve as the sport now finds itself with increases in viewership, attendance, and digital reach in 2025. Between the insertion of pitch clocks, larger bases, managerial challenges, and the end of defensive shifts, MLB has not hesitated in recent years to make the game more appealing to expand to a larger fanbase. Earlier this month, MLB made another investment in its future by announcing a strategic partnership with the wildly popular baseball-centric Jomboy Media.
What started as a hobby between Jimmy “Jomboy” O’Brien and Jake Storiale now finds itself with a major investment from Major League Baseball, bolstering its presence as one of the fastest-growing digital media companies in the country.
“We’re doing new media that I think baseball was a little nervous of us at first. I think we were probably a little nervous of how all of it would work,” said Storiale. “It was just a matter of finding the right time to make it all start to come together. We started having really productive conversations probably 6–8 months ago.”
Jomboy Media has been producing baseball content since its inception in 2017, when Storiale and O’Brien created the Talkin’ Yanks podcast. The creator-led company has built a much larger business spanning social media, digital video, and podcasts—garnering over 93 million social engagements in 2024 earning investments from some of the biggest names in sports and digital media.
Will MLB Have Say in Creator-Led Content?
While some creator-led digital media companies try to bring in talent to cater to all audiences in different sports, Jomboy Media’s content has always stayed true to baseball. Storiale says the focus for content will remain on what Jomboy Media has always done best, but isn’t closing the door on seeking out creators who are passionate about other sports.
“We had some conversations with the NHL in previous years, and I think a little bit with the NFL,” said Storiale. “I don’t know if there was a way to become a creator hub of sorts and work together with the [other] leagues. We’d be very open to that. It starts to get a little complicated and tricky. We just want good creators at Jomboy Media.”
With the new investment from Major League Baseball, Jomboy Media receives access to league and team IP, participate in merchandise and sponsorship collaborations, and have a presence for some of its content on league platforms. Storiale noted that he and O’Brien were very involved in the discussions with MLB leading to the partnership, showing how much they share a passion for the sport.
“One of the first things that MLB said was we’re not going to control you guys. You guys are good at what you do,” explained Storiale. “Our intention throughout was we want to do the stuff we’re currently doing and do it better, and have MLB promoting us and rowing the same direction. We have that now. We didn’t even daydream a lot of the next steps yet because we didn’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
The First Collaboration at the MLB All Star Game
As part of the new partnership with Major League Baseball, Jomboy Media will have added access to create more unique creator-led content. With the MLB All-Star Game approaching in a few weeks, the creative ideas have already begun to flow through the halls of Jomboy Media on how to capture the annual event heading to Atlanta, GA.
“Before [MLB All-Star] was something that MLB owned. For us not being on the same team, it was like, ‘we’re going to be around All-Star weekend and do our own thing.’ Now it’s can we get on the field for batting practice before the Home Run Derby?” noted Storiale. “It’s very refreshing instead of us almost planning around All-Star weekend. It’s kind of cool that we have the avenue open to talk to some people at MLB and say, ‘hey, we want to do this.’ The early conversations have been awesome.”
With the Midsummer Classic as the first MLB event where the newfound partnership will begin to see the collaboration between the two entities, Storiale said he’s looking to dig into the nuts and bolts of creating alongside MLB—utilizing the added access to allow a more in-depth and entertaining look at the All-Star festivities and capitalizing on any opportunity.
“We want to have some talks with the whole MLB content team, the [MLB] Network, socials, and everything they’re doing,” said Storiale. “When we hear, ‘hey, you guys want to be involved in this?’ We look around the room and me and Jimmy’s eyes light up like, ‘yeah, we can crush that.’ That’s what we’re going to go for.”
Storiale says every conversation with Major League Baseball has been a “10 out of 10,” but they are still working through exactly how baseball will be promoting the Jomboy Media content—and vice versa. He notes that he’d personally love to see Jomboy Media podcasts such as Talkin’ Baseball broadcast at Major League Baseball ballparks around the country during pre-game warmups as fans enter the stadium. With the partnership just weeks old, Storiale says he’s excited to see the natural growth within the Jomboy Media creator-led community alongside MLB.
“We believe in creators. That’s what [Jomboy Media] is built on,” noted Storiale. “It’s believing in the right creator. If you have some stomach for baseball, that probably helps our current state of our company. If we have a creator that fits our work ethic and our vibe, they can get involved in Warehouse Games, socials, or baseball. We’ve never told a creator no on something. It’s got to be something that they’re passionate [about].”
Company Expansion Into More MLB Markets
Major League Baseball has teams located in 30 markets across the United States and Canada, with Jomboy Media headquarters located near New York City. Talkin’ Yanks was the podcast that launched the company from the start. Now, nearly a decade later and a worldwide audience to cater to, Storiale said even with the new partnership with MLB, there are no plans to expand outside of their home market.
“Trevor Plouffe and Chris Rose are always poking us about getting some more feet on the ground in Los Angeles because that’s where they live,” joked Storiale. “We like our setup where we’re comfortable size-wise. I think we’re near a 60-person company now, and we feel good in that spot. Even in this current size, we’ve had some organic growth, which has felt good. We currently don’t have anything out there like ‘Chicago 2028,’ and we’re going to be 300 employees. That formula doesn’t really work for us. Our formula is: where is the next win?”
When the agreement was finalized between MLB and Jomboy Media, following the announcement, there was much celebration in the hallways of the digital media outlet. One unnamed investor sent a pricey bottle of champagne to the offices, while Storiale recalled enjoying a very nice dinner to celebrate. However, in true Jomboy Media style, the highlight that sticks out to Storiale following the announcement was a special visit from a legend of baseball lore.
“Something that’ll always be a part of the memory, and it’s just the coincidence of it all,” recalled Storiale. “The day we announced, Bartolo Colon came to our office to visit. That’s always going to be a part of the lasting memory for me. We partnered with MLB, and we had ‘Bart’ in the office.”
As Major League Baseball continues to seek out its next evolution, the hope for Storiale and O’Brien is the continued growth of a passion project—named after an early autocorrect on an iPhone—that will connect fans from all over the world through the national pastime.
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John Mamola is the sports editor and columnist for Barrett Media. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. Honored to be a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Media and honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL). Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
