Inside the Mets meme machine

How New York's irreverent baseball franchise cracked the code on virality

Welcome to Club Sportico! Jacob leads off this week…

Long before the billboards in Times Square, the fan costumes in Citi Field and the meme accounts on X, even before the improbable winning streak followed by the unlikely playoff run, Mets employees knew Grimace had power. They’d seen it.

The lesser-known McDonald’s mascot first went viral last summer, when novelty Grimace Shakes inspired truly insane TikTok videos. Any team could’ve spotted the potential lurking inside that rotund, plum outfit. But it was the Mets who seized it, inviting Grimace to throw out a ceremonial first pitch before their June 12th game, and letting him (her? it?) hang around the ballpark for the rest of the game, a 10-4 win. 

Then the Mets kept winning. They won seven in a row as fans jokingly credited Grimace. The team let the trend develop organically, but fanned the flames with a purple-painted seat in Citi Field and a Grimace cameo in a schedule release video. Maybe most importantly, the players embraced the absurdity themselves.

@nypostsportsPete Alonso credits Grimace for the Mets recent play 😂 #grimace #mets #nymets #petealonso #newyorkmets

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Initially, marketing leaders assumed fans would drop the bit when the team inevitably hit a losing spell. But that never happened. Instead, Grimace Punch¹ is still on the menu after Wednesday night’s 8-0 loss dropped the Mets to 1-2 in the NLCS.

Lucky charms are nothing new in baseball. Angelinos still speak fondly of the early 2000’s rally monkey. Washington rode children’s song “Baby Shark” to a title in 2019—and even included a reference on its championship rings.

What makes the Mets’ 2024 run so magical is just how many memes the team has managed. There’s the OMG song from journeyman second baseman Jose Iglesias, of course, but also Seymour Weiner, Glizzy Iggy, Jiggy Spiderman, and the playoff pumpkin. I’m told “rally pimp” is/was also a thing. The list is basically endless. 

The Mets might not win the World Series… but they’re the clear winner of the 2024 MLB season online. So, how did they do it?

I spoke with a couple execs from the Mets’ social media and marketing departments this week to find out.

In comparison to the Evil Empire across the river, the Mets have historically maintained a fun-loving brand that has allowed executives to think creatively. And right now, platforms like TikTok are eager to promote silly content to a generation that seems to enjoy having fun online rather than engaging in digital combat. (I’d bet there’s a large overlap between the semi-ironic 20-somethings behind the Brat Kamala and Grimace Mets crazes).

Given all that, the Mets’ formula for online success sounded surprisingly simple. 

1. Monitor Trends. The Mets employ numerous young professionals who are emboldened to recommend ideas based on what they see resonating online (e.g. Grimace).

2. Try Stuff. Before a dancing Spiderman went viral, garnering 40 million views on TikTok, the team had tried multiple other “hidden dancer” routines, continuing to iterate until it found a hit.

3. Give Fans a Say. It can be scary to let local wahoos influence a brand’s identity, but New York has let its diehards run wild, embracing the bits of lore they develop—and, crucially, moving on to a new trend before the last one grows stale.

4. Remember You Run a Baseball Team. Mets marketing takes its cues from the players. Even amid the unprecedented tension of a playoff run, the guys in the clubhouse seem eager to remain upbeat, so the rest of the organization is too. “We offer up opportunities for them and we see who leans in,” NYM VP for brand marketing Trisha Donlin said. “We've been lucky because they've been really excited about embracing the moments.”

5. Win. The best way to grow your follower count, according to Mets senior director of social media Will Carafello? Go to the NLCS. “These [memes] become bigger with the fans when the team is playing well,” he said.

New York will try to bounce back Thursday night. If they do, who’s to say what corporate mascot, inanimate object, or otherworldly presence fans thank for the victory. Team employees will be eagerly awaiting the answer. 

 tl;dr: It wasn’t luck. It wasn’t fate. It was Grimace. 💟

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Last week, 44% of you said the contradictory status quo on field storming was fine by you. Weird!

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Now turning it over to Eben for six flavorful sports business takes on bad merch, hockey pseudo-science, “GOAT balls,” and more

Story of the Week ⚽️⚽️⚽️: I genuinely feel bad for everyone involved in unveiling the new name/colors for the NWSL expansion team in Boston. BOS Nation FC and its “Too Many Balls” campaign were roundly mocked on the internet this week. Worse, one of the league’s non-binary players called the campaign transphobic, leading to videos being scrubbed, merch being taken down, and an apology from the team. If there’s a lesson here, I’ll offer this: Don’t use “GOAT balls” as a euphemism in your women’s soccer ad campaign.

Story of the Week (Non-Sportico Division) 🚕 : It’s not sports, but this Bloomberg story about Uber and Lyft quietly rebelling against a worker-friendly New York law is an impressive piece of reporting. It also reminds me about something I wrote last month regarding the Tennessee Volunteers’ new “talent fee.” This is sadly how big business often responds to changes that shift more money to those doing the physical labor.

What Made Me Laugh 🤡: It’s already well documented that embattled New York City mayor Eric Adams knows nothing about baseball. But this hat 👇 says pretty much everything about the hokey way that politicians often try (and fail) to humanize themselves with sports. However, lest we be too hard on Adams, let’s not forget…