Branded Entertainment in Baseball

Ron Watermon • October 12, 2022

Lessons in Video Storytelling Fun From Major League Baseball

St. Louis, MO – October 12, 2022 – Yesterday I had a chance to catch up with a good friend for breakfast and we couldn’t help but share our mutual disappointment that the Cardinals season is now over. While I share most fans disappointment, I don’t get mad at the team for losing. It is part of the game.

Credit the Phillies for coming into Busch Stadium and sweeping the Cardinals. One thing you learn working in baseball for as long as I did is you can’t allow what happens on the field to drive your emotions too much.

Don’t get me wrong. While my heart is with the Cardinals, I see the game of baseball as entertainment. You buy a ticket or tune in to be entertained. Win or lose, you should find enjoyment in the game and recognize it is a game.

Baseball isn’t a necessity in life. It is entertainment. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to live without it. I’m just saying it isn’t healthcare or food. You have choices in where you spend time and money. And what brands get your discretionary entertainment dollar.

Major League Baseball provides extraordinary entertainment and I believe a sense of belonging that transcends other forms of entertainment. You feel a sense of fellowship with other fans in sharing a common goal and experience. We root not only for the team, but the players. Yadi. El Hombre. Waino.

I care as much about those individual players as I do for the team. I’m proud of what they accomplished and am grateful for all my found memories and our shared story.

And I will continue to feel a connection to them long after they walk off that playing field for the last time. #4 & #5 are retired. The players that is. I’m sure the numbers will be soon.

#50 or @UncleCharlie is still going strong. I hope he comes back. He is not only a great pitcher, but an amazing guy (and a good actor, which I will get to in a moment) and one my son Charlie’s favorite players.

As fans, we have a shared story with our favorite teams and feel part of the story of the players and teams we support. That element of storytelling weaves through everything. It was something I recognized when I was the chief storyteller (a.k.a. VP of Communications) for the St. Louis Cardinals. Great teams build a shared story that transcends typical marketing.

When I went to work for the Cardinals, I didn’t see them really as a “business” per say. They are like religion in my community. Why is that? I would suggest to you that it is our shared story.

Working for the team in communications, I was always thinking about creative ways to have fun sharing the story of the team. While I always say brand journalism as the foundation of the team’s video storytelling, I have always loved the more creative storytelling techniques from popular culture.

In alternative universe, I could see myself as a writer for SNL or a budding filmmaker. I’ve been writing scripts and doing films since I was a kid. I was the kid with a super 8 camera who convinced his friends to do silly things on screen. I was a TikToker before that was a thing or when that was simply the sound a clock made.

I would do stop motion animation and pixilation with my friends. I wrote my first musical in the 4th grade. Sadly, Sister Francine vetoed performing it.

With that as a background, it should come as no surprise that I brought that mindset to my job at the Cardinals. I convinced my front office colleagues to spell out #YadiYadiYadi with their bodies in the outfield at Busch when Vine was a thing (also long before TikTok).

When some front office colleagues wrote a silly parody song, they came to me to help create a music video because they knew that no idea would be too silly for me. From my vantage point, the brand of the Cardinals was a media outlet. We could create compelling video content that fans would enjoy and share.

The type of content could vary. Music videos. Movies. TV shows. You name it, if time and budgets allowed, anything is possible. I can see the gamification of storytelling and meta storytelling as being a viable way for teams to connect with fans.

Baseball in particular should be diving into more brand entertainment video and creative engagement efforts to capture the imagination, interest and attention of young fans. I can tell you from my own observation that they are losing young fans to other sports.

My son and his friends are much more interested in virtually anything other than watching baseball on TV. That is why I applaud the league for miking players, interviewing coaches and upping the production value of the game broadcasts.

I’ll share a couple of quick experiences of our efforts to do brand entertainment storytelling with video. The first is what I coined as project #NestFlix, my tip of the cap to how Netflix disrupted the paradigm of TV.

I found myself stuck at Spring Training an extra night because of a snowstorm. A colleague had told me about the Netflix app, so I downloaded it. It changed my view of the world. Up until the time, I saw Netflix as a mail order Blockbuster video.

Streaming video was unbelievable. I watched TV on my iPad in my hotel room. It was a game changer. When Netflix created House of Cards and picked up a few Emmy Awards, it occurred to me that the Cardinals could create content too.

As a brand, we could share streaming content our fans would enjoy and we could monetize.

We had 13.7 million fans coming to our website and growing numbers flocking to our social platforms. Our brand had the ability to reach a potentially enormous audience. If we shared great content, our fans would consume it and share it.

After we had run #VineTheVote – a silly video promotion to encourage fans to share videos urging support of voting Cardinals players to the All Star Game, I learned that Instagram was going to add video functionality.

I know exactly where I was. I was on the stair climber at Club Fitness, scrolling through my Twitter feed, when I clicked a link to read a story about Instagram adding 15 second video functionality to try to compete with Vine.

Vine was six second video. Not a lot of time. But 15 seconds seemed like a good amount of time to try to tell a story episodically.

I came to work that morning with the idea that we should tell a story using Instagram video. I wasn’t totally sure of what story, but I thought we had a chance to be first at trying to do something like that.

We had developed a PR committee that set a goal of trying to raise our Instagram standing in MLB. We were way behind most teams at that time. Out of 32 accounts in MLB (30 teams and 2 MLB run accounts), we were 27th.

To make a long story short, I was planning to coordinate a VIP visit and ceremonial pitch for Phyllis Smith, a St. Louis native who starred on the TV show The Office. I wrote a silly script called #TheFrontOffice and asked Phyllis if she would be game for filming a few “episodes” while she visited the team. She loved the idea of the parody of her show. And she was awesome to work with.

Once she said yes, I convinced the bird and David Freese to do it.

No idea was too birdbrained for our mascot, so I had Fredbird at hello.

David was all in as well given his affinity for Phyllis and The Office. Once they said yes, it was almost impossible for others to say no.

Before long, I had the GM, the team President, other players, a United States Senator, all the local TV Stations and my friend Andy Cohen all providing “episodes.”


Suddenly fans had a reason to follow us on Instagram and we were making Instagram history by being the first to tell a story episodically using their new video functionality.

We saw a dramatic uptick in our followers, moved up in the MLB rankings and had a lot fun. We also got a lot of buzz for what we were doing. I particularly appreciated the positive response we received from some of my counterparts with other teams. They loved it.

The “series” was entertaining and brand building. You can check it out on Instagram.


It tells a funny story about how Fredbird felt threatened by the Rally Squirrel because he made it onto the championship ring. He thought he might lose his job to a squirrel.

The basic plotline was Bob from Account Temps meets Tanya Harding. Candidly, it was also me having a little fun with my boss who put the Rally Squirrel on the World Series ring after giving me a hard time for scheduling a squirrel safari for the media the day after the squirrel made its debut that postseason. That media safari was one of several “beg forgiveness” moments in my career that paid off.

The year following #TheFrontOffice, we went on to produce #BirdToTheFuture and a few other branded entertainment projects over the subsequent years.

#BirdToTheFuture had a Hollywood director, financial sponsors and great production value. The parody of Back To The Future told the story behind how the Cardinals news museum acquired such a great collection (Fredbird built a time machine and went back in time to get the items). It was a fun effort that showcased the great sports who comprised our team.

It was also when I realized Adam Wainwright has an acting career following baseball. Check out his performance in #BirdToTheFuture to see what I mean.

We will share more in the future but suffice it to say that you can use brand entertainment to connect with your consumers in a fun and entertaining way that will grow your brand.

Springsteen's New Film is a Boss Lesson in Storytelling

By Ron Watermon • October 21, 2025
When Deadline first reported that Bruce Springsteen’s Deliver Me From Nowhere was headed for the screen, I expected it would be more than another typical music biopic because it was based on a book that focused on a sliver of Springsteen’s life. That “sliver” was a singular defining period of Springsteen’s life. When I wrote my book, I took note of the fact that when Hollywood came calling, they first reached out to Warren Zanes who wrote the book and not Springsteen himself. I was trying to make the point about the importance of securing storytelling source material. The real work in telling a story is that of the author. Writing a great story isn’t easy. When it happens, someone in Hollywood is bound to notice. What I didn’t fully appreciate until now is that Springsteen’s story to screen journey is a masterclass in focus — a case study in how a single defining period, a writer who truly understands his subject, and a team of champions can move a story from the page to the screen in record time. Zane’s book was published 2023. A little more than two years later, the film is being released. That is amazing in of itself, but the approach to the story told is also instructive. Most people think you need your whole life story to make a film. Springsteen — and Warren Zanes — show us you don’t. It can be a sliver. The story behind this storytelling is a Boss lesson in storytelling that help you deliver your story from nowhere. 

Friday Night Lights

By Ron Watermon • October 13, 2025
Your Clear Eyes, Full Rights, Can't Lose Playbook.  If you’ve ever watched Friday Night Lights, you know the phrase: Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose. It’s the mantra Coach Taylor preached to his team. But when I look at the 35-year storytelling journey of Friday Night Lights—from a reporter’s notebook to a bestselling book, then a film, a beloved series, and now talk of a reboot—I see a slightly different mantra: Clear eyes, full rights, can’t lose. Because underneath the inspirational football story is a lesson we can draw from in how one journalist’s immersive reporting became a durable, multi-platform franchise. And for me, it’s a perfect demonstration of a pathway we advocate for at STORYSMART®. It all starts with investing in good clear-eyed journalism. It is the single most important investment you can make in developing a true story. When you take control of your source material to tell a true story and develop your story properly, your story can live on for years far beyond the page. I’m a big proponent for adopting a story franchise mindset when approaching storytelling projects. That is why I tell clients to think like a studio executive by adopting a media mogul mindset. When you open your mind to that, it opens the doors of possibilities. The storytelling journey of Friday Night Lights helps illustrate what is possible, as well as offer other lessons on what to do and not do in designing your own professional storytelling path. How a reporter’s notebook became a franchise In 1990, journalist Buzz Bissinger published Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream. It wasn’t just another sports book. He moved his family to Texas to immerse himself in this story. Bissinger spent a year in Odessa, Texas, embedded with the Permian High School Panthers, capturing the obsession, pressure, and community identity that revolved around high school football. He conducted hundreds of hours of interviews and built his narrative from a deep archive of source material. Every interview he conducted is his work product, what I often refer to as copyright protected storytelling source material. Make note of that. That depth of Buzz’s reporting gave the book credibility. It also gave it power as intellectual property. It was a fantastic book that was a hit.

Media Lens: NCAA NIL Guidance & Storytelling

By Ron Watermon • October 3, 2025
The NCAA just approved new guidance on NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals — and while the headlines mostly talk about money, what’s really at stake here is storytelling. Starting this past August, athletes have had to disclose NIL agreements over $600. Schools will help monitor and even facilitate opportunities, and standardized contracts are being promoted to protect athletes. Meanwhile, new rules for collectives are meant to stop disguised pay-for-play deals while still allowing legitimate business arrangements. ( Full NCAA release here )​ On the surface, this might sound like dry compliance policy. But here’s the STORYSMART® takeaway: Transparency is power. The clearer your contracts and disclosures, the harder it is for someone else to hijack your story or exploit your image. Standardization levels the playing field. Whether you’re a star quarterback or a swimmer at a smaller program, having clear terms makes it easier to protect your rights. Your story is the real asset. NIL isn’t just about a jersey deal or an autograph session. It’s about controlling your narrative — the way your life, your legacy, and your values are presented to the world. ​ This guidance is another reminder that athletes — like families, public figures, and estates — need to see their story as intellectual property. The athletes who win aren’t just the ones who score on the field; they’re the ones who invest in how their story is told off the field. ​ STORYSMART® Rule of Thumb: Don’t just cash a check. Build a story that grows in value over time.

What is The STORYSMART® Way?

By Ron Watermon • October 1, 2025
At it's heart, STORYSMART® is about democratizing access to elite-level professional storytelling. Storytelling has been controlled by gatekeepers for far too long.

What "The Studio" Gets Right (and Wrong) About Storytelling

By Ron Watermon • September 24, 2025
The Studio offers a behind-the-scenes look at the chaos of Hollywood, but there are lessons about what the industry gets right & wrong about storytelling.

Goodnight, John-Boy: Lessons in Family Storytelling from The Waltons

By Ron Watermon • September 14, 2025
Storytelling for ALL™ LinkedIn Newsletter Vol. 3

Be Like Mike: Own Your Story Like a Champion

By Ron Watermon • September 14, 2025
Storytelling for ALL™ LinkedIn Newsletter Vol. 2

Forget AI - the Two Letters That Matter Most to Your Story Are IP!

By Ron Watermon • September 14, 2025
Storytelling for ALL ™ LinkedIn Newsletter Vol. 1

Why I Wrote STORYSMART® Storytelling for ALL

By Ron Watermon • July 21, 2025
July 22, 2025, St. Louis, MO - There’s a line in Jerry Maguire that has always stuck with me. Young Ray asks his mom, “What’s wrong, Mom?” And she replies: “ First class is what’s wrong, honey. It used to be a better meal. Now it’s a better life. ” That line hits hard. Because access—access to opportunity, tools, and professionals—changes everything. And when it comes to storytelling, access has long been unequal. For decades, only a small group of insiders had the power to tell stories at the highest level. If you weren’t already in Hollywood or publishing, your story stayed in coach—often ignored, misrepresented, or lost. I wrote STORYSMART® Storytelling for ALL to change that. This book is a roadmap. It’s designed to give you—whether you’re a public figure, entrepreneur, athlete, or someone with a life story worth telling—the same tools used by insiders. The same strategies that power studios, presidents, billion-dollar production companies, and bestselling memoirs. It’s also deeply personal. I’ve seen too many remarkable true stories disappear because people didn’t know how to protect them—or worse, were taken advantage of. I’ve felt like an outsider myself. And I know what it means to want your story told right. That’s why I developed the STORYSMART® Framework. To empower people with meaningful stories to protect their rights, preserve their vision, and share it with the world—on their own terms. I’m making the Author’s Note from the book available as a free PDF download as part of this post. And if you’ve got 90 seconds, I invite you to watch the short video message from me below. This is your story. Let’s tell it the right way. About The Book In a world hungry for authentic narratives, STORYSMART® Storytelling for ALL™ : How to Take Control, Own Your True Story and Profit Like a Hollywood Insider delivers a rare insider’s guide to turning a true story into a cultural and financial asset while maintaining control. Designed for public figures, entrepreneurs, and individuals with powerful life stories, the book introduces the STORYSMART® Way, a step-by-step framework to organize, preserve, and professionally develop your story for books, film, and television. The book pulls back the curtain on how stories move through publishing, Hollywood, and streaming—and empowers readers to navigate the process like seasoned insiders. Topics include copyright and licensing, collaborating with elite-level professional filmmakers and ghostwriters, developing a pitch-ready treatment, and monetizing true stories through publishing, streaming, and merchandising. STORYSMART Storytelling for ALL is available currently as both a paperback and e-book. It will be available soon be in hardcover and audiobook formats. About the Author Ron Watermon is the founder of STORYSMART®, a cinematic storytelling consulting service and story development film studio. A lawyer, filmmaker, and Emmy-nominated television producer and writer, Ron’s led strategic communications for an MLB team, advised high-profile clients, and has produced both film and television productions. Ron lives in St. Louis with his family. Learn more about Ron at storysmart.net and ronwatermon.com #STORYSMART #StorytellingForAll #NewBook #MediaRights #TrueStories #BookLaunch

STORYSMART® Film Receives Major Grant Support from St. Louis Film Project

By Ron Watermon • April 24, 2025
We are honored to share some big news. Our documentary, A Steak Guerrilla in St. Louis: The Dr. Arturo Taca Story, has been selected as one of five projects to receive funding from the St. Louis Film Project , a collaboration between the Regional Arts Commission (RAC) of St. Louis and Continuity . This recognition comes from a highly competitive pool of 115 applicants. The grant—up to $100,000—represents a decisive vote of confidence in our story and our approach to telling it. It also offers meaningful momentum as we enter the next phase of production. Most importantly, it reinforces what we believe: Dr. Arturo Taca’s story matters and deserves to be told. A Story Rooted in St. Louis — and Felt Across the World “A Steak Guerrilla in St. Louis” is a documentary rooted in the unlikely convergence of midwestern Americana and Filipino resistance. It follows the story of Dr. Arturo M. Taca, a Filipino surgeon and political exile who made St. Louis his home while taking a stand against Ferdinand Marcos's brutal dictatorship. Before terms like “fake news” and “disinformation” became common in American discourse, Dr. Taca uncovered the truth behind the Philippine president's fraudulent war record. That investigation began here—in dusty archives just outside of St. Louis—and set off a chain of events that toppled a brutal dictator. Our film uses a hybrid storytelling format, combining animated reenactments, interviews, and archival research to tell this story in an emotionally resonant and visually striking way. The Grant That Helps Make It Possible The St. Louis Film Project grant, funded through RAC and administered by Continuity, is part of an initiative to uplift the film community in St. Louis. RAC’s press release states that the fund was created to “support local filmmakers and organizations to tell stories rooted in St. Louis.” The evaluation process was rigorous. “Choosing five projects from over 100 submissions was no easy feat," said Vanessa Cooksey, President of RAC. "The talent and stories presented were incredible.” That’s why being one of the five chosen is more than just a financial boost—it affirms this story’s value and connection to our community. It means much to us, and we don’t take it lightly. A Delayed Start But a Firm Deadline While the grant announcement arrived months later than initially expected, we’ve been working behind the scenes to be ready to go once we receive funding. With this grant officially in place, we’re full steam ahead. The grant contractually obligates us to deliver the completed film by January 2026. That’s a fast turnaround in documentary filmmaking, especially for a story with historical depth, international relevance, and a visual style that blends live action with animation. That means every day counts. While the grant covers significant production costs, it also comes with essential parameters: 75% of funds must be spent within the City of St. Louis. We’re proud of that requirement—it aligns with our belief in investing locally and elevating regional talent. But it also means we must be innovative, strategic, and resourceful with every dollar we spend. We have our entire team in place, minus one critical position. We need a gifted DP to join our elite team. We are eager to work with a tremendous city-based production company or cinematographer who calls St. Louis home. If you know a great cinematographer who would like to join us, please have them email me at ron@storysmart.net. Why We’re Still Seeking Donor Support Even with the RAC grant, bringing this film to life in the way it deserves will take more. Animation, archival licensing, original score composition, color grading, distribution planning—it all adds up. And some of this can't be sourced in a way that fits grant guidelines. And because of the ambitious deadline, we’ll need to scale quickly without cutting corners. That’s where you come in. We’re seeking additional donor support to help us: Expand our animation sequences and visual storytelling capacity. Secure the rights to key archival materials that deepen the film’s historical accuracy. Shoot at least a couple of interviews with key individuals who live outside our region, including the Philippines. Invest in editorial and post-production tools that allow us to move efficiently without sacrificing quality. Ensure the finished film reaches the broadest possible audience, from film festivals to classrooms to international broadcast platforms. Your contribution—no matter the size—helps ensure that Dr. Taca’s story is told with the care, accuracy, and cinematic impact it deserves. If you believe in the power of truth-telling… if you value stories that connect communities and illuminate buried history… we hope you’ll consider becoming a supporter. Click here to donate Learn more about our film at steakguerrilla.com A Final Word: Why This Story Matters Now We often think history is distant, locked away in textbooks or museums. But A Steak Guerrilla in St. Louis reminds us that history is constantly being rediscovered—sometimes in our backyard. It’s a reminder that exile doesn’t silence the truth, that one person in one city can stand up to a dictator and change the course of a narrative written in lies, and that the work of defending democracy happens quietly, persistently, and often without recognition. Now, it’s time to give that recognition. With this grant—and with your support—we’re going to finish the film. And when we do, we’ll bring a hidden chapter of St. Louis history that reverberates far beyond our city limits. Thank you for sharing this journey with us, and a special thanks to each member of our talented filmmaking team. I'm grateful for your willingness to work to bring this story to the screen, your patience through this process, and your unselfish (uncompensated) work to make it happen. I have no doubt it will all be worth it! --Ron Watermon, Executive Producer & Director, A Steak Guerrilla in St. Louis: The Dr. Arturo M. Taca Story
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