Jimmy “Jomboy” O’Brien has made it to the big leagues.
O’Brien’s Jomboy Media has inked a strategic pact with Major League Baseball, under which MLB is acquiring a minority stake in his baseball-centered media company. Financial terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed.
The partnership will see Jomboy Media and MLB collaborate on content activations around tentpole moments like the MLB All-Star Game and the Home Run Derby. Under the pact, Jomboy Media also will gain access to intellectual property from MLB and individual clubs, to be integrated across “new apparel, home goods and more” that will be sold on Jomboy’s ecommerce site and other distribution channels.
The investment also is aimed at growing Jomboy Media’s stable of intellectual property, including podcasts “Talkin’ Baseball” and “Talkin’ Yanks” and the Warehouse Games, a kind of baseball-cricket hybrid indoor league “where backyard and back-alley sports meets high-end production.” MLB plans to work with Jomboy Media to have pro baseball stars, as well as the league’s media and celebrity partners, appear in the Warehouse Games. Per Jomboy, the Warehouse Games is nearing 400 million all-time views.
“Our community is the reason we’ve been able to turn this from ‘just a hobby’ into something bigger than we ever could’ve imagined,” said O’Brien, 36, who founded the company in 2017 with his friend Jake Storiale. “Partnering with MLB marks a huge moment for Jomboy Media, and through this partnership, we’ll be able to give back to our community with storytelling that’s deeper than ever before.”
Noah Garden, MLB’s deputy commissioner for business and media, said the league has “long admired the passionate fandom of Jimmy O’Brien and his unique ability to connect with baseball fans.” The partnership “will ensure that Jomboy Media will have the resources and access to MLB intellectual property necessary to help it continue to grow,” Garden said. “We are looking forward to bringing baseball fans more entertaining content to help further expand baseball’s online presence and deeper the connection between our sport and its fans.”
New York-based Jomboy Media currently has 54 employees. The company has several million followers across Instagram, X, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. In 2024, Jomboy Media generated more than 93 million engagements on social media, the company claims.
The partnership was the result of months of negotiations between MLB and Jomboy Media, led on Jomboy’s side by CEO Courtney Hirsch. “We’ve always believed that deep storytelling and our unique approach to content and community can grow the game — and now we’re excited to do that alongside the league itself,” said Hirsch.
Two of Jomboy Media’s investors and board members — producer and entrepreneur Jack Davis and Adam Friedman of Connect Ventures — played key roles in landing the MLB deal, the company said. (Connect Ventures is a joint investment partnership between CAA and venture-capital firm NEA.) Other investors include Patrick Schwarzenegger, Eli Roth, Cameron Fuller, WWE, Quinn Cook, Billy Crystal, Josh Hader, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, current and former MLB players Christian Yelich, CC Sabathia, Noah Syndergaard and Trea Turner, and NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns.
Jomboy has longtime sponsorship deals with DraftKings and SeatGeek, each in their fifth consecutive years as partners, as well as with DirecTV, T-Mobile, Corona and Best Western.
(Pictured above: Jimmy O’Brien)
