A Grand Slam Debut For MLB.com Home Run Derby

MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball and award-winning mobile developer, announced MLB.com Home Run Derby surpassed one million downloads last Friday. The milestone marks a first for a professional sports league-developed mobile game and was achieved two months after its debut for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. During the Home Run Derby live television broadcast window alone, July 15 on ESPN, baseball fans logged 495,857 minutes of MLB.com Home Run Derby game play on their mobile devices.

MLB.com Home Run Derby is a free download and universal app optimized for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and select Android devices. It currently offers gameplay in a hi-res rendering of Citi Field, site of the 2013 Home Run Derby won by Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.

It also features all eight participants from 2013 and each of the 24 competitors from the three previous Home Run Derby events (2010-12). Fans may play in single player or multi-player modes to vie for the Home Run Derby title, reach the top of worldwide leaderboards and earn upgrades.

“We are thrilled with fans’ responses to the game’s core elements, an action-based mobile experience with user-friendly controls and cool HD baseball graphics,” said Jamie Leece, VP, Gaming, MLBAM. “Its early successes are symbolic of our efforts to deliver fun baseball-themed games to every fan, including Ballpark Empire, Head to Head Challenge and Beat The Streak.”