The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) wanted to prove their commitment to Ontario communities in a tangible way through their partnership with Major League Baseball. We needed to ingrain OLG as a company that cares for Ontario baseball communities among baseball fans 19-35 years old, since this age group is motivated to engage with brands that do good within their communities.

To honour this historic Ontario baseball team and keep their memory alive for future generations, OLG partnered with MLB and brought the entire 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars back to life in baseball’s biggest video game—MLB The Show 22.

This idea broke new ground as we became the first to make a historical sports team playable in a video game.

In 1934, The Chatham Coloured All-Stars became Canada’s first all-Black team to win the Ontario Baseball Association Championship. Despite making history, they’ve been shut out of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Five straight times.

However, we recognized an even bigger underlying problem: without the Hall of Fame, how will this legendary team be immortalized for future generations?

By understanding the members of our community, we knew they relied on government bodies such as museums and galleries to preserve their culture and pass it on to future generations. This made us realize The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), a government body committed to Ontario communities, had the perfect opportunity to immortalize this team in an unignorable way and keep their memory alive for future generations.

Our breakthrough idea was covered by The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (the nation’s largest national news network), and received international acclaim from Yahoo News, AdWeek, Trendhunter, and more. Our campaign was incredibly well received by our audience, earning a 100% positive brand sentiment score.

Most importantly, it gave modern fans the chance to connect with this historic team, ensuring the 1934 Chatham Coloured All-Stars will be immortalized for generations to come.