The insightfulness that this interview contains is huge. MLB’s Senior Director of Supplier Diversity Corey Smith spoke to BSO about how the league is making sure that diversity is a top priority.
Upon looking at the MLB, to the naked eye, you would think that change hasn’t occurred in the league. The league has to make more changes but they have come a long way. In addition, it’s much deeper than that. MLB’s very own Corey Smith elaborated a little bit more on the diversity the league has done. Smith’s background is very impressive as he previously worked with NBC as the Director of Supplier Diversity. But as he soon discovered, sports and TV are two different entities although they’re both in media and entertainment.
We had the opportunity to chat with Smith in regards to the MLB’s Diversity Panel which was titled, “How To Do Business with Baseball.” One point that stood out the most is how serious the league takes it especially when it comes to the business aspect.
“MLB’s Supplier Diversity Program has been around since the late 90’s. We really do try to build a partnership with a potential supplier so they’re around for a really long time. We have diverse partners that have been with the league well over 10 years. It’s more than just a purchase order with us.”
Smith does think that the other leagues have great programs and do an excellent job at finding diverse suppliers.
The MLB is ever evolving and we look forward to seeing how else they diversify the business.