Matin named chairman of BIRCO Board
Matin, who had been the Double-A representative on the BIRCO Board since its founding two years ago, succeeds Frank Burke, who will assume Matin's classification position on the board.
"We're at an exciting time in the development of the BIRCO network," Matin said. "We have a great partnership with Major League Baseball Advanced Media and our fans and our sponsors are participating in our network at an accelerating rate. Minor League Baseball, through its content-rich BIRCO network, attracted over seven million unique visitors on a monthly basis during the 2010 season and we expect this number to continue to grow."
Matin joined the Mandalay Baseball Properties board of directors in 2007 and was appointed its CEO the following year. Prior to joining Mandalay, he had a long career as an executive in the technology industry including being the CEO of TouchTunes and Softricity. Matin also was the EVP of worldwide sales for Veritas, and the president of McAfee Security. Matin spent 20 years at IBM, and held positions such as GM North America Industrial Sector and GM Industries/Enterprise Sales in Asia-Pacific, stationed in Tokyo.
Mandalay Baseball Properties owns and/or operates the Dayton Dragons, Erie SeaWolves, Frisco RoughRiders, Oklahoma City RedHawks, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and Staten Island Yankees.
Tri-City Valley Cats Vice President/General Manager Rick Murphy is now the Class A Short-Season representative on the board. Murphy is in his 21st season as General Manager of the New York-Penn League club. He replaces State College Spikes owner Chuck Greenberg, whose term on the board expired.
Burke is largely credited with finalizing the details of the groundbreaking internet agreement with Major League Baseball Advanced Media. He received a Presidential Citation from MiLB President Pat O'Conner at the Baseball Winter Meetings in December for his commitment to BIRCO, leadership on this project and dedicated service to Minor League Baseball.
About BIRCO
Formed in December 2008 to manage the digital and interactive media rights for Minor League Baseball clubs and leagues across the United States and Canada, Baseball Internet Rights Corporation (BIRCO) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL), d.b.a. as Minor League Baseball. MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, is the exclusive provider of interactive media services, including web development, online ticketing, content, and advertising and sponsorship for the official sites of Minor League Baseball (MiLB.com), 14 domestic MiLB leagues and 155 Minor League clubs per a 2008 partnership agreement with BIRCO. MLBAM has integrated an array of features to the network of MiLB sites since its initial launch in April 2005, highlighted by live full-game video streaming and on-demand highlights, up-to-the-moment scoreboards and statistics, Minor League Beat the Streak fantasy baseball game, mobile websites, and comprehensive editorial coverage of Minor League All-Star Games and Playoffs. The MiLB network of team and league sites annually attract more than 60 million baseball fans. For more information about the network, visit www.MiLB.com.