The MLB Fan Cave was a building (formerly a Tower Records store) that served as a "social media hub" for MLB from 2011 to 2014. It was also a show that took place inside the building where a select group of fans would attempt to watch all 2,430 regular season games and play host to concerts, fan events, and celebrity guests while recording their experience via social media, blogs, and videos.
The Fan Cave varied a bit between its four seasons. In its debut season in 2011, it feature only two "cave dwellers", following their experiences in the Fan Cave. In 2012, it turned similar to a reality show competition, with 9 cave dwellers attempting to avoid elimination. While the cave dwellers competed in challenges and there was an online voting aspect, the actual scoring rules weren't apparent to viewers. The competition was eventually won by San Francisco Giants fan Ashley Chavez. The Fan Cave continued a similar model in 2013, but the next year it became a 30-minute variety show on MTV called "Off the Bat from the MLB Fan Cave" and featured Sway, Fat Joe, Chris Distefano and Melanie Iglesias as hosts.
After a four-year run, MLB announced the end of the Fan Cave in February 2015. This decision was explained by MLB's president of business and media Bob Bowman as a move to consolidate all of their social media activities. In a statement given to SportsBusiness Journal, Bowman explained "We’re trying to be more coordinated in all of our social media efforts. This change in structure is helping all of us focus on the same goals, and by putting all of the social media together, we hope to have a more consistent and effective message." It's also noted that Bowman was newly assigned to his position at the time of the decision, and it was his predecessor Tim Brosnan who left the company a month earlier that created the MLB Fan Cave.
Here were all the cast and contestants that took part of the MLB Fan Cave during its run:
2011
Mike O'Hara
Ryan Wagner
2012
Ashley Chavez
Benjamin Christensen
Lindsay Guentzel
Shaun Kippins
Gordon Mack
Ricardo Marquez
Rick Mast
Eddie Mata
Kyle Thompson
2013
Daniel Farris
Marcus Hall
Alex Justice
Nick Mendillo
Travis Miller
Mina Park
Aaron Roberts
April Whitzman
Ben Wietmarschen
2014
Benjamin Barker
Michael Bolling
Daniel Frankel
Stanten Jones
Keith McPherson
Cesar Pichardo
Serena Sanchez
Angela Lauren Yanez