MLB Joins Top Major Sports Leagues as Members of Financial Literacy for All Movement Following Annual HOPE Global Forums Meeting Last Month

Event Marked First Time Four of the Top American Sports Commissioners Appeared On-Stage Together

MLB Joins NBA, NASCAR & NFL in Commitment to Bring Financial Literacy Resources, Tools, and Education to their Expanding Global Audiences

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Operation HOPE, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping low- and moderate-income Americans thrive in an ever-changing economy, announced today that Major League Baseball has joined Financial Literacy for All (FL4A), a coalition of more than 50 leading business organizations that have committed to embedding financial literacy into the nation’s schools, workplaces, communities and culture.

This announcement follows MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s appearance at the Annual Meeting of the HOPE Global Forums in Atlanta last month with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, and NASCAR President Steve Phelps. MLB now joins the NFL, NBA, and NASCAR in the FL4A movement to support financial literacy programs, education, and resources that will benefit the organizations’ employees, players, and expanding global audiences, which total hundreds of millions of fans worldwide. FL4A, a 10-year initiative, is reaching millions of youths and adults by meeting them wherever they are on their financial journey, ensuring they have access to and an understanding of the knowledge, tools, and resources they need to make informed financial decisions and take control of their financial lives.

“Major League Baseball is proud to join the Financial Literacy for All movement, which aligns with our commitment to making an impact within our organization, across our global fan base and throughout the communities we serve,” said Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred. “We are excited to join other leading sports organizations on this initiative, giving us a unique opportunity to reach millions with financial literacy resources and support through the collective and unifying power of sports.”

“Having the leaders of four of our country’s top sports organizations together on our stage at the HOPE Global Forums last month was a truly historic moment. In such divisive and challenging times when nobody agrees on anything, what can bring everyone together in this country and around the world? Sports. We are so proud to have been able to highlight Rob, Roger, Adam, and Steve’s united voice on the importance of reaching new audiences through sports and promoting community uplift through financial literacy,” said John Hope Bryant, Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO. “We are so grateful to Rob and MLB for joining Financial Literacy For All and committing to help bring financial literacy to its global audience – along with the NBA, NASCAR and NFL.”

During the panel on December 10, 2024, the four leaders discussed each organization’s efforts to expand their global reach through landmark broadcasting and streaming deals, technological and game play advancements, as well as investments in youth participation in underserved communities. The panel also highlighted how the unifying power of sports has enabled it to be a driver of historic change and advancement in our country when it comes to inclusion.

Launched in May 2021 by a consortium of leaders from the business, professional sports, entertainment, and non-profit sectors and Operation HOPE, FL4A aims to reimagine the way Americans think about their relationship with money and provide the foundational skills for people to best manage their personal finances and build generational wealth. FL4A is committed to:

• Supporting financial literacy programs for the member organizations’ collective employee, customer and community base
• Advocating for financial literacy education to be provided to all students as part of their basic education as well as part of lifelong learning for all adults
• Making unbiased and action-oriented financial literacy resources freely available to all through FL4A’s Resource Library

To follow the progress of Financial Literacy for All, please visit FL4A.org.

About Operation HOPE, Inc.

Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "silver rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved—disrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through its community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $3.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities—turning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. For more information: OperationHOPE.org. Follow the HOPE conversation on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

About Financial Literacy for All

Financial Literacy for All is a national initiative of Operation HOPE to embed financial literacy in American schools, workplaces, communities, and culture, led by a prominent group of leaders from the business, sports, entertainment, and nonprofit sectors. This 10-year initiative will reach millions of youths and working adults by meeting them wherever they are on their financial journey, ensuring they have access to and an understanding of the knowledge, tools, and resources they need to make informed financial decisions and take control of their financial lives. For more information and to follow the progress of FL4A, visit FL4A.org, and FL4A’s financial education resource library, which is accessible to the general public as well as to all member companies, their employees, and their customers. To follow the progress of Financial Literacy for All, please visit FL4A.org.