By Spencer Feingold

Major League Baseball's efforts to increase diversity in league and team offices is not altruistic, said the league executive in charge of inclusion, it's strategic.

“It is about the business,” Renée Tirado, MLB’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, told Cheddar in an interview Friday. “We are not doing anything here because it is the right thing to do. That is the ancillary, organic benefit that comes out of this.”

Since taking over the department in 2016, Tirado says the MLB has implemented a number of inclusion programs, such as the Diversity Fellowship Program, which aims to put qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds in entry-level roles with MLB teams and the league’s central office. Last year, the league selected 22 fellows from 1,300 applicants for its first cohort.

Tirado said that by including diverse perspectives, the league can broaden its fan base and make baseball “more accessible for everyone across the board.”

MLB has also broadened its partnerships with corporations and small businesses to include more minority-owned companies.

“We know for a fact that at the end of the day, people invest in brands that they see themselves reflected in,” Tirado said.

For full interview click here.