Senior expertise, on call

Modern communications and brand solutions for the people growing baseball and softball.

EXPLORE SERVICES

Who Middle Third serves

Whether you’re facing a major transition, challenge, or opportunity, it helps to have a seasoned pro on call who understands your world. Someone in your corner for the long haul, not a quick fix. Middle Third serves organizations across baseball and softball:

  • Teams and leagues at every level

  • Brands, associations, and nonprofits

  • Executives, coaches, and athletes, one-on-one

  • Companies looking to build or grow their presence in the game

How Middle Third helps

Every engagement is led personally by Dave Haller and built around your situation, whether a defined project or ongoing, embedded support. Most work falls into three areas, and they often overlap:

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  • Your message only matters if it lands: inside your organization, out in public, and in the moments that carry the most weight. Middle Third builds the strategy, words, and discipline to communicate clearly, whether you’re making an announcement, steering through change, or facing controversy. And when the spotlight turns on you, you’ll be prepared.

    Often includes: fractional or interim communications leadership · strategy and messaging · writing and editorial · media outreach, podcasts, and speaking · crisis and issues management · internal communications

  • A strong brand works for you before you say a word. It tells people who you are and why you matter. Middle Third helps you define what you stand for and express it consistently, from positioning and identity to the creative that brings it to life.

    Often includes: brand positioning and strategy · visual identity direction · messaging frameworks · social media strategy · website guidance · marketing and campaign strategy · authority marketing · fractional or interim marketing support

  • Sometimes you don’t need a project—you need a seasoned voice in the room. When you’re weighing a leadership transition, managing a board, or making a call that fits no playbook, you get senior judgment on demand: someone who’s been inside high-stakes moments and can help you think clearly through yours.

    Often includes: ongoing strategic counsel · message and narrative strategy · crisis and issues counsel · board and stakeholder counsel · executive visibility and thought leadership · spokesperson and executive preparation

BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL

Why it works

Senior, always.

Agencies pitch you with a senior name, then hand you off. You get me, start to finish. Senior judgment, no turnover. Meet Dave »

Focused roster.

I take on a small number of clients by design, so yours gets real attention—not whatever’s left at the end of the day.

Honest counsel.

If I’m not the right fit, I’ll tell you. You’ll never be sold work you don’t need.

A clear path to being seen

1. Step in.

Book a call. Start with an easy conversation—no pressure, no obligation.

2. Find your pitch.

Together we build a plan tailored to your moment.

3. Connect with impact.

I take it from here. Your story starts turning heads; you get back to what you do best.

Your questions, answered

  • Both—though I lean toward ongoing partnerships, where I can build real context and continuity over time. A defined project is often a great way for us to get comfortable working together, and it can roll into an ongoing arrangement whenever it makes sense. I’ll shape the engagement around what you actually need, not a fixed package.

  • You work with me, directly—senior judgment, no turnover, no getting handed to a junior team. You also get someone who already knows baseball and softball: the industry, the pressures, the people. That means less to explain, less overhead, and a partner who’s fluent in your world from day one.

  • For the core of your engagement, yes. And that’s the point: senior attention, not a rotating team. When a project calls for specialized help, I bring in trusted specialists from my network. But I always lead the work and stay your point of contact—which is why I keep my client roster small.

  • I do most of my work from Concord, N.C., but I travel when a project calls for it. Happy to talk through what makes sense for you.

  • Baseball and softball are my focus, but in the right cases, yes—especially work adjacent to sports or entertainment, or organizations here in the Charlotte metro. If you’re not sure whether you’re a fit, just ask.

Ready to talk?

Book a confidential discovery call with Dave.

  • “Dave’s leadership qualities start with the fact that he is a good listener, which leads to honest feedback and thoughtful, effective game planning. His ideas and attention to detail were central to building our communications strategy both on and off the field.”

    – Rick Vaughn, author and former VP of communications, Tampa Bay Rays

  • “Dave raised the bar across our entire organization. He elevated our brand, modernized our operations, and improved how we communicate—with clients and with each other.”

    – Curt Greene, co-founder and owner, Independence Landscape

  • “Dave Haller’s professionalism, creativity and instinct for the game made him the gold standard of Major League Baseball public relations. My job was always easier when Dave was in the press box.”

    – Tim Brown, New York Times bestselling author and award-winning sports journalist

  • “In more than 30 years covering Major League Baseball, I’ve never met a public relations executive better at his job than Dave Haller. He commands respect and earns trust from both players and media—in good times and bad—with unfailing professionalism, courtesy, promptness and reliability.”

    – Tyler Kepner, author and senior MLB writer for The Athletic