Major League Baseball introduced a new feature to its app for the 2024 season, making game action more accessible to fans. Its new platform, a live, 3D gamecast, boasts the latest technology in sports.
The new feature builds on the rise of augmented and virtual realities. MLB has rapidly advanced over the last few years, developing new technology to enhance the fan experience.
Tracking statistics with Statcast during games gives fans immediate access to fun statistics like pitch exit velocity, spin on the baseball and launch angle. With so many fans taking an interest in the sport on a deeper level, MLB tricked out every ballpark in the league to record the most data possible.
“There are so many untapped possibilities of what this technology can do,” said Chad Evans, MLB advanced media senior vice president in 2017.
This 3D, real-time broadcast on mobile devices is a big step for MLB fan engagement. The system was free for all fans through the All-Star break to give everyone a taste of the action — a free way to watch sports in a world where seemingly everything has its own service and paywall paid off, and fans appreciate the new technology.
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“VR does what no other medium has really been able to do to this extent, and that makes people feel present in a place that they are not,” said Christopher Ball, professor in Media who specializes in AR and VR at the University.
What draws people into new fandom experiences, though, is how easy it is. Ball remarked how people struggled to adapt to newer technologies over time and how that’s no longer the case.
“With the prominence and the rise of (AR, VR and 3D) technologies, it feels like now the technology is adapting to us more clearly,” Ball said. “We can experience the digital age in a way that’s much more familiar and innate to us as creatures that navigate a 3D world.”
If the relatable 3D aspect wasn’t enough, other aspects of this feature on the MLB app make it desirable. Whether you pay for MLB Network or not, baseball games on local networks are blacked out unless you subscribe to the cable network. The 3D broadcast is never blacked out, though, and can be watched at home or on the go.
It also cannot be overstated just how accurate this broadcast is. Viewers can set up in any spot on the field or lock onto the pitcher/hitter and watch the game from different players’ points of view. It gives access to something fans have never had watching live games.
Watching a game from the field is as appealing as it gets, but Ball assures that leagues won’t have any problems filling seats despite having a cheaper way to catch the action.
“There’s still plenty of fans that will want to have that real, authentic experience,” Ball said. “There’s parts of (3D technology) that aren’t translating or being captured for the virtual re-creation.”
It’s important to remember that this technology is still new. There were several glitches with the 3D game day broadcast throughout the season, like when Baltimore Orioles catcher James McCann got plunked in the face. A scary moment when someone was nailed in the face by a 95 mph fastball turned into a social media joke as the 3D version of McCann taking the hit looked like a scene straight out of “The Exorcism.”
The first season with the 3D gamecast was a massive success that brought a new way to follow MLB. It will refine this experience on the app for next season and institute more developments in the future. MLB is a league built on innovating new ways to track statistics, and 3D broadcasting is yet another stepping stone on that long path.
@benfader7
