7 Baseball Teams Show Off Major League Technology for 2016

From iPads in every dugout to new video boards to virtual reality to new speakers, ballparks around the country are unveiling big-league enhancements.

May 4, 2016 D. Craig MacCormack Leave a Comment

Daktronics added a new main display, ribbon displays and out-of-town display at Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. The new main video display measures 40 feet high by 120 feet wide and features a 13HD pixel layout, the premier outdoor technology for sun-cutting brightness to provide crisp, clear imagery. The display is about three times larger than the previous display with twice the resolution. It will feature wide angle visibility to provide a great view to fans throughout the stadium. The main display also features variable content zoning which allows it to show one large image or to be divided into multiple different windows to show any variety of live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages. The out-of-town display measures 40 feet high by 81 feet wide and features a 13HD pixel layout. The other nine displays are along the seating fascia, covering a length of 565 feet.

The Cleveland Indians also called on Daktronics to design, manufacture and install a new high-definition display at Progressive Field, continuing a relationship with the team that began when their stadium opened back in 1994. The main video display measures approximately 59 feet high by 221 feet wide for 13,000 square feet of active display area. A total of 10.6 million LEDs make up the entire display. It features a 13HD pixel layout, the premier technology for outdoor LED video displays. The display incorporates variable content zoning, which allows it to show one large image or it can be divided into multiple windows to show any combination of live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics, game information, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages. The Cleveland Indians’ new scoreboard is 147% larger and uses 32% less energy. Daktronics also added an out-of-town display, upper ribbon display, infiniti ribbon display, lower club ribbon display, lower suite ribbon display, lower mezzanine ribbon display and 9th street marquee display.

Daktronics designed, manufactured and installed a new LED video display for the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park, continuing a partnership that dates back to 1994. The new display is capable of 11,000 nits of brightness to cut through the direct sunlight deep in the heart of Texas. The display measures approximately 34 feet high by 94 feet wide and features a 15HD pixel layout. In 2011, Daktronics installed the display at the home run porch in right field and integrated a digital IPTV network. Daktronics also installed secondary displays for the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres, who will host the 2016 All-Star Game in July.

The Chicago White Sox unveiled an 8,000-square-foot center-field video board that’s the main attraction in the team’s $7.3 million overhaul of U.S. Cellular Field. The updates also include two 2,400-square-foot video boards flanking the main one, which puts the White Sox near the top in MLB.

The San Francisco Giants are partnering with the Palo Alto-based firm Jaunt this year to provide fans with a virtual reality experience that includes time on the field for spring training at Scottsdale Stadium and in the batting cages, a virtual press conference and a ride in the car with relief pitcher Sergio Romo. The system will be available at AT&T Park’s social media center, the @Cafe. The team also announced an expansion of the ballpark’s Wi-Fi system, giving it 1,628 access points, the most of any MLB facility. The team’s Wi-Fi system delivered more than 100 terabytes of data to fans last season.

The Boston Red Sox have added three virtual reality stations to the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball. The stations will give fans a look at what it’s like to be a player for the Red Sox in 2016. They’ll be set up in Wally’s Clubhouse, in the Kids’ Concourse and on the Budweiser Right Field Roof Deck.

The Washington Nationals installed eight FBT Mitus 206L speakers at the main entrance of Nationals Park. The new speakers, installed by Tuxedo Moon, will broadcast announcements and pre-game entertainment as fans enter the stadium.

The biggest technological enhancement for Major League Baseball teams this season might be one that fans in the stands never even notice.

Each of the 30 teams will have iPad Pros in their dugouts and bullpens, marking the first on-field integration of next-generation technology. The move “puts advance-scouting video and customizable reports at the fingertips of all managers, coaches and players,” according to the recent announcement by Major League Baseball.

“Our collaboration with Apple on the use of iPad Pro in dugouts and bullpens is part of our ongoing effort to introduce extraordinary technology into our game,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in the statement. “We are pleased that Apple’s groundbreaking products, which have already improved the access that fans have to our sport, will now inform the decisions that make our games interesting and exciting throughout the year.”

The iPad Pros will be customized for each team and include with the MLB Dugout app, which will allow managers, coaches and players “to utilize their own proprietary and strategic statistical reports, data visualizations and advance-scouting videos during every game from dugouts and bullpens, giving them easy access to valuable, actionable baseball insights,” according to the announcement.

Teams will also have the ability to include any of their own reports with data generated from Statcast tracking technology last season, bringing new stats for pitch tracking, hitting, baserunning and fielding.

“iPad is our vision for the future of personal computing, and we are so excited to be working with Major League Baseball to put this incredible technology into all of their dugouts and bullpens this season,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell says Microsoft pays the NFL $80 million a year to use Surface tablets on the sidelines, but MLB officials won’t say whether Apple had to pay to put iPad Pros in all teams’ hands.

The bad news for players such as Boston Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who starts the season as a splinter-picker, is Internet access will not be available during games.

Here’s hoping the incorporation of iPads in big-league dugouts work out better than the plan to use T-Mobile cell phones for on-field communication between managers and bullpen coaches. That plan fizzled out quickly, but could be revisited at another time.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the more obvious technological advances at ballparks around the country, like we did last year in highlighting what several franchises did to make the experience more user-friendly for fans.

The St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers installed new video boards in their ballparks this winter, while the Washington Nationals added a new speaker system and the San Francisco Giants added a virtual reality experience.

Here’s a look at the Indians’ new video board in action at Progressive Field:

Here’s a look at the new Progressive Field scoreboard in action pic.twitter.com/Zr9U3UYjqy

— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) March 29, 2016

Here’s a video from mid-February showing the work in progress at Globe Life Park, home of the Texas Rangers:

Started from the bottom, now we’re here. Watch the new LF video board take shape from start to finish! #48Days pic.twitter.com/6ZARHes7Ip

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) February 16, 2016

Let’s take a closer look at each MLB installation in slideshow format. Play ball!

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D. Craig MacCormack

Craig MacCormack is a veteran journalist with more than 15 years experience covering local and national news and sports as well as architecture and engineering. He joined Commercial Integrator in January 2011. Follow him on Twitter: @CraigMacCormack.