MLB’s iBeacon Project Enters Phase Two With Interactive Ballpark Attractions

Major League Baseball was among the first to embrace Apple’s iBeacon technology on a wide scale, installing them in 28 MLB ballparks across the U.S. last year to help iPhone owners check-in to games automatically and collect special offers. Now, the project is entering phase two, with a debut project at this year’s All-Star Game at Target Field that uses iBeacons combined with in-park attractions to offer additional content and interactive features to the exhibits via their devices.

There are nine separate attractions in Target Field that users of the updated At the Ballpark app can access, and MLB plans to roll out more iBeacons to additional ballparks over the coming year. The new phase also works in Apple’s favor, demonstrating to potential iBeacon users what other kinds of functionality besides simple check-ins that the hyperlocal transmitters can enable for in-person customers and visitors. This attraction roll out seems like a prime example of how museums might be able to employ iBeacon tech, for instance.

In addition to the new iBeacon features, MLB is also introducing other new updates to At Bat and At the Ballpark. At Bat will now make available live streams of the All-Start Game so long as they’re also MLB.TV Premium subscribers, and there will also be live video of the All-Star Futures Game and the Home Run Derby in the app when those events take place.

I’m no expert, but I believe this ‘baseball’ is some kind of competitive adult sporting activity in which men strike whitish ovaloids with wood shanks and there might be spittoons involved. In any case, these updates should make enthusiasts of the game more able to really feel a part of its various excitations.