Nothing beats heading to the ballpark to catch an MLB game in the summer. Although it may appear somewhat exorbitant, the game day experience is priceless and the memories are life lasting – especially for America’s pastime, baseball. It is rare to find a fan arrive at a game disgruntled. Whether it’s a son attending his first game with his dad or a young couple building their relationship with an entertaining date, almost all share in similar exhilaration.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks highlighted the start of the MLB season with a two-game series in Sydney, Australia. This made for an ideal situation to explore a few foreign startups that could drastically enhance the experience for fans. In April 2013, Paul Murphy and Darren Gibney created the DC Sports Tech Meetup – a group organized to explore other DC apps around the region and synergize ideas.
Since its creation, the group has grown considerably, to now over 290 SportTechies. During the meetups, the techies have hashed out a variety of beneficial innovations, three of which could directly affect the future of the Washington Nationals.
1. Ingogo
The first pertains to the arrival at the game site. Many people who opt to attend professional games – especially those in the massive cities – agree that the most arduous task lies in finding parking at a reasonable price and location. Australian innovators have developed a start-up – tabbed the Ingogo that has the potential to assist in assuaging the unpleasant burden. The Ingogo allows for direct communication with a taxi via a very sophisticated app. In it, the user first places his or her credit card and security information, allowing for all future transactions to occur with utmost convenience.
When ready to summon the taxi, the user then inserts their pickup and drop off address and the amount over the meter they are willing to pay for the special expedited service. Once the trip is complete, the consumer inserts their pin number and receives the receipt through email. Although prices would probably skyrocket on game day – due to the excess demand for the product – this app has to be considered a no brainer because of the swiftness and safety it ensures.
2. Muro
Sport promotes unity within the community. Once at the game, fans become family, often exchanging high fives after a favorable play and engaging in friendly communication throughout the entirety of the event. Another start-up was developed to supplement this type of atmosphere. This one, called Muro, fuses the popularity of Smartphones with the desire to stay connected with everyone else at the game. It goes above and beyond the traditional Jumbotron – which can only display a small group of people at a time – and allows an upgraded form of interaction. The Muro offers real-time coverage. With a quick snap of a photo on the camera app, event pictures are assembled together and instantaneously uploaded to Facebook.
Though the aforementioned aspects are vital to the fan experience, the principal motive for attending is to view the actual game.
3. Eagle Eye
Arguably the second most widely criticized facet of baseball – next to performance enhancing drugs – is the officiating. Umpires are given the daunting task of determining whether a player crosses the plate before the first baseman catches the ball, whether a well hit ball goes fair or foul, and if a pitch is a strike or ball – all of which happen so fast, it is hard for even the most trained human eye to successful discern. The Eagle Eye handles the latter and is a product that brings consistency to the table.
The Eagle Eye is a nifty invention that detects when a baseball has crossed the plate and subsequently discloses the speed, location, and angle of each pitch – effectively differentiating ball from strike. Once a pitch is released and approaches home plate, a vertical curtain of green infrared light rises from the front of the plate, brightening the ball upon contact.
Two photodetectors towards the middle absorb the light and inform that the ball has crossed. After this transpires, the software interprets all of the data and produces quantified results in a quick and efficient manner. Home plate with the Eagle Eye looks the same as the traditional; therefore, fans would not notice the difference at the ballpark and should not fret because the swift evaluation will prevent the stress of a prolonged game. The promotional video notes that this cost efficient innovation will reduce the amount of altercations between the managers and umpires due to the universal consensus that calls are invariably correct.
These are three very significant startups; however, it is imperative to note that there are a plethora of additional ones available that also deserve recognition.
Since Washington DC already suffers from very congested traffic on an everyday basis, the game day experience can be a nightmare. Developments similar to these alleviate the inconveniences and mark a promising future for Washington Nationals – and if successful – perhaps even the other professional teams in DC, including the Wizards and the Washington Football team.