The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies are bitter rivals on the field, but both organizations are on the same page in creating modern, innovative experiences for their fans — including recent augmented reality programs.
The Mets on Sept. 25 handed out Coca-Cola-branded cards as a promotional item to fans attending the game. Using the augmented reality feature embedded in MLB’s Ballpark app, fans could see the Mets’ famous Home Run Apple rise in center field, as Dori Silverman, Coca-Cola’s marketing director for sports and entertainment, explained in a National Sports Forum webinar.
The rising apple leads into a montage of Mets homers throughout the season, and there were plenty of those to watch — the Mets slugged 224 total round-trippers to shatter last year’s previous franchise record of 218.
New York Mets Give Fans Augmented Reality Cards
The New York Mets and Coca-Cola teamed up to make the Home Run Apple come to life in Augmented Reality: https://www.sporttechie.com/mets-phillies-custom-augmented-reality/
Posted by SportTechie on Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Coca-Cola’s decision to go into augmented reality with the Mets and MLB signaled the first such activation of the technology within Major League Baseball. “We were one of the first partners to do something with Major League Baseball on this, but the team loves this because app downloads were up by 66 percent when we did this activity,” Silverman said. “That’s a major focus for the team, for Major League Baseball, and a win for us.”
And, according to the New York Post, fans have been able to re-use the AR cards to watch new episodes of “The Amazin’ Life with Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez,” another marketing effort by Coca-Cola that focuses on the antics of the SportsNet New York TV duo, Silverman mentioned during the panel.
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Meanwhile, the Phillies activated a similar augmented reality feature during their last three games of the season at Citizens Bank Park. Again using the AR scanner available through the Ballpark app, Phillies fans can hold the camera up to the oversize posters of current players that hang throughout the stadium’s field-level concourse. Doing so will create an image of the Phillie Phanatic, one of baseball’s most well-known mascots, interacting with that player.
Check out the new Augmented Reality feature on the Ballpark App!
Pro tip: Try the photos of Odúbel, both Aarons, Nick, Rhys & the Phanatic! pic.twitter.com/0goC5vRgwS
— Phillies (@Phillies) September 29, 2017
“We’re very excited to introduce augmented reality into the fan experience at Citizens Bank Park,” Michael Harris, the Phillies’ vice president of marketing and new media, told the Philadelphia Business Journal. “We want to stay ahead of the curve and integrate new marketing technologies our fans will enjoy and utilize. This particular project, while limited in scope, is a good stepping stone to an even larger scale implementation in 2018 and beyond.”
Only some of the Phillies player banners can be interacted with; players featured in the augmented reality function include Aaron Nola, Nick Williams, Rhys Hoskins, Aaron Altherr, and Odubel Herrera, the main components of the team’s rebuilding effort. Fans who interact with AR are rewarded with a 50 percent discount on player tees at the team store, according to Philadelphia Business Journal.
Coincidentally, or perhaps not, the Phillies’ opponent those last three games was — who else? — the Mets. Next season, expect both teams to try to outdo each other on the diamond and in the AR department, to the benefit of millions of fans.