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iBeacons Ready to Go at Major League Baseball Parks in Los Angeles and San Diego

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Just two weeks after MacRumors reported that Major League Baseball was working to install iBeacons in 20 ballparks in time for the start of the 2014 season, home fields for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are already outfitted with the Bluetooth transmitters, according to Re/code. MLB reportedly remains on track with the remainder of its rollout.

The installation of 65 iBeacons at Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego’s Petco Park, home of the Padres, will be followed by similar work at more than a dozen and a half other MLB stadiums, the league said. The plan is to have more than 20 ballparks in total equipped with the technology by Opening Day in late March.

petco_park

Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres (Flickr/SD Dirk)

As previously outlined, MLB's iBeacon initiative will allow iPhone users to receive location-specific alerts within ballparks via the existing At The Ballpark app. MLB has yet to detail exactly what kind of alerts will be enabled through the iBeacon system, but the system could be integrated with loyalty programs to offer discounts on concessions and fan gear, help visitors find their seats, or to activate supplemental content such as video clips when users are near commemorative plaques and statues.

Apple is looking to iBeacons as a way to enhance the visitor experience in stores, sporting arenas, and cultural venues, demonstrating the technology with a significant rollout at its own retail stores in the United States. While Apple has promoted the concept of iBeacons by building support for the technology into iOS 7, it is also a broader technology based on Bluetooth LE, with transmitters being developed by a number of different companies.

Following a two-game set between the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney, Australia on March 22-23, the Major League Baseball regular season moves into high gear beginning on the evening of March 30 with a matchup in San Diego between the Dodgers and Padres, the two teams whose home stadiums already have their iBeacon systems up and running.

Top Rated Comments

D
Daalseth
158 months ago
Am I the only one that thinks this sounds really useless.
Maybe not the only one, but I think it's a great idea. I've been to a couple of stadiums, the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Comiskey Park (I really don't like the new name) and Wrigley Field in Chicago. Yes it can be tricky to find your way around, especially with a few tens of thousands of other people also trying to find their way with herds of kids in tow, and even more so if it's not a park you go to regularly. It's not just your seat either. Where's the bathrooms, which one is out of order, where's the concession stand, the one where they sell pizza, I saw a souvenir bat, which souvenir stand sells those. There's a lot of things these could be used for. That's not to mention stats on players and other info about the game. I think they are a great idea and over time they will find all sorts of uses for them.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eternlgladiator Avatar
eternlgladiator
158 months ago
Am I the only one that thinks this sounds really useless.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IJ Reilly Avatar
IJ Reilly
158 months ago
Maybe not the only one, but I think it's a great idea. I've been to a couple of stadiums, the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Comiskey Park (I really don't like the new name) and Wrigley Field in Chicago. Yes it can be tricky to find your way around, especially with a few tens of thousands of other people also trying to find their way with herds of kids in tow, and even more so if it's not a park you go to regularly. It's not just your seat either. Where's the bathrooms, which one is out of order, where's the concession stand, the one where they sell pizza, I saw a souvenir bat, which souvenir stand sells those. There's a lot of things these could be used for. That's not to mention stats on players and other info about the game. I think they are a great idea and over time they will find all sorts of uses for them.

I'm trying to imagine tens of thousands of fans walking along the concourses concentrating on their phones. I mean, it's tough enough to get around a crowded ballpark when people are actually paying attention to their surroundings. So if that's the only or best use of iBeacon tech in ballparks, I say forgedabodit. Now, if they can use it to get us through the concession lines faster, that would be something.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
alent1234
158 months ago
You know that's not the only purpose.


traded my iphone 5 for galaxy note 3 because i like the bigger screen to read

but these ibeacons aren't a reason to make me go back to iphone. i always turn my bluetooth off, or as much as possible. and won't turn it on just to have my phone polled every time to feed me coupons or show me directions i can figure out myself.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
alent1234
158 months ago
still don't see any value in it
how hard is it to find your seats with all the directions and maps?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
T
tdiaz
158 months ago
Great, something else to give the Padres an excuse to jack the price..

Worthless. ;-)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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