The hardest thing about testing a mobile app during Monday’s Home Run Derby at T-Mobile Park in Seattle was the action on the field.
It’s not that T-Mobile’s new “MLB Next” app wasn’t up to the task of delivering compelling data through its augmented reality feature, assorted field views, and a live audio stream. It’s that I had to keep closing the app to open my iPhone camera to record video and shoot photos of the historic event.
For fans attending Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game festivities, including the main event on Tuesday, the free app (on Android and iOS) is designed to add a broadcast element to the joy and energy of being at the ballpark.
As I watched home run after home run head for the seats on Monday, MLB Next was an interesting way to enhance the experience. The launch angle, direction and landing spot of each smash showed up in 3D on my phone thanks to a simple AR feature, activated when the app was open and my camera was aimed at the pitcher’s mound.
But I’ll admit, as a baseball fan, that I didn’t want to look at my phone while Seattle Mariners star Julio Rodriguez went on his record tear, hitting 41 home runs in the first round to ignite the home crowd. The cheering told me a ball was headed out in a more exciting way than any app could.
And I needed to close the app and record the chants of “Ju-li-o! Ju-li-o!”
During less exciting moments of the event it was worth playing around with the app to learn whether baseball is better with that type of technology.
Mike Katz, president of marketing, innovation and experience at Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile, believes it is.
“There are some things in today’s world where watching a baseball game on broadcast can be better,” Katz said before the Derby. “And then there’s some things that can never be replicated about being inside the ballpark — like the sights, the sounds, the smells, everything else.
“This allows you to kind of get both together, where you can be sitting and enjoy the actual environment of the ballpark, but then get all those real-time stats,” he added.
The stadium’s own giant video screen in centerfield turned out to be a bit redundant to T-Mobile and MLB’s app. The screen flashed the animated path of all home runs, added the distance for each, longest hit, average distance, and average exit velocity.
And despite a constant promo on in-stadium TVs encouraging fans to download the app, it looked like many fans were either watching the Derby with their eyes or doing what they do on their phones at every other game — taking pictures, texting, scrolling on social media, swiping on dating apps, etc.
Hardcore baseball fans might appreciate one added benefit of the app. T-Mobile teamed with San Francisco-based startup Mixhalo to deliver high-quality, low-latency audio of the live ESPN and FOX broadcasts within the app, using 5G to eliminate the delay typically experienced while listening.
T-Mobile also promotes its 5G network as a nice way for its own customers to connect at the ballpark. As a non-customer, the app worked just fine for me on T-Mobile Park’s Wi-Fi.
