Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

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

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,516
30,793



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.
Click to expand...
petco_park.jpg
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.

Article Link: iBeacons Ready to Go at Major League Baseball Parks in Los Angeles and San Diego
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/02/14/ibeacons-ready-mlb-la-sd/
T

tdiaz

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2006
477
73
Great, something else to give the Padres an excuse to jack the price..

Worthless. ;-)
 
IJ Reilly

IJ Reilly

macrumors P6
Jul 16, 2002
17,909
1,496
Palookaville
MacRumors said:
The Major League Baseball regular season kicks off 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.
Click to expand...

Nope. The regular season starts this year on March 22, with two games between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks, to be played in Sydney, Australia.

Correction: The first game in Australia is an exhibition game vs. Team Australia. The Dodgers and Dbacks open the regular season on March 22 in Sydney.
 
Last edited:
longofest

longofest

Editor emeritus
Jul 10, 2003
2,924
1,682
Falls Church, VA
It would be great if Apple opened up more about iBeacon and established some online written documentation so that others could also develop iBeacons and/or code to it. From what I can tell iBeacon is right now a proprietary Bluetooth LE profile that acts similarly to the PXP profile, but is different. Some have reverse-engineered it by "sniffing" it (http://estimote.com/), but they are clear to say that everything is draft and once Apple submits they may have to push updates.
 
A

alent1234

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2009
5,688
170
still don't see any value in it
how hard is it to find your seats with all the directions and maps?
 
dannyyankou

dannyyankou

macrumors G5
Mar 2, 2012
13,009
27,996
Westchester, NY
alent1234 said:
still don't see any value in it
how hard is it to find your seats with all the directions and maps?
Click to expand...

You know that's not the only purpose.

MacRumors said:
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.
Click to expand...
 
J

jumanji

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2003
205
315
Austin, TX
what kind of bandwidth does it take up? i know its bluetooth but it sounds like they plan on serving content. wifi and cellular already suck at game day sites because they can't handle the volume well
 
A

alent1234

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2009
5,688
170
dannyyankou said:
You know that's not the only purpose.
Click to expand...


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.
 
T

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
it would be a laugh if everyone turned up with Android devices ...

All that tech wasted...
 
A

alent1234

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2009
5,688
170
jumanji said:
what kind of bandwidth does it take up? i know its bluetooth but it sounds like they plan on serving content. wifi and cellular already suck at game day sites because they can't handle the volume well
Click to expand...


they will just dedicate bandwidth for this
 
WildCowboy

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,390
2,829
IJ Reilly said:
Nope. The regular season starts this year on March 22, with two games between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks, to be played in Sydney, Australia.

Correction: The first game in Australia is an exhibition game vs. Team Australia. The Dodgers and Dbacks open the regular season on March 22 in Sydney.
Click to expand...

You're right...forgot about that. Thanks.
 
mattopotamus

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,666
5,879
I think ibeacons are more useful in retail stores. If you have a coupon or are looking to buy a specific item, it can navigate you directly to the item inside the store.
 
D

Daalseth

macrumors 6502a
Jun 16, 2012
599
306
eternlgladiator said:
Am I the only one that thinks this sounds really useless.
Click to expand...
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.
 
T

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
gotluck said:
works with android 4.3 and up, if the developer of the app chooses to support android
Click to expand...

If ok..... but will they ?

probably not, since Apple wants the gain in this. Apple obviously wants a huge stake in how well this works as promotions...... Why would developers wanna go with Android ?
 
A

alent1234

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2009
5,688
170
Tech198 said:
If ok..... but will they ?

probably not, since Apple wants the gain in this. Apple obviously wants a huge stake in how well this works as promotions...... Why would developers wanna go with Android ?
Click to expand...


50% of the USA is on android
 
gotluck

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
Tech198 said:
If ok..... but will they ?

probably not, since Apple wants the gain in this. Apple obviously wants a huge stake in how well this works as promotions...... Why would developers wanna go with Android ?
Click to expand...

you would think developers/vendors would want to sell to everyone, not just those with iOS devices :)

apple may very well be offering incentive for restrictions though
 
IJ Reilly

IJ Reilly

macrumors P6
Jul 16, 2002
17,909
1,496
Palookaville
Daalseth said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
T

Thunderhawks

Suspended
Feb 17, 2009
4,057
2,118
alent1234 said:
still don't see any value in it
how hard is it to find your seats with all the directions and maps?
Click to expand...

Think big!

You can ask the users to watch the game while they are all texting or not paying attention to what is going on.

And, you can tell them when the game is over, so they can go home.
 
T

TMay

macrumors 68000
Dec 24, 2001
1,520
1
Carson City, NV
Tech198 said:
If ok..... but will they ?

probably not, since Apple wants the gain in this. Apple obviously wants a huge stake in how well this works as promotions...... Why would developers wanna go with Android ?
Click to expand...

Apple is obviously driving the spec, but they have nothing to gain by putting a wall up to Android. Best support and quality of apps will be the battleground; as always there will be those that want to participate at the lowest common denominator, and those that prefer Apple and its developers approach.

This is Apple's entry to the wallet, and NFC uptake is dead in the U.S. if it takes off. NFC was barely breathing anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom