Take Notes, MLB

[Vanimal46]

Pictured is one of the several streaming options for the new Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. This is something MLB could easily emulate with all of the advanced stats available. Team up with Baseball Reference or Fangraphs, and give the audience all of the statistics at our fingertips. 

[Thegrin]

Love the idea. 

[mac098]

They already do this. Albeit it is with Apple+ and some games on MLB Network, but overall they do some of this. Now the main issue is that the casual fan is a dying breed. Whether that is due to teams not being on a local channel, lack of games on the radio, ticket prices too expensive, etc... The list could be endless depending on how you look at it. To me the biggest issue is that YouTube TV, HULU TV, MLB being blackout, and DISH are not part of Bally Sports so we suffer when it comes to watching our hometown team. I have personally watched more Saints games on tv than I have Twins games on TV due to the fact that I can't with my provider.

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, mac098 said:

They already do this. Albeit it is with Apple+ and some games on MLB Network, but overall they do some of this. Now the main issue is that the casual fan is a dying breed. Whether that is due to teams not being on a local channel, lack of games on the radio, ticket prices too expensive, etc... The list could be endless depending on how you look at it. To me the biggest issue is that YouTube TV, HULU TV, MLB being blackout, and DISH are not part of Bally Sports so we suffer when it comes to watching our hometown team. I have personally watched more Saints games on tv than I have Twins games on TV due to the fact that I can't with my provider.

Apple TV+ is definitely on the right track. Their probability percentages are way off and they’ve admitted their advanced stats are incorrect. They should partner with a legit 3rd party like Baseball Savant, FanGraphs or Baseball Reference and then they’ll be cooking with gas. 

There’s no doubt that the biggest issue is local and streaming blackouts. That’s a whole other can of worms with no fix until mlb teams break free from cable companies. 

[bean5302]

What MLB should do.
For every person who downloads MLB Ballpark and signs up, they get a coupon in the app for a free drink (beer, water or soft drink) for completing a survey. Scan a bar code at the entrance of the game, or scan the barcode on TV or visiting a website, complete the survey, get a free drink coupon at the game.

Find out:
Do fans at the game care about advanced metrics?
Do fans watching at home care about advanced metrics?
Do fans like robo umps?
etc.

It's easy. It's inexpensive. It's fun and interactive. It has wide appeal and it drives game day revenues.

[bean5302]

Personally? I don't care much at all about metrics while I'm at the game.

I'd love to see replays of catches and throws telling me how fast guys were running or how fast their throws were. I think that'd be fun and engaging, but that doesn't happen. Maybe I wouldn't care much if it happened all the time? 

That brings up the thought maybe I'd like advanced metrics way more while watching the game on TV. I think I probably would.

[SF Twins Fan]

I have zero interest in seeing a lot of advanced stats during a game.  Really the only stats I'd care to see are pitch velocity and exit velocity off the bat.  I don't want to see a bunch of arrows all over the screen showing where the ball is being thrown across the diamond and how fast it is compared to the baserunner.  Additional information provides zero value.

The game of football is a much faster sport with receivers and running backs lined up all over the field running various routes.  It can be difficult to track the play at times.  Baseball is very much more stationary. Pitcher throwing to home plate and hitter running in one direction if they get a hit.

[chpettit19]

Twins have already launched an augmented reality app for in Target Field and I'd think they could do something that would allow those who care about such things to use their phones to show advanced stats/data readouts on previous plays at some point. I think it'd be cool to be able to pull out my phone after a great play and hold it up to the field to show me the route the fielder took, sprint speed, catch probability, what-have-you.

I like the option to watch the advanced stats streaming as well. Not every fan is into that so it makes sense to do like Prime did with the football game and have both options available. They use live tracking of golf balls on TV and I'd think they could do that with baseball games as well. Would be a nice option to have. Just tie baseball savant into the broadcast. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

On 9/16/2022 at 1:03 PM, bean5302 said:

Personally? I don't care much at all about metrics while I'm at the game.

I'd love to see replays of catches and throws telling me how fast guys were running or how fast their throws were. I think that'd be fun and engaging, but that doesn't happen. Maybe I wouldn't care much if it happened all the time? 

That brings up the thought maybe I'd like advanced metrics way more while watching the game on TV. I think I probably would.

While I'm at the game, I generally only care about pitcher and exit velo and that's just a passing interest after a nasty strikeout or ripping the cover off the ball. I'm there for the game experience, not a bunch of stats.

Watching on TV is a very different experience for me, I love the concept of Apple TV's metrics but I wish they weren't utter garbage.

[TwinsDr2021]

On 9/16/2022 at 3:10 PM, chpettit19 said:

Twins have already launched an augmented reality app for in Target Field and I'd think they could do something that would allow those who care about such things to use their phones to show advanced stats/data readouts on previous plays at some point. I think it'd be cool to be able to pull out my phone after a great play and hold it up to the field to show me the route the fielder took, sprint speed, catch probability, what-have-you.

I like the option to watch the advanced stats streaming as well. Not every fan is into that so it makes sense to do like Prime did with the football game and have both options available. They use live tracking of golf balls on TV and I'd think they could do that with baseball games as well. Would be a nice option to have. Just tie baseball savant into the broadcast. 

I personally have no interest in paying for a ticket and having to have watch other stuff on my phone at a game. To me this totally takes the experience of being at the game away. Secondly my family wouldn't put up with me having my head buried in my phone for 3 hours, they don't like me checking my fantasy stats occasionally, a percentage of the cost to attend a game is the time spent with family/friends. IMO

On TV (I mean if I actually got to watch Twins games on my TV) is a different story in my humble opinion.

[chpettit19]

52 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

I personally have no interest in paying for a ticket and having to have watch other stuff on my phone at a game. To me this totally takes the experience of being at the game away. Secondly my family wouldn't put up with me having my head buried in my phone for 3 hours, they don't like me checking my fantasy stats occasionally, a percentage of the cost to attend a game is the time spent with family/friends. IMO

On TV (I mean if I actually got to watch Twins games on my TV) is a different story in my humble opinion.

Which is all good. I never have my phone out at games, but if there were statcast data metrics that I could follow after a great play I'd probably look them up. My friends and family already get cranky with me spitting out stats and pointing out exit velos during the game, but I like that kind of stuff. Having it as an option would probably help engage some of the younger generation that is more into the tech side of things. I don't think it hurts to have the option if people want it.

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

I personally have no interest in paying for a ticket and having to have watch other stuff on my phone at a game. To me this totally takes the experience of being at the game away. Secondly my family wouldn't put up with me having my head buried in my phone for 3 hours, they don't like me checking my fantasy stats occasionally, a percentage of the cost to attend a game is the time spent with family/friends. IMO

On TV (I mean if I actually got to watch Twins games on my TV) is a different story in my humble opinion.

Great! Then don't. But if other people want it, why not offer it?

[TwinsDr2021]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Great! Then don't. But if other people want it, why not offer it?

I didn't say don't, I just gave my opinion on it. Sure offer it, I don't think it will make the experience being there better, but again that is my opinion.

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

I didn't say don't, I just gave my opinion on it. Sure offer it, I don't think it will make the experience being there better, but again that is my opinion.

I am also very unlikely to look at this at the stadium. Maybe between innings?

[Yawn Gardenhose]

As someone who is a very casual football fan, one who hasn't watched a full Super Bowl game in nearly a decade, I would find the screenshot that accompanied the initial post on this thread annoying more than anything. I don't know what "under center percentage" refers to. I can make sense of the receiver stats on the right of the screen, but I don't like that these graphics take up so much space on the screen. And the arrows and such superimposed on the players is clutter and distracting. Just trying to get in the mindset of a casual baseball fan if they were confronted with such an MLB broadcast.

Now I imagine this is just one option for viewing the same NFL game and that there is a version of the game without all the fancy stats and artwork. If so, I'm all for the different options.