How the Minnesota Twins changed fan experiences forever
Learn how a unique and innovative augmented reality app is engaging fans and driving new sponsorship opportunities for the Minnesota Twins
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US baseball team Minnesota Twins broke ground in the fan experience space with the release of ARound, which is believed to be the first shared augmented reality application for live sports.
In August 2022, the team made the application available to the public and fans are now able to point their phone at the field and, through the app’s 3D spatial computing capabilities, access a range of unique and innovative features.
The app allows fans to see graphical illustrations of in-game statistics as well as offering a range of games they can interact with such as Batter Up, Blockbuster, and Fishin' Frenzy, all of which interface with the stadium and fellow fans, to offer a new level of engagement.
The Twins’ senior director of brand experience and innovation Chris Iles sais the new immersive experience has “some real power and some real legs”.
“It is aware of everyone around you that is using the app at the same time, creating a shared experience and creating some context around an event that frankly has never been done before,” Iles remarked. “That excited me and the Twins.”
Iles noted that it was important to counteract privacy concerns with regard to data. He explained that no sign-up process is required and no data is collected, which helps to alleviate the concerns of fans.
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Outside of the clear value that comes from delivering engaging, unique and innovative experiences for your fans, Iles explained that there is another clear monetary value that comes from new sponsorship opportunities.
“I would say [the platform] is tailor-made for sponsorship,” said Iles. “We are launching this sponsor agnostic because we do want to have a clean test of the technology to see how fans interact with it. I’ve always thought that before you can add the sponsorship component you need to show it as it is and let potential sponsors see it the same way. So, we need to prove this thing out. But we feel that it will work well for our sponsors.”
The Minnesota Twins has set a new standard with regard to engaging fans with innovative live experiences and stand to benefit financially from the increased attractiveness to sponsors that the highly-engaging app offers.
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