T-Mobile has announced a partnership with Major League Baseball that will give fans a chance to experience the T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Denver’s Coors Field through a new app called MLB AR (augmented reality) that the companies created together ahead of MLB All-Star Week. In addition, fans will be able to see the batting practice and the Derby in real-time via 5G-integrated cameras mounted atop players’ hats and catchers’ masks.
On July 12 at 8 p.m. ET, fans, not just T-Mobile customers, can watch Coors Field in 3D while getting access to game stats. Perks for T-Mobile customers with a 5G device include the ability to replay home runs and unlock bonus stats like hang time, exit, velocity and max height. T-Mobile and MLB have plans to evolve the partnership by rolling out new features and equipping other stadiums with the same immersive technology.
T-Mobile’s 5G-embedded cameras will be affixed to players’ hats and catchers’ masks, virtually placing fans onto the field. This marks the first time these cameras are being integrated into a professional sports league’s jewel event. Created in partnership with ActionStreamer, the 5G cameras are also the first to deploy live, synchronized HD video and audio over T-Mobile’s 5G network. To top it off retired MLB All-Star Hunter Pence and MLB Network host Lauren Gardner will be hosting T-Mobile 5G BP online, starting July 12 online and across all MLB social channels.
Engaging fans a step further, in the days leading up to the Home Run Derby, T-Mobile is hosting activations in-person and on social media. Starting July 7, fans can enter their game predictions about who hits the longest home run for a chance to win $100,000 via MLB’s Brackett Challenge, which requires providing an email address.
Next, from July 9-13, fans who visit T-Mobile’s hologram studio at the Colorado Convention Center can project their own life-size hologram into a baseball card in real-time then share it to their social media profile.
T-Mobile is also transforming one of its Denver stores into an ‘All-Star Bat Shop’ where fans can customize and professionally engrave their own 18” bat with a logo from one of the 30 MLB clubs for free. T-Mobile says “special MLB legends” will be making appearances.
The partnership comes with a good cause too—T-Mobile will be donating $10,000 (and up to half a million dollars) for every home run hit with a magenta ball during bonus time at the Derby to the T-Mobile Little League Call Up Grant Program. The Program pays Little League Baseball and Softball registration fees for under-resourced families.
For years, T-Mobile has offered free baseball streaming to those on its network. Ahead of the league’s opening day, April 1, the carrier gave T-Mobile, Sprint and Metro customers the ability to access the MLB.TV streaming service for free through its T-Mobile Tuesdays app.
Last year, MLB canceled the remainder of its Spring Training games and delayed the start of the 2020 regular season due to COVID-19. MLB hadn’t started its season on July 4 due to the pandemic, and when a shortened season did start on July 23 no fans were allowed.
