new york –
A season of dramatic changes in baseball begins Thursday, highlighting important new rules designed to speed up the pace of play and create more action on the field.
Major League Baseball also hopes fans will notice more transparency in its efforts to promote replay reviews and player marketing.
Notable changes announced at MLB’s Innovation and Fan Engagement Showcase on Tuesday included improved replay technology and a new player-focused marketing strategy.
The expansive replay facility resembles a television production truck, featuring workstations with replay operators, who require approximately four to five weeks of training, as well as referees assigned to two games.
If a close match is found, notify another group that they are watching an isolated angle from the TV feed.
“Having access to every angle of the ballpark makes it faster and faster each year,” said Jim Sensale, Director of Replay Operations. “I’m hoping I get a call before they come to the headset.”
Regarding feedback from current referees, Sensale said the feedback has been positive.
“They love it now,” Sensale said. will pick up the phone here and help them out on the scene.”
It wasn’t until nearly two weeks after MLB signed Zoom Video Communications Inc. that the replay room’s new vibe became apparent.
Another new Replay Room feature will include a limited number of telecasts with access to Zoom videos of the referees watching on Apple TV+ and MLB Network Showcase telecasts. New technology may also be available for postseason broadcasts, and ballpark video will be accessible to telecast Zoom his views.
The new rapid pace of replay decisions goes hand in hand with new initiatives to reduce average game times. His average game time in spring training has dropped by about 26 minutes this season to 2:35.
The time savings come after respondents to MLB’s fan survey said they wanted to see more games under three hours and events like doubles, triples, stolen bases and defensive plays.
“Two fairly self-evident themes emerged from that research,” said Morgan Sword, MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations. “First, the fans want the pace of play to be a lot faster. They want shorter games, better pacing.
“And when you ask the open-ended question how long you want a baseball game to last, the immediate answer is 2 hours and 30 minutes.”
According to Sword, during last spring training, the average time to put the ball in play was about four minutes, and the stolen base rate increased by about 50%.
“A player with stealing ability is exciting and athletic, we want to see more on our roster, and the fans want me in the game,” Sword said.
MLB also released several new advertisements highlighting the rule change. Among them was actor Bryan Cranston saying “shift this” in an ad focused on outlawing infield shifts. Hatter Daniel Vogelbach is considering stealing a base because the distance between them has decreased.
MLB also held its first player marketing session in Arizona last month. 28 players from 13 teams attended a seminar that included lifestyle photography, personality-driven content, and capturing content for social media.
“It was an opportunity to put resources on the back burner and ultimately focus on discussions of processes and relationships with players and their managers,” said Karin Timpone, MLB’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer. think.
