The NFL’s Baltimore Ravens is fully embracing the fast-paced world of technology with the announcement that it will be offering fans a wealth of new digital offerings via smart speakers, cell phone apps and televisions to boost content consumption and provide high-tech fan interaction.
One of the digital media highlights will be virtual reality headsets, located at the club’s M&T Bank Stadium, giving fans unprecedented access to areas around the venue.
“The Ravens have dipped their toes in the virtual reality waters, creating a set of virtual experiences and 360° videos that take fans where they can’t normally go – on the field, in the tunnel, to practices and more,” said a Ravens statement.
The rise of augmented reality has also opened up an opportunity for the team to take advantage of ways to deliver innovative fan engagement. The Ravens released a virtual face painting experience on the team’s official cell phone app last year, and it now offers even more filters to provide more than 80 looks and combinations with team colors and designs.
The team has also installed a full size Fan Mirror, developed in partnership with Faceware Technologies, at the stadium’s RavensWalk with the same facial recognition and AR features as the app.
Taking it to an even larger scale, the Ravens will use its stadium cameras with facial recognition to project face paint and animations onto the faces of fans in the stands, which will be displayed on the venue’s 4K video boards.
For fans at home, the Ravens have launched a free video streaming app on the Roku platform with on-demand access to a library of team video productions, historical content, live programming and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.
Finally, the team has entered into the realm of artificial intelligence with the introduction of a brand-new Amazon Echo Flash Briefing, offering team news on demand through the smart speaker.
“Just over a decade ago, the Ravens’ digital experience was almost exclusively a website,” said senior vice president of Ravens Media Michelle Andres.
“Today, with the explosion of social media and the Internet of Things, keeping up with technology has never been more challenging or exciting. The Ravens have long committed to being where our fans are, thus demanding the exploration of new digital technologies.”
July 26, 2018
