Now that almost every team has built a new stadium in the past 20 years (whether they needed one or whether they did not), some clever folks are speculating what the next generation of ballparks will look like:
Holland said holographic technology is advancing rapidly and will be available for advertisements shortly. He also said his company is working on technologies that will engage younger fans who like to do more than just sit and watch . . .
. . . "This experience is going to be about over-stimulating the senses," he said in an interview. "Bigger and brighter video boards, flashy signage, luxury seating with televisions offering multiple camera angles and in-seat ordering."
I don't think I'm alone in saying that the new breed of ballpark is already an over-stimulating experience. Sure, they're comfy places, but why and when was it decided that fans won't come to the ballpark unless there is loud music, massive video boards leading the cheers, lame pep squads shooting t-shirts into the stands and all manner of other distractions every half inning? Ballparks did just fine with a warm day, green grass, hot dogs, beer, some tinkling organ music and, oh yeah, a ballgame to attract fans. I don't think that model ever broke, and I'm not sure why someone decided to "fix" it. If the new breed of ballparks are going to amp up such distractions to even greater degrees my days of going to the ballpark will likely end.
Of course I'll be too busy taking fiber supplements and telling kids to get off my lawn by then to have gone anyway, but this is about principle more than anything.
(thanks to Ron Rollins of the excellent Baseball Over Here for the link).
Leave a Comment:
Saving...
I think Nationals Park already went that route. When you walk out of that place, you feel like you've been visually assaulted.
In my youth, I spent many days (that's right, days... as in sunshine and no artificial lighting) at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.
Life was grand, but the ballpark was a mess. Obstructed views... uncomfortable seating... everything that you need to make a trip to the ballpark unpleasant. As a child, that meant nothing. I was within shouting distance of some of baseball's living legends. As I matured, my perspective changed... and I tended to visit minor league parks and high school fields for my baseball fix.
Then came Oriole Park at Camden Yards... and all was right with my world. A beautiful park -- (don't call it a stadium, that sounds so... antiseptic) -- with just the right mix of nostalgia and modern convenience.
Oh, how I wish I was there now...
Sure, new stadiums are needed... eventually. But incorporate technology wisely, without making the locale appear like some kind of futuristic space module. In time, technological advances will make that design look silly.
Just went to the new DC park. Looks like Petco, except with a bad view. You can not watch the crappy Nats get beat by the Phillies for less than $20. (There is a $5 section, but the ticket office claimed despite evidence to the contrary that it sells out early.) The new ballparks are the result of MLB extortion, and MLB does not have the creativity to design a stadium worthy of the expense. The Giants stadium, not taxpayer financed, is actually a nice place.
At least you can still get bleacher seats in Yankee Stadium for $5.00
A couple of years ago, I attended a night game at the GAB in Cincy where round about the sixth inning, the stadium lost all of its audio capability. Not all of its power mind you - just the capability to transmit any amplified sounds through speaker. They decided to continue the game since nothing essential to playing was missing so for about two innings, fans were treated to pure, unadulterated major league baseball. And it was beautiful.
On a visit home a few years ago, I remember going to a Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC Park when they had a "throwback" game. Vintage uniforms and, more importantly, no public address system. Not only is PNC Park an excellent example of what a "new" park should be, the quiet simpleness of that game is one of my favorite memories of baseball.
It seems that the popularity of minor league baseball, with all of their marketing ploys to get people to come to games, began to be the model at the higher levels. Or maybe it was the popularity of NBA game in the '80s and '90s that caused the change. Just give me a seat, scorecard and some vendors to bring food and drinks to me, and I am set for the game.
I think there's a real tendency for all businesses to assume a causal relationship between marketing and sales whether one exists or not. Teams started scheduling promotions 50 nights a year, attendance increased, and everybody decided to draw a line from one to the other.
Jacobs/Progressive Field is a comfortable very intimate ballpark but I went to my last game in the spring of 2008. With all the creature comforts they have at the park they do not accommodate the people that paid for it. I am a smoker and sin taxes on tobacco and alcohol paid for the ballpark and the arena next door but when the smoking ban was passed they didn't even set up an outside area to light up. We were told that if we wanted to smoke that we would need to purchase another ticket to return.
I have heard that they changed this policy but too little too late for me. They accommodate everyone except for us lowlife smokers. They didn't have a problem with us paying for it just don't use the product anywhere around the place. In the mean time they have no problem with people lighting up in the suites. I guess the 250k lease gives them the privilege.
They don't make the laws with smoking, all places follow the laws of the City and State regarding smoking.
The stuff this article describes might very well end up making Mike Judge look prescient. The world will be Idiocracy before too long.