MINNEAPOLIS — When the Twins hosted the Texas Rangers on Monday night at Target Field, fans threw hot dogs at players, searched for Bigfoot in the outfield, tossed beachballs, and hit home runs into the bleachers.
Okay, not really.
But fans did participate in those activities on their phones through the “ARound” app, which the Twins officially launched Monday for the very first time. The free app lets people in the stands play video games like BatterUp or Fishin’ Frenzy, while immersed in real-time Target Field during game action.
The Twins believe they’re the first professional sports team in history to employ “augmented reality” as a part of the fan experience.
If you’re not sure what that is – and don’t worry, we didn’t either – allow ARound founder and CEO Josh Beatty to explain.
“Augmented reality layers digital content onto the physical world, usually through our phones or some other means,” Beatty said. “What we’re able to do is turn the entire Twins’ stadium into an interactive gaming environment, where with just your phone, you can play, interact, and socialize with each other and the world around you.”
Beatty, a Minnesota native who describes himself as an inventor at heart, said he’d been toying with the idea for many years. While working for the ad agency Yamamoto, under the umbrella of marketing giant Stagwell, he pitched the concept in a “Shark Tank” type of competition and beat thousands of other employees.
“We want to bring this shared augmented reality to the world, and part of it is understanding where the audience exists,” Beatty said. “Which led us to the Twins.”
Chris Iles, the Twins’ head of innovation, said Beatty approached him with the idea about a year ago.
“My first thought was, this guy’s a little bit crazy – and I like it!” Iles said. “My second thought was, if this guy can do what he says he can do, then this is an incredible fan experience.”
Iles said the app will be available to fans for the rest of the season at Target Field, with enhancements added next year and beyond. Initially, it will cater to younger, more casual fans, who may want to play along with the action on the field to keep them occupied.
Eventually, though, the app will have the ability to overlay advanced data and statistics for more hardcore fans.
“Think: Byron Buxton comes up to the plate. I hold up my ARound app, my phone, and Byron Buxton pops up larger than life,” Iles said. “I’m served all his advanced statistics, and I’m served his spray chart of the last 10 at-bats from Target Field. That’s next-level experience.”
Josh Beatty and his team from Stagwell worked the concourse at Target Field on Monday for the launch, explaining to fans young and old about how ARound works.
Six-year-old Graham Benson was among the first to try the app, and he hit a homerun on his phone after only a few tries.
“Baseball. Video games. The combination, that's going to get him way more engaged in trying to get him come to the ballpark,” Graham’s dad, Dave, said. “With nine innings, three-plus hours, it’s usually ‘where are the Dippin’ Dots, where’s the ice cream?’ Now, maybe it will be, ‘where’s the phone to interact with the game?’”
Watch more of Minnesota sports:
Watch the latest sports videos - from high school hockey to the Minnesota Vikings and everything in between - in our YouTube playlist: