North America’s Major League Baseball has entered into a multi-year partnership with technology giant Apple and renewed its association with gardening products manufacturer Scotts.
The league’s partnership with Apple will see the company’s iPad Pro tablets used in the dugouts of all 30 MLB teams. The iPads will feature a new application called MLB Dugout, which will provide advanced scouting systems, analytics and video footage to teams during games.
Each club will receive customised iPads for use during games, while data gathered last season using Statcast technology will also be incorporated on the app.
A trial version of the app was used towards the end of the 2015 season and MLB has since installed private network infrastructures at each ground, allowing clubs to pre-load data ahead of games. Those using the app during the game will not be granted access to the internet or be able to stream live video.
MLB has hailed the agreement as the first-ever on-field integration of next generation technology, putting advance scouting video and customisable reports at the fingertips of all managers, coaches and players. “Our collaboration with Apple on the use of iPad Pro in dugouts and bullpens is part of our ongoing effort to introduce extraordinary technology into our game,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said.
Meanwhile, MLB has signed a three-year extension to its partnership with Scotts, which has served as the league’s official lawn care company since 2010. The new agreement will cover the 2016 to 2018 seasons.
Over the next three years, Scotts will renovate baseball fields across North America. It will install fresh turf, fencing, scoreboards and dugouts to fields that are in need of improvement. The scheme ties in with MLB’s Play Ball initiative, which encourages more young people to take up baseball and softball.
The Forbes website also reported that Scotts will take on naming rights to MLB’s Pitch, Hit & Run youth competition as part of the renewal.