The Major League Baseball has struck a deal with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to equip teams with iPads in the dugout. The association is following in the National Football League’s footsteps by doing this though the MLB is using Apple as the supplier.
The NFL, which is supplied by the Microsoft tabs, started using tablets in the 2013 season, after striking a five-year, $400 million deal.
MLB’s 30 teams will be equipped with iPad Pros to use for the upcoming 2016 season. The move helps the teams, particularly coaches giving them the ability to get game statistics from past games, video analysis of previous games and can go as far as simulating potential pitcher-batter matches.
The move also means that the data shown will be proprietary to each team meaning it is not taken from a central, league-wide database. This gives teams the opportunity to use their data to gain a competitive advantage. Use of Apple’s devices simplifies the process for them and gives them access to the data in a more interactive and easier way.
The teams are lucky enough to be equipped with the efficient and convenient 12.9 inch iPad Pro and custom cases with each team’s logo will be fitted on it too. The software part will be handled by a new MLB custom app called the MLB Dugout. The software and the app were built with the help of Apple by an in-house division of MLB, the MLBs Advance Media Division.
When NFL changed from drawing tactics on paper to tablets they had difficulties and the jury is out there to see if MLB will have the same problems. When NFL changed and started using Microsoft Tabs, they had challenges and Apple even came out saying that behind the scenes many NFL teams were still using iPads because they had technical difficulties with the Surface Tablet.
The Apple MLB deal is similar to that of the NFL Microsoft, which gives both parties an advantage in advertisements for Apple and as a legitimate coaching aid for the league and its teams also.
Apple confirmed the deal to reporters and their marketing senior vice president said that “We are not just replacing binders with tablets, we are helping them do things that were not possible before.” There were no financial details disclosed, however.
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