Kansas City Royals Launch ‘Crown Vision AR’ from ARound to Enhance Gameday Fun for the 2023 Season
First Stadium-Level AR Platform for Large-Scale Venues, ARound Builds on 2022 Experiences with the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Rams, with Opening Day Launch at Kauffman Stadium
NEW YORK and KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — ARound, a next-generation fan engagement platform designed to enhance gameday fun with live, real-world augmented reality (AR) experiences – and part of the Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) Marketing Cloud – has expanded its professional sports partnerships to include the Kansas City Royals for the 2023 baseball season. Launching in Kauffman Stadium today, “Crown Vision AR” provides the venue’s 38,000 fans with a shared AR experience that includes interactive follow-along features after base hits and plays, contests, fan loyalty features, and brand sponsorships custom to the Royals.
“Our launches with the Twins and Rams last year showed us how engaging AR can be when it offers immersive in-game experiences while allowing fans to share in those experiences together. With the Royals, we’re bringing even more interactive and collaborative gameday features to their fingertips,” said ARound Founder and CEO Josh Beatty. “Rather than detract their attention with apps that take them away from the action on the field, ARound keeps fans focused on the real-world plays, their favorite players, and the energy around the stadium, allowing them to engage with the game like never before.”
“As we look to excite and engage the next generation of baseball fans, we know that ARound’s technology provides an amazing opportunity for the Royals,” said Kansas City Royals Vice President of Brand Innovation Tony Snethen. “Not only does augmented reality make the game more interactive, but we also believe it will serve to help users see the game in a whole new way.”
Building on its launches with the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Rams in 2022, ARound’s stadium experiences are becoming more immersive and interactive. Crown Vision AR features include:
- Real-Time Integration: Provides automatic follow-along effects like player hit graphics and fireworks after home runs, which are based on real-time action to both educate and entertain fans with relevant connected content.
- Fire-Breathing Dragon: ARound turns the Royals stadium into an interactive castle, with a fire-breathing dragon that fans can control, and make other teams feel the heat.
- Mass Gaming: The entire stadium can participate in the same gaming experiences, such as the Hot Dog Derby race, Mow Monster, and BatterUp, where fans can compete for in-stadium discounts and prizes.
- In-Venue Broadcast: Integration with the venue’s videoboard brings stadium AR to the masses and creates new second-screen experiences for fans to enjoy.
- Team IP and Sponsor Content: Characters in Royals jerseys, background signage and other brand activations keep the team and sponsors top-of-mind for fans. Additional opportunities for fan activations and sponsor integration include Royals promotional tie-ins, virtual rewards, and a prize launcher featuring a giant Pasquatch.
- Live 3D Stats: Later this season, ARound will also feature live 3D stats and play-by-play graphics for a broadcast-level experience in the stadium.
Crown Vision AR is powered by the ARound Stadium app on iOS and Android. Journalists interested in covering the launch can access the press kit here.
About ARound
ARound is a first-of-its-kind stadium-level shared augmented reality platform and is part of the Stagwell Marketing Cloud, a proprietary suite of SaaS solutions built for the modern marketer. ARound keeps audiences engaged by capturing their attention through immersive, interactive and shared experiences with fellow fans across the venue. Where other AR products offer isolating, singular experiences, ARound’s massive multi-user AR – which uses 3D spatial computing to localize content – redefines what it means to be part of a connected fan experience. It was the winner of Stagwell’s annual innovation competition which invests in new product ideas proposed by the network’s 13,000+ employees. ARound and the Stagwell Marketing Cloud are a part of Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network build to transform marketing.
About the Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team competes in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. The Royals have won two World Series championships, in 1985 and 2015.
Media Contacts
For ARound
Sarah Arvizo
pr@stagwellglobal.com
For the Kansas City Royals
Sharita Hutton
816.504.4398
sharita.hutton@royals.com
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SOURCE Stagwell Inc.
