Last June, during a weekend series against the Phillies, a secret buyer of MLB came to Oriole Park in Camden Yards to classify the stadium.
As is often the case when popular teams such as Philadelphia and New York are in town, the stadium was invaded by fans of the opponent. The secret buyer noted the atmosphere, and that, with the entertainment at stake which did not engage the crowd and the system of his poor who made impossible those who wanted to follow him, entered the ranking.
The result? A faulty note.
Of the 30 teams, the Orioles have been classified in the last five for entertainment at stake, said a direct source of direct knowledge at the Baltimore banner. Players have noted it for some time, said launcher Dean Kremer. Playing Camden Yards has not always given the Orioles the advantage it should.
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“When we go to other places, we feel like the team outside,” said Kremer. “Sometimes, at this stage, we don’t necessarily feel like the home team.”
Orioles try to change this. Mark well, Hired in January as marketing directortook this project as one of his first acts, bringing Cuynto, A marketing agency based in San DiegoTo direct it. Cuento previously worked with the Detroit Tigers, which Kremer noted had a better atmosphere of the match day during their visit in April compared to previous years.
Fine met Kremer and other team members this season and asked what entertainment factors they would like to see added during the match. They told him they really liked it “Woo woo” The Red Sox play, the Orioles have therefore added a solid effect after their own withdrawal.
The players also noted that sometimes the crowd loses its momentum during a change of pitching or the rupture of the action, so they now have guests such as “making noise” or putting a noise meter on the dashboard during these times. Although they had them in the past, the timing is now carefully plotted.
“One thing we saw during our survey of both MLB and our fans is that there were too many times when it seemed almost too silent and weaker, and it is something that we want to improve,” said fine. “We somehow support this button more than in the past because we have noticed that it really has an impact on how our players also often feel.”
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Certain changes are based on what other teams do. They present the Oriole bird before each match now, just as the phillies do with the scientist.
All the things they added did not succeed, at least at first. Like the paadres, the Orioles make Sundays more family Sunday by giving children the opportunity to take the ground with beginners. When the players are exhausted to start the match, they are supposed to stop with their designated child to sign a baseball.
But the first time they have implemented this, the majority of players led by children and did not recognize them. The children were left standing alone, the air confused while the players were starting to warm up around them. Two weeks later, in the second attempt, each player stopped.
They have also changed the music, separating from the longtime DJ Bob Popik in favor of someone who would add more pop and electronic dance music in the mix. Popik said that there were too many voices influenced what he played – public relations staff to his direct supervisors, who, according to him, prohibited certain songs such as “Party in the USA” because it was not appropriate “.
He was paralyzed, he said, what to play. He said he had canceled for all matches except three in the second half of the 2024 season and had asked not to be scheduled for the first month of the 2025 season, how it was told that he had been released.
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“They walked so much from me and put him towards their own comment. … They constantly reached me on the music I played,” said Popik.
But even if the new DJs of the team take place, the Music on temporary speakers Can present itself as extremely noisy, depending on the location of the seat, which makes experience unshakable for certain fans.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Seth Maiman. “Far too strong and too often, difficult to have a conversation. … Even if the AP is stronger, the words are still not very perceptible. Although music is incessant, it is difficult to know who comes to launch.”
A complete overhaul of the audio system is expected for the 2026 season.
Orioles must travel a fine line with changes. Baseball fans, more than in other sports, are traditionalists who are not receptive to change, said David Reibstein, Marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania Who sat on a MLB working group focused on fans’ commitment under the former Commissioner Bud Selig. Doing too many changes can cause a gap between the traditional fan who just wants to watch the match and the occasional fan who is there to have fun.
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“The ancient fans are stuck in the tradition of the game and everything they remember from their childhood, from the 60s and 70s, and yet you want to call on a new fan,” said Reibstein. “You have these two different audiences that require things that quickly and exciting that can be different from what is interested in the traditional fan, and it is a hard balancing act, but it is absolutely essential. … You keep all these traditional things, and you try to weave in some of the new ones. It takes time.”
The time element, he said, is essential. In Philadelphia, he noted, traditional fans did not like phanical, the green mascot with phillies fur, when it was created in the 1970s. Now, it is part of the experience of fans.
The MLB teams only need to look at the rise of Savannah bananas, mainly the Harlem Globetrotters of Baseball, to see occasional fans coming more than the game on the field. Banana games include players on stilts, singing and dance routines and other gadgets.
“You don’t have to go so far,” said Reibstein. “If you can integrate part of this, if we want to preserve this game, we must be able to bring new fans there and this will require integrating some of these things, and older fans will adjust.”
Some fans have adapted to some of the changes, just like Reibstein expected. The Orioles deleted the race and the soundtrack of beloved digital hot dogs, and instead, they stage a hot dog race every home game. Although it has taken time, the stadium is accompanied by the new version and begins to react.
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“I miss the virtual race of hot dogs because it had more action,” said Sam Leger. “However, I like the visual attraction of live race. Maybe they could increase the entertainment factor there. ”
Other things do not quite stick. At the bottom of the seventh in a home game on Friday evening in May, with the Orioles 2-0, a “Two Strike” message was put on the board. Fans did not react and the stadium was silent in a crucial game of the game. But in a recent game, a drum camera for which fans are invited to play while playing the drums to have a chance of being on the dashboard seemed to be a great success.
It’s good, for now. The rest of this season is essentially a test race, said Fine, to see what works before having a new video advice and a new system of its next one, in addition to a new entertainment director in the game, which they hope to have soon set up.
They take qualitative and quantitative data to determine what works and what does not work, by sending an investigation to the fans after the matches and speaking with seasonal call holders and players.
Well knows they will never like everyone. But this balance, as much pleasant by traditionalists and occasional fans, is what they are looking for.
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“You don’t want to upset your base or be in a place where you do something that will discourage people who have obviously been with us for a long time,” said fine. “It is difficult in a 43,000 -seat stadium to play music that everyone wants to hear. There is no stadium or entertainment location in the country where this will be, but you use data to make the best choice of what works best for almost everyone.”
This story has been updated to correct the date of the Phillies series.