New Britain Bees' "Bee Cams" Go Live
Multiple Personalized Video Views of Every Home Game Offers Fans New Angles of the America's Pastime
NEW BRITAIN, Conn., June 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The New Britain Bees of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball have introduced Bee Cams, providing fans the ability to view different live camera feeds of the Bees' home games. The technology, provided and developed by Heads & Tails, Inc., allows fans to choose from ten different camera angles and perspectives.
"The Bee Cams are part of our efforts with the Bees to bring more innovation to professional baseball," said Bees Co-Owner Anthony Iacovone, Founder/CEO of New York-based mobile advertising technology integration company AdTheorent. "The cameras provide fans with deeper levels of engagement and a richer understanding of the game by providing them with the ability to watch what they want to watch."
Heads & Tails developed the comprehensive Bee Cam platform from camera lenses to the platform's highly scalable distribution via Verizon's Content Delivery Network (CDN). Cameras are connected to the Verizon wireless network, with the content distributed to the public using Verizon's CDN. In the middle, software aggregates the ten feeds providing viewers the opportunity to pick and choose the camera they want to watch from a single web page. All production is managed by Heads & Tails 2,200 miles away in Southern California.
"We designed the Bee Cams to allow fans at the game or home to see more than just the pitcher, hitter, runners on base and the ball in flight. The innovative angles are the first step to a live VR like sports experience for fans anywhere," said Philip Loiacono, Chief Creative Officer for Heads & Tails. "In essence we've created personalized sports entertainment that's never been seen before using on-demand cameras and the ability for the fans to choose exactly what they want to watch."
Viewers can watch the Bee Cams via Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube using an HTML5-capable browser on their personal computer, or on the three social networks' apps on tablets and smartphones seeing the game as it happens from the camera angles they want to view. The web page also provides viewers the ability to switch from camera to camera, including the "Ump Cam," featuring an over-the-catcher's-shoulder perspective of the ball coming to home plate and the batter readying for the pitch.
"With the Bee Cams, we are bringing new perspective to sports television by delivering the new angle of sports," said Tony Loiacono, President of Heads & Tails. "Over the past year as we refined the production and delivery platform we have seen significant improvements. High-resolution camera lenses, faster mobile network transport, more powerful CDNs, and a more robust Internet have all made this possible."
Loiacono is no stranger to breakthroughs in sports camera angles. In 1991, while Vice President of Marketing for The Upper Deck Company, Loiacono debuted The Upper Deck Cam in New York's Madison Square Garden, Chicago Stadium and the Los Angeles Forum providing NBA basketball and NHL hockey fans a unique view from the scoreboard.
New Britain Bees' game webcasts inspire fans with a view of the game as never seen before. Imagine cameras showing umpires rubbing down official game baseballs, with clay and many other rarely seen angles, providing a backstory around each pitch, hit, catch or run.
"The action we're capturing with the Bee Cams brings the idea of inside baseball home to everyone who watches a Bee's home game," added Phil Loiacono. "The camera views are so vivid that you can almost see how the grass moves under an outfielder's feet, hear the crack of the bat and the sound of a catcher's glove when a 100 mph pitch snaps into it. This is baseball like it's never been seen, or heard, before."
"The Bee Cams are consistent with the goal of having the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball be the most innovative sports organization anywhere," said League President, Rick White. "What Heads & Tails and the Bees are doing is groundbreaking in sports. No other team anywhere has moved sports telecasting this far forward. As a league, we're watching how this improves fan engagement and awareness of not only the Bees, but professional baseball."
About the New Britain Bees
The New Britain Bees are members of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, playing all home games at New Britain Stadium. Tickets for the 2017 season, including Season Tickets and Mini-Plans, are available by calling 860-826-BEES (2337), online at NBBees.com, or by visiting the New Britain Bees' Front Office.
About the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB)
The Atlantic League has been a leader in professional baseball and a gateway to Major League Baseball since 1998. Over 36 million fans have attended Atlantic League games and more than 800 players and 50 managers and coaches have joined MLB organizations directly from the ALPB. The Atlantic League emphasizes winning baseball games, showcasing the talent of top-caliber players and offering affordable family entertainment to metropolitan markets serving nearly 15% of the U.S. population.
About Heads & Talls, Inc.
Heads & Tails, based in Bonsall, Calif. is marketing innovation and media company.
Founded in 1992, Heads & Tails works with companies across the USA developing breakthrough marketing programs including Ford Motor Company, Alliance Rubber, Cisco, Verizon, NASCAR, True Timber and others.
Contacts:
Tony Loiacono
Heads & Tails
1 (760) 533-4434
[email protected]
Chris Knoblock
New Britain Bees
1 (860) 826-2337, ext. 109
[email protected]
SOURCE New Britain Bees
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