Bat Around Partners with the Tampa Bay Rays

Bat Around has announced its first Major League Baseball team partnership with the Tampa Bay Rays, bringing the free mixed-reality experience game to Tropicana Field at every home game for the 2024 season.

The Bat Around activation will be located on the left field concourse at Tropicana Field in the Grand Slam Alley area. The batting cage features a 12-foot by 7-foot video screen where fans can see their results in real time. Participants receive a BAM (Bat Around Metric) score and stats in the Bat Around app.

“Fans can hit at the Trop and then not stop by going to our Tampa Bay area locations,” said Matt Farrell, Bat Around chief executive officer. “Stepping up to the plate is an adrenaline rush that gives people of all ages and ability levels a fresh love for the game. It turns a day at the ballpark from watching to doing, and we’re thrilled to help enhance the fan experience at Tropicana Field in partnership with the Tampa Bay Rays.”

Bat Around, a new batting cage softball and app that will turn the batting cage experience into a gaming opportunity for players, coaches and teams, debuted in January’s American Baseball Coaches Association conference in Nashville. The game is designed to help teams make batting practice more fun and purposeful through competition, allow players to try new skills or improve existing ones and encourage novices to grab a bat.

When playing Bat Around, hitters move through six rounds of play, keeping the practice fresh while developing different hitting skills and game strategy. Other features of the game include the Bat Around Metric, measuring overall skill. Players will see their stats in the app and can track how they performed in each skill. BAM is also a handicap system allowing people with different ability levels to play each other and compare stats. The game is accessible to all levels and hitters can play off a tee, soft toss, front toss, pitching machine or live pitching on three skill levels.

Bat Around has a partnership with USA Baseball and will also be the presenting sponsor of the USA Baseball Regional Clinics. The venture was inspired by 13 former Major League Baseball stars who collectively amassed nearly 30,000 hits. Among those stars is Fred McGriff, a Baseball Hall of Famer who will be inducted into the Rays Hall of Fame in September.

“This technology is an exciting new addition at Tropicana Field,” said Eric Weisberg, vice president of fan experience with the Tampa Bay Rays. “Our fans were extremely engaged when we showcased Bat Around during our Fan Fest earlier this year and we look forward to seeing fans enjoy this new feature at the ballpark all season long.”