Just in time for the '11 MLB season is the center of what MLB hopes is heaven for the modern-day fan, a 15,000-square-foot digital domain, steeped in social media and surrounded by oversized HD monitors. It is the MLB Fan Cave, a Greenwich Village version of baseball nirvana, opening today at the site of the former Tower Records, a 15,000-square-foot space at the corner of Broadway and 4th Street. MLB has populated the Fan Cave with two young males -- Michael O’Hara and Ryan Wagner -- who will watch all 2,430 MLB games this season and share their thoughts on Facebook, Twitter, MLB.com, and make MLB Network appearances. All that media socializing will be done in an environment transparent enough that it is behind 32 windows, each 14 feet high. The Fan Cave will also be featured in a Web series at MLBFanCave.com. Visits by MLB players and celebs are planned, along with parties and musical performances. In between, the guys can watch every MLB game on 15 Sony televisions -- three 60-inch screens surrounded by a dozen 32-inch TVs. Screens facing the street will include game highlights and live tweets. Sponsor/licensee integration includes a product selection from on-field licensees Majestic and New Era, a Pepsi Porch and Pepsi Cafe. The two men in the Fan Cave, which MLB is calling an "immersive fan experience," got their posts from a pool of nearly 10,000 applicants (Terry Lefton, THE DAILY).
MORE THAN JUST WATCHING GAMES: In N.Y., Joanna Molloy reports “Extreme Makeover” star Paul DiMeo has “installed a machine to test pitching speed, a fantasy baseball counter, a memorabilia museum, pool table, bar, a '50s diner, ever-changing photos in electronic frames and a tattoo parlor.” Artists will “conjure up players with portraits in ice, cheese and on Etch-A-Sketch screens.” Also, visitors once a week can “bring in their player artifacts to get them appraised by experts from Steiner Collectibles” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/30).
