Once a friend showed Matt Zidik the new Super Mario Run video game, he knew the Pittsburgh Pirates had to integrate it into the in-game fan experience at PNC Park.
The Pirates’ Manager of Game Presentation spearheaded the team utilizing the ballpark’s new right-field LED Mitsubishi video board to mirror a similar real-life game, only this time it was a fan running along the warning track jumping up and down to collect coins and win prizes. The Pirates’ activation is called Super Bucco Run.
“It dawned on me that this would be a very unique application to do it,” Zidik said of integrating Super Bucco Run with the tech-centric video board. “With Super Mario Bros., it’s super generational. It’s been around for forever. What also made it so appealing was that there’s generations of people who have grown up with Mario. It made it appealing to a lot of people.”
Through the use of Ross XPression, a graphics and video playback engine capable of driving multiple LED video boards, Zidik said that the new display plays a complementary role to the main board in PNC Park. It shares tweets and photos from fans, shows statistics about mascot race participants and highlights promotional information for corporate partners.
Zidik said the Pirates’ old scoreboard in right-field was so outdated that finding replacement parts was a challenge. The organization could have just replaced the out-of-town scoreboard, but according to Zidik, the team wanted to enhance the in-game presentation and fan experience. The best way to do that? With a 10.5’ x 136’ LED video board that was finally installed in the latter days of March before the beginning of the season.
He added that more similar video boards have made their way around MLB ballparks, but others, like the one at Cleveland Indians’ Progressive Field, is raised above ground versus one that started at field level, a differentiator for Zidik and the Pirates that allows them to display Super Bucco Run during every other home game.
“When I knew the location of the board, I wanted to take advantage of it being field level to come up with something that was unique and interactive for our fans, something that was different,” Zidik said.
“People went nuts…(Super Bucco Run) was really well received.”
Moving forward, the Pirates will continue to innovate around new ways to leverage the video board, including new pop culture tie-ins, but for now the Super Bucco Run will be here to stay.
Fans took to Twitter to praise the new initiative, which kicked off on Opening Day earlier this month.
