Chicago, IL – July 30, 2016 – Wrigley Field: Umpires checking the replay during a regular season game
(Photo by Phil Ellsworth / ESPN Images)
Major League Baseball is exploring the use of virtual reality as an additional training tool for its umpires, SportTechie has learned.
The league has not yet reached an agreement with any VR company nor established any parameters for how virtual reality will be used, but virtual reality vendors have started making preliminary presentations to the umpires, whose feedback has helped guide the search process. The collective bargaining agreement between the league and umpires mandates that MLB provide the World Umpire Association with advance notice of new training programs and engage in a collaborative process in implementing any such programs.
“The World Umpires Association supports all efforts to improve training for the umpires we represent,” WUA general counsel Dan Purtell wrote in an email. “At this point, we’ve not received formal notice that the Office of the Commissioner wants to start using this technology. But we are quite willing to discuss any training technology that would help our members continue to perform their difficult jobs even better.”
This would follow the lead of two peer professional sports leagues. The NFL, which has invested in STRIVR, has used that company’s virtual reality product to train younger officials through its Officiating Development Program. The NBA announced in March that its referees would be offered VR technology as part of its offseason training program.
MLB has offered other digital tools in the past, including the 2008 release of a Virtual Umpire Camp CD-ROM that was targeted primarily for new or prospective umpires. Minor League Baseball has used that product in the past and also offers an online learning portal and video tutorials through its umpire training academy.
While appearing on the SportTechie podcast, Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall discussed the growing interest in virtual reality around the sport, noting his own club’s research into the use of the tool for their hitters and suggesting that umpires were considering the same.
