Major League Baseball has gone out of its way to offer an increasingly attractive product and connect more with fans. The internationalization of the game with regular season games in Australia, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom has been a cornerstone of this expansion strategy, as have games in ballparks with a strong historical tradition within the United States
As part of these projects, games have already been played in a cricket stadium and in a multi-purpose venue that usually hosts athletics and soccer events. However, until now, we had never seen a baseball diamond installed in the center of a NASCAR racetrack, MLB’s latest great innovation to attract fans
The novel idea, called the MLB Speedway Classic, is trending these days, as next Saturday, August 2, the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves will face each other at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, a traditional NASCAR racing venue for more than 60 years
According to MLB, the Braves and Reds will wear unique race-themed jerseys, caps and helmets, retaining the basic look of the respective teams, but with several tweaks to reflect the essence of NASCAR
“These include numbers on the back of the shirts designed in the image of racing car numbers, with outlines, shading and the word movement in italics to represent the movement of a racing car,” the organisation said in one of the event’s promotions
“The caps will feature more racing symbolism, including flames on the Braves’ visor and checkered flags on the Reds’. The batting helmets are inspired by racing helmets and will feature various racing-themed imagery,” they added
The caps will feature more racing symbolism, including flames on the Braves’ visor and checkered flags on the Reds’ visor.
The jewel in the crown of this project is the diamond that began to be installed in the middle of the track at Bristol Motor Speedway, specifically between turns 3 and 4. The field will have traditional dimensions, with 400 feet to center field, 330 feet down the lines, 375 feet between right and center field, and 384 feet between left and center field
A record in sight
For Rob Manfred and the entire Major League Baseball hierarchy, the MLB Speedway Classic will not be just another event. In fact, it has already been confirmed that a record attendance of 85,000 fans is expected to flock from all over the United States and also from other countries
According to MLB, tickets have been purchased from all 50 states and from nine other countries on four different continents. This will ensure the largest attendance for a regular season game in Major League history, surpassing the previous mark of 84,587 fans who witnessed the clash between the Indians and the Yankees at Cleveland Stadium
Those in attendance at Bristol Motor Speedway will have the opportunity to see Hall of Famers Chipper Jones and Johny Bench, members of the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, who will throw out the first pitch on behalf of Atlanta and Cincinnati, respectively.
Read the full article here
