Kansas City Royals, MLB & VLM's Smart Baseball ‘Relay the Way' Digital Time Capsule

Defending MLB champions Kansas City Royals, who have had back-to-back World Series appearances, are celebrating the team’s recent success at the start of the new season with a not-for-profit campaign revolving around a customised micro-chipped baseball containing thousands of fan messages.

To mark the Opening Day of the new MLB season and leverage KC baseball fervour as the franchise celebrates by hoisting a World Series pennant at the team’s hometown opening game,

The moment you’ve been waiting for! The raising of the 2015 World Series Champions banner. #Crowned #ForeverRoyal pic.twitter.com/W2ZEcIWK4M

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 4, 2016

Kansas City agency VML created a custom team baseball containing a microchip memory of fans messages as digital memento

The initiative supports the Kansas City MLB Urban Youth Academy – a non-profit organisation providing the city’s children access to education and career resources – and saw VML work with Mayor Sly James, members of Kansas City’s board on urban youth academy and the team.

The pro bono initiative kicked off prior to the Royals’ Sunday night season opener against the New York Mets as 2,500 fans formed a single-file 9.5 mile ‘Relay the Way’ line to toss the ball from one to another all the way from downtown KC’s Union Station to the team’s Kauffman Stadium where it was used for the ceremonial opening pitch.

This line formed the shape of the team’s crown logo.

Each supporter in the line had visited the ‘Relay The Way’ website (http://www.relaytheway.com/) where by making a donation (for at least $1) to the Kansas City MLB Urban Youth Academy, they were able to add their own personal tweet-size digital message to the ball itself.

Those messages – which ranged from comments about what the game and the team means to them, to good wishes for a good cause – were all uploaded into a chip embedded in the ball’s core

After the game, the ball was put on display at the Royals’ Hall of Fame inside Kauffman Stadium, but by using wi-fi, anyone in the museum can look at the messages stored in the ball on a smartphone.

The ball’s computer chip can store between 100,000 to 200,000 pieces of text.

‘It will be stored inside this baseball forever – we’re looking at it like a digital, physical time capsule,’ explains VML executive creative director Tony Snethen.

‘Our hope is that while this was a Kansas City-focused thing, that we’re going to reach people all over the globe to take part in this. There are balls out there that track activity (like a basketball that can track how many dribbles and movement), but we searched high and low and couldn’t find anything that was more message-based. This is not necessarily an activity tracker, it’s more of immortalizing messages in time, and we wanted it to be historical.’

VML created the digital memory ball by opening and carving out dozens of balls to find the right method to fit the computer chip inside while still maintaining the ball’s original shape and weight.

The agency also worked with local leather company Sandlot Goods to ensure the ball’s laces were stitched back up properly.

The initiative was also backed by several local companies and was promoted by the agency and the Royals in the local media and across social media too.

Tonight's first pitch ball is on its way to #TheK! #RelayTheWay #OpeningNight pic.twitter.com/6bKhOHNH7t

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 3, 2016

We are the Champions! Yes, we are #KC! #RelayTheWay pic.twitter.com/P4xkLZJRfp

— Kansas City, MO (@KCMO) April 3, 2016

A win for the @Royals. A bigger win for our city. Thank you for helping us make history yesterday, KC. #RelayTheWay pic.twitter.com/PrLWA38OmF

— KCUYA (@KC_UYA) April 4, 2016

Comment:

This is certainly one of the more innovative recent cause campaigns we’ve seen in the sports world.

While the Internet Of Things is seeing objects of all kinds chipped and connected to the web, this wi-fi, supporter message memory ball will be an interactive exhibit in the team’s museum recalling fan feelings after such a successful period in the team’s history.

But it is also the centrepiece of a community-led, local cause campaign that links the kids of the city to the sport.

Home Run!

Links

Relay The Way:

http://www.relaytheway.com/

Kansas City Royals Website:

http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/

Kansas City Royals Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Royals

Kansas City Royals Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Royals

Kansas City Royals Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/kcroyals/

Kansas City Royals YouTube: