In the latest SBJ Tech newsletter, we highlight a new study from Lumenalta on the sports fans’ wishes for more personalization and digital experiences from their favorite sports teams and leagues. We also look at the new replay tech being used this season by the National Lacrosse League. — Ethan Joyce
In today’s edition of Power Up:
- A’s unveil Las Vegas stadium sales preview center with novel tech
- Daktronics names Ramesh Jayaraman president & CEO
- MLS incorporating ‘Shot on iPhone’ footage into live championship telecast
The A’s Ballpark Experience Center has opened in Las Vegas, offering fans, by appointment only, a first look and feel of the team’s future venue that’s scheduled to open in 2028.
Legends Global is leading sales for the A’s, including tours of the Ballpark Experience Center, which is based at UnCommons in southwest Las Vegas. New stadium ticket products will go on sale in phases in early 2026.
The centerpiece of the space, designed by Advent and built by Burke Special Projects, is the Immersive Cube, a 26-million-pixel, 270-degree immersive digital canvas that allows fans to explore the ballpark in 3D.
The preview center includes a life-sized elephant tribute to the A’s mascot, a full architectural model of the ballpark created by Las Vegas-based ModelWorks AJT, interactive experiential exhibits, memorabilia, bobbleheads, and other artifacts celebrating the team’s history and traditions, and a clubhouse-themed area featuring four of the team’s World Series trophies.
Bjarke Ingels Group and HNTB designed the stadium, which is being built by Mortenson and McCarthy. CAA Icon is overseeing the project. It broke ground in the fall.
LED provider Daktronics has announced the hiring of Ramesh Jayaraman as its new president & CEO, a role he will start officially on Feb. 1, 2026. Jayaraman will be based in Brookings, S.D., where Daktronics is headquartered.
Brad Wiemann, a longtime Daktronics employee who has served in the interim, will remain in those positions until the end of January, coinciding with the end of Daktronics’ third fiscal quarter.
Jayaraman will also take a seat on the board of directors (pending approval), which will see his predecessor Reece Kurtenbach (son of company co-founder Al Kurtenbach) step down from his board seat. Jayaraman comes to Daktronics from Bosch, where he last served as SVP and Americas integration leader from Bosch Home Comfort. He takes over at a time when Daktronics is focused on global growth and building out its offerings.
MLS’ production of its championship match on Saturday will highlight the camera capabilities of the iPhone 17 Pro, as the league will incorporate four of the Apple devices into its MLS Cup telecast. The iPhones will provide live footage during the match between Inter Miami and the Whitecaps, which MLS EVP/Media Seth Bacon said is something the league and Apple have been testing for months. Apple previously used iPhones to capture live game footage during two of Apple TV+’s “Friday Night Baseball” broadcasts earlier this year.
“The ability for us to integrate this and maintain that same level of integrity and quality in the pictures is really a testament to the partnership we have with Apple,” Bacon said. “Being partnered with the world’s biggest technology company, you have the ability to innovate and try new things.”
The four iPhones will be part of the league’s largest-ever camera arsenal for its championship match. With more than 30 cameras, fans will have access to an expanded range of angles, including goal robotic cameras, referee cam, dedicated isocams on coaches and players and drone coverage.
The use of the Apple devices during MLS Cup is a unique extension of the technology company’s ongoing “Shot on iPhone” marketing campaign, which seeks to demonstrate the iPhone’s ability to capture and produce high-quality content. Anytime footage from an iPhone is being shown during Saturday’s telecast, there will be a small on-screen graphic indicating the footage is being “Shot on iPhone.”
The most ambitious use case for the iPhone during Saturday’s telecast will be as a high end zone camera.
“Anytime you see a shot looking down the field from the high kind of behind the goal that’s going to be shot entirely on an iPhone,” Bacon said.
Another iPhone will provide live footage from the supporters’ section at Chase Stadium. The two others will be carried by roaming camera operators, with one focused on fan reactions and the other capturing coach reactions.
MLS’ telecast of the match will stream for free on Apple TV, and MLS’ linear partners will also carry the league’s production. This means the “Shot on iPhone” integration will be seen by viewers on Fox in the U.S. and on TSN and RDS in Canada. The match will also be displayed live in N.Y.’s Times Square on Silvercast Media’s high-definition Mega-Zilla screen, which measures 330 feet in width and 78 feet in height.
