Viewers of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays may have noticed an enhanced television experience.
That’s because Fox Sports is trying new augmented reality (AR) and enhanced audio effects in Major League Baseball’s latest attempt to draw a bigger audience to a sport that has undergone multiple technological changes in recent years.
According to tvtechnology.com, drone-based AR graphics, Ump Cam AR pitch tracking and audio from bigger bases were added to telecasts for the 2025 World Series.
The Blue Jays won Game 1 of the series, 11-4, and Game 2 takes places Oct 25.
Fox Sports Equipped With High-Tech Cameras
In an interview with Tv Tech, Brad Cheney, vice president of field operations and engineering at Fox Sports, shared what the media company had in store for the World Series.
“We’re in a place with those smaller, portable cameras where they match exactly with everything else,” Cheney said. “They just look like another part of the puzzle of what we’re doing.”
Fox Sports is using a camera setup typical of major events. Alongside 20 operated cameras—including 10 high-speed units—the network will employ two RF MOVI systems, three point-of-view (POV) cameras, a Flycam at Dodger Stadium, two Phantom high-speed cameras, a drone cam (two in Toronto), DirtCAM, and an Ump Cam.
The use of smaller and robotic cameras allows for more insight into previously less exposed areas of the ballpark, like the batting cages and batting tunnels in the locker room, giving the fan a better experience.
Shots from these cameras help Fox tell better stories, Cheney said. “As we get into these (post-season) games, we’re starting to see things you don’t necessarily see a lot in the regular season, like batters coming in for one at bat,” he explains. “These cameras give us a good view into that.”
Augmented Reality, Ump Cam Gives Viewers Unique Experience
Although AR has been used in previous MLB games, the use of AR with drone shots premiered during this year’s World Series.
During the postseason, MLB allows drone flights inside stadiums only when the teams are off the field. Fox Sports has developed a complete AR graphics package, which will be used intermittently during these moments.
“We spend about half an hour every day tracking the drone around in different spots to make sure that we can visually lock that in, and then we work with MLB and the Bolt6 [optical tracking] team to actually drop those graphics in,” Cheney said.
The Ump Cam is affixed to the umpire’s head and gives the viewers a first-hand look at the pitch crossing the plate.
“We’ve seen some amazing shots from the Ump Cam the entire run—watching the tilt of the umpire’s head following a homerun ball,” he says. “Now, we’re seeing pitch tracking on it that actually gives the viewer another detailed point of view of how difficult it is to hit some of those pitches.”
The technology allows for a Swing Tracker and Umpire PitchTrack showing a strike zone.
Starting in 2026, the MLB will implement an automated ball-strike challenge system that allows players to challenge umpire calls on balls and strikes.
Providing Enhanced Audio on the Bases
Starting with the 2023 season, MLB approved larger bases, expanding first, second, and third from 15×15 inches to 18×18 inches. This change has had an unexpected perk for broadcasts: improved sound quality.
“When you listen to the World Series, you really do hear players moving around the bases a lot more than we ever have before,” Cheney said. “To a large extent, that’s because the bases are larger. You’re getting more sound quality coming out of them, not because we put bigger mics in them. It’s the same system in there, but because there’s more movement of air and more size to it, we’re getting a better sound of what’s happening.”
The increased size prevents the bases from being as tightly compressed when players stand on them, and that extra give makes a noticeable difference in sound quality, he explains.
For the World Series, Fox Sports will use a total of 53 effects microphones, along with three parabolic microphones.
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