With the Pokemon Go app taking off, the Durham Bulls (Class AAA; International League) are embracing the trend by opening the ballpark to gamers on Tuesday.
For a $5 ticket–the proceeds from which benefit Second Chance Pet Adoptions–fans can access the seating bowl and field at Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP) on July 12 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
“Over our last homestand we found that the DBAP proved to be a hotspot for Pokémon, with characters popping up in all areas of the stadium,” Bulls General Manager Mike Birling said. “The problem was, many of the Pokémon were on the field, and our fans weren’t able to catch them. With the team on the road for two weeks though, we thought this would be a perfect time to allow fans to catch the previously unattainable characters.”
Currently the No. 1 app in the iTunes App Store, Pokémon Go displays a player’s current location along with a map of the player’s surroundings. Gamers are encouraged to walk around to find characters, and then must throw pokéballs to capture Pokémon in order to fill a player’s Pokédex.
“The great thing about the app is that people can play it anywhere,” Birling said. “Our situation is slightly different though, as fans don’t have access to the field, despite it being filled with Pokémon. We wanted to make sure no Pokémon at the DBAP goes uncaptured.”
Popular spots for Pokémon in the ballpark have been in shallow center field, and the left field corner underneath the world-famous Snorting Bull. Bulls’ pitcher Jaime Schultz and infielder Cameron Seitzer have been spotted prior to games wandering the outfield in order to fill their Pokédex.