MLB.com and The Minnesota Twins are working together on an initiative to spark more downloads of the MLB Ballpark application and create a special experience for fans with virtual reality game clips and free cardboard viewers. 

The virtual reality videos will bring on-site fans closer to the action in an attempt to make them feel part of the team through the MLB Ballpark app during The Twins game against Chicago White Sox later this month. Attendees will receive cardboard viewers to fully interact with the virtual reality experience. 

?This is a first-of-its-kind promotion for Major League Baseball,? said Chris Iles, senior director of content

at Minnesota Twins Baseball Club. ?I think what makes this unique is the scale of the promotion and how it is intended to be delivered within a game environment via a mobile device. 

?It is exciting that we will be introducing so many fans to the world of virtual reality and bringing them closer to the game than they have ever been,? he said. 

Users of the Ballpark app can check into the Target Field, home of the Twins, and then get access to the exclusive virtual reality videos. The videos will give fans access to a more in-depth look at their favorite players? routines and lives with footage of them leading up to the game. 

Once users place their phones in the cardboard viewers, they can move around the video space as if they are actually there. 

T-Mobile is also partnering in the initiative by providing the cardboard viewers and equipping the field with employees to help consumers assemble their viewers. Also, the associates will be providing demonstrations for new Samsung devices. 

Marketers have been flocking to VR as the technology is now more accessible to everyday consumers through mobile devices. 

For instance, McDonald?s ramped up anticipation for The Angry Birds Movie?s May premiere by enabling customers to scan codes on various products to uncover an exclusive augmented reality game that brings the film to life on their mobile devices (see more). 

Also, Hilton Hotels & Resorts was one of the first hospitality marketers to leverage 360-degree video in an ad unit that enabled consumers to tilt or rotate their smartphones as they are immersed in a virtual visit to the chain's Barbados resort (see more). 

?The ultimate goal is to enhance our fans? experience by bringing them closer to the action than they have ever been,? Mr. Iles said. ?We want to give fans the experience of actually being on the team and using this exciting technology is the best way for us to do that currently.?