Behind the Ballgame: Ryan Zander ’92

How many times have you groaned in frustration as a receiver gets tackled just shy of the yellow 1st-down line on your TV screen, or yelled at the ump for missing a strike that looked like it nicked the edge of the virtual strike zone? Armchair fans are among the most passionate in sports, and Major League Baseball’s Senior Vice President of Broadcasting Ryan Zander is working hard to keep them that way.

 

Ryan launched his career at the nexus of sports and broadcasting right out of grad school, joining the pioneering team at Sportvision, the company behind some of the most iconic innovations in sports viewing. They introduced features fans now take for granted: think the NFL’s 1st & 10 yellow line, baseball’s K Zone pitch tracking system, and NASCAR’s RACEf/x, which places virtual flags above each car to help fans follow their favorite drivers more easily. Ryan rose through the ranks, becoming Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sportvision, as the company played a pivotal role in transforming professional baseball by supplying the advanced data analytics that fueled the Moneyball era. As a by-product of K Zone pitch tracking, the company was accumulating data on the velocity and movement of each pitch, including its horizontal break and vertical drop. As the data was aggregated, it became more valuable. “We created this database that clubs and teams started to look at from an analysis standpoint to understand more about their players’ future performance,” says Ryan. Ryan joined the broadcasting division of Major League Baseball in 2016, working out of the San Francisco office with frequent trips to MLB’s headquarters in New York City.

 

At the heart of every decision made by MLB’s broadcasting team is the core mission of making at-home fans feel more connected to the game experience. Technology is a crucial component of that effort. MLB uses Statcast, a system that uses high-definition video to capture each play and every aspect of player performance, including the release-time, velocity, and spin rate of each pitch; the exit velocity, hang time, and distance of each hit; the distance of each baserunner’s lead; and the velocity of each fielder’s throw. Ryan’s broadcasting team works closely with on-air commentators to provide them with data that will help them tell the story of the game. “We collaborate closely with our broadcast partners and their play-by-play announcers and analysts,” says Ryan, “and if we have an idea, we’ll go to them, because they’re ultimately the ones who are going to speak to it on air and make it information that a viewer can understand.”

 

Technology has made it possible for the fan at home to get even closer to the action on the field. An emerging technology called volumetric video utilizes synchronized cameras surrounding the field to capture a 3D image of every play. This allows the broadcaster to replay any moment from any angle. So, if the shortstop makes an unbelievable play, fans can watch the replay from angles where you could never place a camera, like right over the shortstop’s shoulder. Although currently in limited use, volumetric video has the potential to be game-changing for viewers. Other technologies are already bringing fans inside the game in new ways. During ESPN’s Mic’d Up segments on Sunday Night Baseball, “players are mic’d up while they are on the field and the announcer can ask the player questions while he’s actually playing, which is really cool,” explains Ryan. “No other sport is doing that.” These in-the-moment interviews give fans insight into the game and the personalities of the players. Players also appreciate it because in-game interviews usually lead to a huge bump in social media followers, which is good for their brand.

 

Expanding Major League Baseball’s audience is another key priority for Ryan and his team. One strategy involves streaming the first inning of select Friday night games on X (formerly Twitter), aiming to capture the attention of viewers scrolling on their phones and draw them into the full broadcast. To connect with that same younger, tech-savvy audience, MLB launched Gameday 3D, an immersive experience that re-creates games in a video game-like 3D environment, similar in feel to the popular MLB The Show console series. “We look at how video games present visuals, data, and information to players,” Ryan explains, “and we’re exploring how to bring some of those techniques into our broadcasts.”

 

Whether it’s hosting games in Tokyo and London, honoring the legacy of the Negro Leagues with last summer’s game at historic Rickwood Field, or staging this summer’s upcoming matchup on the infield of NASCAR’s Bristol Motor Speedway, Ryan and his team are constantly finding new ways to create unique events and tell compelling stories that drive viewers to Major League Baseball. Those ever-changing opportunities are a big part of what keeps Ryan engaged in his work. “It’s like a movie without a script, with a new storyline unfolding every day,” says Ryan. “There’s always something new for us to focus on based on what’s happening within the game, and that’s what makes this such a fun line of work.”