T-Mobile US deploys private 5G in all 30 MLB stadiums

T-Mobile US deployed private 5G networks in all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums over the past year and a half for MLB's automated ball strike challenge system, which is set to debut when the season starts on 25 March. Major League Baseball said the system will let players challenge human home-plate umpire strike-zone calls during games in the United States.

MLB said the private 5G networks are used to determine strike-zone accuracy for each batter and to relay game and strike-zone information to MLB applications. The automated ball strike system uses high-speed Hawk-Eye cameras around each stadium to triangulate the strike zone above home plate, and T-Mobile US said its private 5G-Advanced network solutions portfolio transmits the relevant data through connected devices for ball location verification.

The deployment is part of T-Mobile US's private 5G-Advanced network solutions portfolio, which the operator launched four years ago for fixed infrastructure. MLB used the automated ball strike system in pre-season games last year after trials in the minor leagues during the previous two years, showing how private 5G is being applied to low-latency venue operations beyond traditional enterprise and industrial use cases.