Giants announce AT&T Park food, tech upgrades

San Francisco Giants fans will get a chance to join the team on the field this season at AT&T Park with the help of a new virtual reality system.

Team officials today said that they are partnering with the Palo Alto-based firm Jaunt this year to provide fans with a virtual reality experience that includes time on the field for Spring Training at Scottsdale Stadium and in the batting cages, a virtual press conference and a ride in the car with Sergio Romo.

The system, announced at the team’s annual media preview day, will be available at AT&T Park’s social media center, the @Café. It will allow fans to experience the team in a whole new way, Mario Alioto, executive vice president of business operations, said today.

“You’ll be in the moment,” Alioto said. “You’re practically a member of the team.”

Maintaining its technology-friendly reputation, the team also announced an expansion of the ballpark’s Wi-Fi system, giving it 1,628 access points, the most of any MLB facility. The team’s Wi-Fi system delivered more than 100 terabytes of data to fans last season alone, officials said.

Off the field, AT&T Park concessionaires Centerplate and Bon Appetit Management Company today unveiled new food offerings including flatbread pizzas with no gluten-containing ingredients, porcini doughnuts with raclette cheese foam, shrimp sandwiches and fried Brussels sprouts.

Other ballpark improvements announced today include an expansion of the safety netting behind home plate and the replacement of some poles with cables to improve sightlines.

The Giants will begin their 17th season at AT&T Park and 59th in San Francisco on Thursday, April 7 with 30,750 season ticket holders, the largest number in franchise history. In addition, the team currently holds the longest consecutive regular season home-game sellout streak in the National League and the longest active one in Major League Baseball, at 408 regular season games and 23 post-season games.