It used to be one of the perennial joys of going to the ballpark. You find your seats in the nosebleed rows above right field, wait patiently for a few innings, then scope out some unused seats in the pricier sections below and sneak down when the ushers have left their posts. Well, you can pretty much forget about that now. As the 2013 baseball season approaches, MLB Advanced Media—the Internet arm of Major League Baseball—and Experience, an Atlanta-based technology company, are rolling out a new seat-upgrade feature within baseball’s applications for the iPhone and Android phones. It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: Teams will let fans use their smartphones in the middle of games to pay to upgrade their seats, earn rewards, or access different parts of the stadium.

About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.