Bulls to Open Ballpark for Pokémon Go

Durham Bulls Athletic Park will host fans to play Pokémon Go on Tuesday, July 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. In light of the booming popularity of the app, gamers will be granted access to the renowned stadium's playing surface and stands by purchasing a $5 ticket, with all proceeds benefiting Second Chance Pet Adoptions.

"Over our last homestand we found that the DBAP proved to be a hotspot for Pokémon, with characters popping up in all areas of the stadium," Bulls General Manager Mike Birling said. "The problem was, many of the Pokémon were on the field, and our fans weren't able to catch them. With the team on the road for two weeks though, we thought this would be a perfect time to allow fans to catch the previously unattainable characters."

Currently the No. 1 app in the iTunes App Store, Pokémon Go displays a player's current location along with a map of the player's surroundings. Gamers are encouraged to walk around to find characters, and then must throw pokéballs to capture Pokémon in order to fill a player's Pokédex.

"The great thing about the app is that people can play it anywhere," Birling said. "Our situation is slightly different though, as fans don't have access to the field, despite it being filled with Pokémon. We wanted to make sure no Pokémon at the DBAP goes uncaptured."

Popular spots for Pokémon in the ballpark have been in shallow center field, and the left field corner underneath the world-famous Snorting Bull. Bulls' pitcher Jaime Schultz and infielder Cameron Seitzer have been spotted prior to games wandering the outfield in order to fill their Pokédex.