Training camp expanded at the Under Armour Performance Center this year to include about 1,000 fans every day.
But for fans that still weren’t lucky enough to be selected in this year’s lottery, this is your chance to see the 2015 Ravens in training camp.
The team will practice at M&T Bank Stadium tonight and it’s free and open to the public. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and practice begins at 7.
“The opportunity for parents to bring kids that have never been in that stadium, and you can just see it in people’s faces the pride that they have been able to bring their little girl or their little boy into that stadium and give them an experience that is really hard to come by – a really expensive, special thing,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said.
“I would just encourage every parent in this whole greater Baltimore area – or wherever – [to] bring your kids in, get them a hot dog and a Coke and have a great time, and have a great night, and enjoy the stadium, because it’s a jewel. It’s a beautiful place to be.”
The Ravens will have a lot of attractions besides the practice itself. There will be a post-practice autograph session for children ages 6 to 14 (with a wristband) and a fireworks/laser show.
Other entertainment includes Baltimore’s Marching Ravens, cheerleaders, official mascot Poe and live mascots Rise and Conquer. The Ravens Team Store and concession stands will be open.
Get more details on the open practice here.
Besides being a great experience for fans, Harbaugh also likes the stadium practice for the team’s preparation for the season. It’s another step in the process, especially for the rookies.
“It’s always one of those things that they have to get used to, whether it’s the first day out here with their pants on, which seems to throw them all off,” he said. “Or you put the shoulder pads on and you’re banging a little but more, or you go into the stadium with the crowd and the turf, and that changes everything.”
Harbaugh remembers going to M&T Bank Stadium to practice for the first time four years ago. He said it was a really bad practice because it was a “shock to their system” to be in a practice environment with so many fans. The players were dropping passes and messing up assignments, like nothing they had done up to that point.
“So, I just think it’s a real plus to put them in that environment, a different environment,” Harbaugh said. “When it comes time to play the Saints [on Aug. 13], they’ll at least have been there before.”
