Building the Baltimore Ravens’ Visual Brand with PhotoShelter

The Ravens’ search for a winning visual solution

The Baltimore Ravens, a powerhouse in the National Football League, call M&T Bank Stadium home while operating out of their headquarters in Owings Mills, Maryland. As a professional American football team in the AFC North division, they captivate millions of fans worldwide. With a vast archive of photos and assets critical to engaging their global fanbase, the Ravens needed a robust digital asset management solution. 

The challenge: Costly inefficiencies and workflow bottlenecks

Jake Rose, the Digital Designer for the Baltimore Ravens, navigates a fast-paced workflow where timely access to high-quality visuals is non-negotiable. Before PhotoShelter, the team faced inefficiencies that slowed them down and hampered their efforts. These obstacles highlighted the urgent need for a better system.

• Tagging became a costly nightmare. The Ravens relied on “an external tagging company. But they charged an exorbitant amount,” and planned price hikes strained their budget. Inconsistent tagging made finding specific images a frustrating ordeal, leaving their archive disorganized and hard to navigate.
• Photos were trapped on-site. Their previous DAM limited access to the office network, causing major issues during off-site events like the Super Bowl in New Orleans. “This was a huge challenge when we went to the Super Bowl… had to load up TBs of photos onto an external hard drive and also not have access to any of our historical photos,” said Dave Lang, Sr. Director of Digital Strategy & Innovation, underscoring the need for a cloud-based solution.
• Sharing assets wasted time and risked security. Sending galleries to external partners required downloading files and using platforms like OneDrive, a slow and insecure process. “Besides being cumbersome, it lacked security and did not limit the amount of time those photos were available for download,” Lang noted, pointing to inefficiencies and potential risks.

“We needed a cloud-based solution that offered access from anywhere. Additionally, we needed a DAM that offered user permissions so that we could limit access to certain folders to certain users.” 

Dave Lang, Sr. Director of Digital Strategy & Innovation, Baltimore Ravens

The solution: Protecting and delivering visual assets

The Ravens struggled with inaccessible files and manual processes, but now they enjoy a streamlined system that powers their digital strategy. PhotoShelter turned frustration into efficiency, delivering tools that save time and enhance collaboration.

• A centralized hub preserves history and brand consistency. PhotoShelter stores thousands of assets, allowing team members to easily find photos by year or player name while keeping logos and guidelines up-to-date. “If we want to go back and find a photo of someone who played in 2003, it’s incredibly easy to do so. Anybody on staff has access, and they are able to find any photo they may need from over the years,” said Jake Rose.
• Sharing is now seamless and sponsor-friendly. External partners and media receive assets quickly, and LogoID’s AI tagging simplifies tracking sponsor logos. “For our sponsors, we use AI tagging for their logos… we don’t have to go digging to find them if we can’t remember specifics of the event or where the gallery may be located,” Rose explained, noting how it saves time and keeps everyone organized.
• Real-time workflows keep the action alive. FTP and AI tools deliver photos instantly for social posts and sponsor content, eliminating delays. “When going through and trying to find photos throughout the season, I just type in a name, and all of these are AI tagged. That cuts out so much time versus going into every individual game folder and picking out photos that we think would work,” Rose said.

“Each photographer has their own folder, an FTP transmitter gallery. They shoot the photos during the game and transmit the highlights any time a big play happens which we are able to use immediately for social posting and sponsored content. Then, every quarter we’ll have someone physically run the cards and upload those. And our third process is when our photographers upload their selects – a gallery of edited photos.”

Jake Rose, Digital Designer, Baltimore Ravens

Victory formation: The Ravens’ success with PhotoShelter

For the Baltimore Ravens, PhotoShelter is more than a tool. It is the foundation of how they connect with millions of fans. Seeing a team with such a storied legacy use technology to share both their past and present, from Ray Lewis’s first training camp to the latest game-winning play, is truly impressive. Jake Rose summed it up perfectly. “Being able to get everything together cohesively and publish it to our fans almost instantaneously is huge for us.” It is a powerful example of how the right solution can bring a brand’s story to life in an instant.

“We chose PhotoShelter because its features met all our needs and also had a clean interface and was easy to use. The customer support was also really great and helpful – especially as we were getting set up.”

Dave Lang, Sr. Director of Digital Strategy & Innovation, Baltimore Ravens