The Ravens are going back to the future again at training camp this summer.
Though the atmosphere at the Under Armour Performance Center will not come close to resembling the scene during the years spent training in Westminster, the Ravens announced Tuesday that they can accommodate up to 1,250 fans for the 14 open practices the team will hold between July 28 and Aug. 18.
As in the past four years, when the Ravens were able to bring about 1,000 fans to practices in Owings Mills, an online lottery will determine those who will be able to get a glimpse of practice close up. The lottery went into affect at 11 a.m. Tuesday and will be open until June 29 at 5 p.m.
Fans are now able to put their names into an online lottery system on the team's website (www.baltimoreravens.com/trainingcamp) or on the Ravens Mobile App.
Fans who won tickets to the practices will be notified no later than July 15, the team announced in a release. According to a team spokesman, ticket lottery winners will be given a pass to park their vehicles in "standard-sized" spots at nearby Northwest Regional Park and bring up to four other guests with them.
"School buses, cargo vans, etc., will not be eligible to use the provided parking pass, and therefore are not admitted to practice," a team spokesman wrote in an email Tuesday. "However many people can safely fit in the aforementioned car may attend practice."
Information about parking, the times of the practices and what fans will be allowed to bring to the open practices will be made available no later than July 15.
The Ravens also announced that there will be two practices at M&T Bank Stadium that will be open to the public and free of charge.
Both are in conjunction with other events: an Aug. 1 practice at 7 p.m. that will be held on Military Appreciation Day and an Aug. 6 practice at 6 p.m that will be on the team's third Fireworks Night. Along with 3,500 special seats that will be made available to all active and former military personnel and their families, those who can show proper military ID will also receive a camouflage Ravens hat.
April Stevens of Nottingham, who along with her family have been Ravens season-ticket holders since M&T Bank Stadium opened in 1998, said that the fan experience in Owings Mills is "a little different" than it was in Westminster.
"You're close to the players, but you're not that close," Stevens said. "It's beautiful there [at the current facility]. There are a little bit more rules than there was in Westminster, but that's basically where they live for the year. It's a really good experience, just being able to be there."
Stevens has won the lottery twice, after the team's second Super Bowl championship following the 2012 season and again last year. She said that she is "conflicted" about putting in her name again this year.
"Every year I go up there, they have a crappy season, and I'm pretty superstitious, " Stevens said.