7 awesome digital sports apps

A couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a crack at AIMIA over their nominees for this year’s digital awards. However, one nomination I think they got 100% right was the AFL. In fact, the Australian sporting industry in general is leading the way in the development of innovative digital products and experiences (along with the not-for-profit sector). I’ve already spoken at length about excellent work the Essendon Fooball Club is doing in the digital realm. But many sporting organisations are also harnessing a massive demand for real-time information, and delivering digital products to meet those needs. So today I thought I’d shine the light on a number of the best local examples…

Herald Sun – Super Coach

Fantasy sport is hardly a new concept. Heck… I was playing AFL Dream Team back in high school, which was over a decade ago! Yet the online platform upon which the game operates is relatively innovative (albeit probably modelled off international versions). In particular, the Herald Sun has introduced a greater real-time emphasis over the past couple of years. Whereas once you had to wait for the conclusion on the round to determine your team’s score (and that of your opponent), you can now login after each game to assess the individual performance/score of each player. A range of head-to-head interfaces allow you to compare progress against that of your opponent. And if you’re super keen, you can check progress scores of other teams in your league in near real-time.

AFL – Game Day

The AFL’s Game Day application was nominated by AIMIA in the Best Sports category. The Game Day application provides a rich interface for fans to follow the progress of live games. The focal point of the application is a ground map that tracks player and ball movement in real time (updating each 30-60 seconds). Notations are made with each possession so that users can get a sense of the flow of play. For example, one notation might report that Jobe Watson won a contested possession and delivered a short kick to Michael Hurley. The ground map is supplemented by a range of complimentary multimedia options, including live radio feeds and video highlights. Furthermore, the application provides real time game statistics, and even integrates live Super Coach scoring for those who simply have to know how their star players are performing in real time!

Football Australia – World Cup 2018

Switching to the football code of the round variety, Football Australia have developed one of the most awesome cause related projects outside of the not-for-profit sector. The ‘Come Play‘ project has been built specifically to generate support for Australia’s bid to host the 2018-2022 soccer World Cup. And a mighty fine job they are doing too, with an army of over 50,000+ people joining the cause. Participants can lend their support in a wide range of ways including uploading videos, recruiting friends, playing online games, uploading photos, contributing content and even writing a poem! The aim of each action is to prove to FIFA how passionate Australians are about hosting the World Cup.  While no aggregate count of actions taken on the site is available, it seems to be in the range of hundreds of thousands.

Cric Info iPhone Application

This one technically isn’t an Australian product, as the application is owned by ESPN, but it is nevertheless serving Australian sports fans well. The core component is of the iPhone application is real time information about matches in progress around the globe. Scorecards can be viewed, along with ball-by-ball commentary of the match. I’d love to see video highlights here as well, but I suspect Cric Info is restricted by broadcast agreements. They do have an agreement with Getty Images to display photo imagery from featured matches, but it’s not quite the same thing. The real time component is supported by a news feed which provides traditional stories such as match summaries and player profiles. Finally, the application also integrates podcasts from cricket commentators and personalities such as Tony Greig and Geoff Boycott.

SBS Tour Tracker

I’m not big on cycling personally, but I have to admit that SBS did a mighty fine job in developing their Tour Tracker application to support the Tour de France last year. They produced an application that arguably provided a better user experience than watching the telecast on television. If they chose to, users could simply watch live action via the interface and enjoy the SBS commentary. However, a range of interactive options were provided to deliver a deeper experience. Users could nominate their favourite riders, and then track their progress via interactive maps. I believe you could also watch vision of specific riders, although I’m not entirely sure of this as I didn’t use this application in a whole lot of depth. What I liked best was the integration of live chat to connect users of the application. This is a huge area of potential for sporting organisations and something I’d love to see sporting venues embrace in the future. People viewing a sporting contest love discussing the events as they unfold, so it makes sense to connect fans and aggregate this discussion.

NRL – Game Analyser

The NRL Game Analyser application is a cool video based tool that allows fans to watch and deconstruct recent games. Full match replies can be viewed or the user can isolate key moments in the match to watch. Included amongst the key moments are scoring plays, big hits, errors, line breaks, penalties and more. The timeline interface allows users to fast forward straight to the “highlights”. I have to say this is a superior experience to the AFL, which do offer full game replays, but offer no way to break the game down, aside from a predetermined highlights package.  The only downside of the tool is that footage generally isn’t available for up to 24 hours after the game. I suspect this is because there is manual work required in tagging specific pieces of play accordingly (such as a big hit). The question is whether this costs the NRL users, as many of the hardcore fans will have already caught highlights packages via traditional media.

Australian Open iPhone Application

The Australian Open tennis recently concluded, which is a shame for all those taking advantage of the nifty iPhone application that supported the event. The application adopted a Facebook like interface, allowing users to access a wide range of relevant information including live scoring, live radio streaming, schedules of play, draws, player bios, maps, photos and more. I love this application because it has been built specifically for mobile consumption. Purpose built mobile applications are an area many of the other key sporting bodies such as the AFL and NRL need to play catch up. While the AFL did release an official iPhone application for the 2009 finals, they still lack a mobile presence beyond this, and may see the opportunity eroding as unofficial sources capitalise on their absence.

Unfair advantage?

There’s no question that many of the sporting bodies listed above are in an extremely advantageous position when it comes to digital innovation. Firstly, the value of modern broadcast agreements means they have deep pockets to invest in the digital channel. Secondly, they experience a demand for content that other businesses would die for. Yet the Australian not-for-profit sector has shown that you don’t need to be cashed up to deliver innovation. Let’s hope the rest of Australia will follow their lead…

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