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MLB Home Run Derby App has Real Prize

July 15, 2013 by

allst

Leading up to the annual Major League Baseball All Star game is the Home Run Derby and the league is made alterations to its mobile game based on the event with a contest that can send a fan to the World Series.

The updated mobile game “MLB.com Home Run Derby”, produced by MLB Advanced Media, the league’s interactive arm, is a free app that is available at both the App Store and Google Play and available for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and select Android devices.

The latest version now includes this years’ eight players that will participate in the event, which is scheduled for this evening as well as include all 24 players that participated in the event in the years between 2010 and 1012. The ball park has been altered so that it now is a recreation of Citi Field, the park where this years’ derby and All Star game will be staged.

However for fans playing the mobile game there is a bonus. Fans with a valid account in MLB.com Home Run Derby playing the game, up until July 18 at 11:59 pm EDT that wins five multi player matches will be automatically entered into a sweepstakes for the chance to win an all-expenses paid trip for two to Game Two of the 2013 World Series.

So see if you can have Prince Fielder defend his individual title that he earned last year at the event or if one of the seven other players participating will wrest the title from him. The other sluggers are David Wright, Robinson Cano, Chris Davis, Yoenis Cespedes, Bryce Harper, Michael Cuddyer, or Pedro Alvarez

Filed Under: All Star Game, Android, Apple, Apps, Athlete to Follow, Baseball, Major League Baseball Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Fourth of July Early Grab Bag — NBA Draft Numbers, Facebook stealing user info?

July 3, 2013 by

The Facebook Android app has apparently been downloading users’ phone numbers to Facebook’s servers upon installation and initial launch, regardless if the app is used or if the user even has a Facebook account, according to Norton, the antivirus company.

Facebook has told Norton that it has deleted the numbers from its servers and that it will release a updated version of the Android app that will prevent that from happening in the future. I guess the question I have is that it certainly seems intentional, and with all of the other privacy concerns facing the company why did they not stop this earlier?

Apple patents “iWatch”
It appears that the long rumored Apple watch may actually be real and coming closer to a consumer electronics store near you. Multiple sources are reporting that the company has applied for the “iWatch” trademark.

Apple execs have hinted that a wearable computing device could be in its future but have so far not yet come out and said that the company is indeed working on something along these lines.

MLB Embraces the Military with ticket program
Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) has teamed with GovX, an online military and government discount shopping destination for U.S. Armed Forces and government agency personnel with the purpose of allowing teams to create privileged ticketing programs and recognition events specifically for active, reserve, retired and veteran U.S. Military as well as those who serve and protect including police, fire, EMS and related federal, state and local government employees.

GovX will first create a verified ticketing system for the targeted groups and then work with individual teams to create programs for the military and first responders.

Google Glass adds voice commands and enhanced browsing
Speaking of wearable computing Google has added a web browser and has enhanced the voice commands for its Google Glass platform. The Glass, which is attached to a smartphone, can now both alert a user to incoming text messages and read them to the user or display them for the user to read.

The web browser will, among other things, enable users to view web page n multiple formats including zoom and look around, a feature that is controlled by head movement.

Yahoo buys video sharing firm Qwiki
As the battle for embedded features escalates among social media players Yahoo has taken another step forward with its deal to acquire Qwiki, a company that has created a mini-video sharing format that will rival the increasingly popular Vine app.

The deal is the second major one that the company has made in recent weeks, following its $1.1 billion purchase of Tumblr in May. The terms for the Qwiki deal have not yet been announced.


ESPN had second best viewership for NBA Draft
Depending on which article that you read at the ESPNmediazone.com site ESPN had its second best viewership NBA Draft with the 2013 draft, or it was tied for best, or maybe both. This release says that Nielsen rates it as the second best for the broadcaster, with an average viewership of 2,999,000.

This release said that the draft broadcast was tied for the top rated since 2003. I suspect that as the numbers were examined they arrived at the second place standing.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Baseball, ESPN, Facebook, Major League Baseball, NBA, NBA Draft, Nielsen Ratings, Yahoo Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

49ers Embrace Social Media In Deal With Yahoo

June 18, 2013 by

yahoofan

Have you ever dreamed of seeing your name, or at least your picture, up in lights for all to see? Well for 49er fans, and I guess any fan that attends games at the new 49er Levi’s Stadium that has become a possibility due to a deal between the team and Yahoo.

Yahoo has signed on with the team as the team and stadium’s “exclusive online sports content, social networking, and photo and video sharing partner” which is quite a mouthful. The terms of the 10 year deal have not been announced, or even reliably leaked.

Part of the deal will enable fans to appear on the big screen, that is the stadium big screen. Fans that take photos can upload them to Flikr during the game, which just happens to be a Yahoo property, and there is the possibility that they will be displayed on the big screen.

Fans can use specific booths that will be situated around the stadium’s concourse to upload the photos into the 49ers Flikr photo gallery, from which selections will be displayed at the game. Yahoo will also have the ability to tout its Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football.

The deal enables the company to name the lounge in the stadium’s suites and its adjacent viewing platforms the Fantasy Football Lounge. But the deal is more than just static naming- the 49ers said that they intend to integrate Yahoo and its properties into its broadcast and digital media.

It is not surprising that the 49ers have gone out and signed a deal with a major Internet player; expect to see this as the trend of the future as fans increasingly use smartphones and tablets to upload imagery and comments from sporting events, a trend that has been growing at a tremendous rate for the past few years.

With the increased adoption of social media at stadiums will also come the increasing need for better networking and communications technology. Anybody that has tried to get online at a sporting event knows the long delays that can entail, even when the mobile device shows that the signal is strong.

MLB has already signed a deal with Qualcomm to develop and implement a fan to help solve this issue. The San Francisco Giants, which planned for these issues from the start of AT&T Park, have still had to continually upgrade the stadiums’ capacity as users’ demands increased.

Filed Under: Apps, AT&T, Baseball, Major League Baseball, San Francisco Giants, Social Media, Social Media Data, Sports Social Media, Wi-Fi, Yahoo Tagged With: , , , , , ,

ESPN Scores Record Viewership for College Baseball Post Season

June 17, 2013 by

cws2

ESPN reports that the Regional and super Regional games that are the lead in to the College World Series had record viewership on its family of channels and that it expects to see strong viewership up to the conclusion that will take place in Omaha with prime-time telecasts of the best-of-three Finals on Monday, June 24, through Wednesday, June 26.

The network broadcast all of the games in both rounds in a series of 22 telecasts across three of its channels and averaged 404,000 viewers for a total of over 30,000,000 viewers by the end of the Super Regionals. Not surprising is that as the later rounds gained viewership, with the Super Regional games averaging 680,000 viewers. The games were broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

Over the past few years ESPN has been increasing the number of regular season games that it has broadcast college baseball season includes more than 270 regular-season and conference tournament games and every NCAA Division I Baseball Championship contest for the first time. It expanded its coverage of the playoffs from six sites where games were played to all 16 regional sites.

There is no doubt that the increased coverage has led to increased viewership in my opinion. I suspect that it is also helped by the NCAA’s mobile app that allows you to track the games, but which does not broadcast the games, so encouraging fans to tune in.

In the past I have not watched that much of the games that lead up to the College World Series and probably even fewer of the games of the actual series. I suspect that I have actually seen more Little League World Series games if push came to shove.

I imagine that in part this was because it just did not come across my sports radar that often and also simply the lack of access to games on TV. Hopefully ESPN will start making games available via mobile apps and online for fans that cannot get to a television to watch their favorite team.

Filed Under: Apps, Baseball, ESPN, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption Tagged With: , , ,

Jets Executive Talks about Importance of Mobile App in Connecting to Fans

June 13, 2013 by

jets

A New York Jets executive took the stage at the annual Multiscreen Summit which concluded yesterday in New York City and discussed the importance of mobile apps and a strong social media presence are vital to keep fans engaged both at the stadium and away regardless of how the team does on the field.

Paul Marsh, director of app development for the New York Jets comments came during the two days of discussion at the conference that focuses on a range of marketing and advertising challenges and opportunities as well as how to engage and hold customers in a range of areas, including sports.

According to Mobile Marketer, Marsh focused his comments on the importance of in stadium and out of stadium experience its growing importance during his part of the “Fireside Chat: Location, location, location” panel segment of the show.

He talked up the Jets mobile app, and how important that is to the team both in and out of the stadium. The social hooks in the app are very important he said because it allows fans to communicate with each other and to share content. The Jets are looking at enhancing the app in the future so that fans can better communicate with the team and the team can follow fans activities in the stadium and so customize service to better meet fans’ needs going forward.

MLB has been working for some time to develop apps that do this and now offer a variety of different features including in some stadiums the ability to order food at your seats with an app or to move down to better seats. The NFL as a whole has seemed to miss out on connecting with fans in this way and until I read the article in Mobile Marketer I was unaware that the Jets had a personalized app. I spend a fair amount of time on the NFL main page and it would have been nice if they pointed this out.

The conference as a whole looked very interesting with a list of presenters that ranged from Google, Mozilla, Rovio Entertainment, Microsoft, PayPal, MasterCard and Michael Bayle, the former general manager of Mobile for ESPN.

I was a bit surprised at the lack of additional sports executives at the event since it’s obviously a massive viewing and advertising platform in America, just among the big three of NFL, MLB and NBA, not counting events such as BCS games, March Madness and the College World Series.

Filed Under: Apps, Baseball, Live sports via mobile, NCAA Football, NCAA.com, NFL, NFL Mobile, Sports Social Media Tagged With: , ,

NCAA.Com Provides 2013 College World Series App

June 11, 2013 by

cws

If you are fan of college baseball, baseball in general or a school that made the College World Series then the NCAA has an app for you that will help you stay abreast of what is going on, what has happened and when things will be happening.

The 2013 NCAA Men’s College World Series will run from June 15 through either the 25th or 26th depending on results and will take place in Omaha. SO chances are that you might not have factored that into your summer vacation plans, but if you did not, or if you are attending the app has plenty for all.

The NCAA Men’s College World Series app is free and there are versions for iPhone, iPod touch as well as select Android devices. While the app provides a host of information on the tournament as well as an interactive map of the tournament site and a visitors guide to the city of Omaha.

Among the features the app includes are a daily event schedule with times, locations, directions/maps and lists of all the tournament’s festivities, live scores of all games and general information about the tournament and site.

Other features include real-time game highlights, post game post-game photo galleries, press conferences and editorial content about the tournament.

It seems that the NCAA is moving more into the mobile world every year. Earlier this year it featured an app for March Madness and had huge numbers in terms of viewership. It is unlikely that the baseball one will reach that level for a variety of reasons but increasingly the league is developing alternatives for fans that are on the go. As with the March Madness app the NCAA.com worked with Turner Sports on the program.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Baseball, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, NCAA.com, Smartphone, Tablets, Turner Sports Tagged With: , , ,
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