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YinzCam sells equity stake to NBA, gets deal to re-do 22 NBA team apps

November 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Screen shot of new NBA app under development. Photo: NBA

Screen shot of new NBA app under development. Photo: NBA

Stadium and team app developer YinzCam announced a big deal with the NBA Monday, a partnership that calls for YinzCam to redesign 22 NBA team apps during the 2015-16 season, adding features like location-based awareness, in-seat food ordering and delivery and seat upgrades. According to the company and the league, the NBA will also get an equity stake in the privately held YinzCam, a Pittsburgh-based business that has more than 140 clients, including teams from the NFL, the NHL, the NCAA and the National Rugby League.

Though YinzCam previously listed 23 NBA teams as current clients, including all 22 it will redesign apps for, under the new deal it appears that the team apps will have access to much deeper NBA content, including direct access to watch or listen to live games. Here is one of two very interesting paragraphs from the press release:

The new apps will personalize the home screen experience based on the fan’s location. Core game information, such as stats, play-by-play and box score, will remain accessible, however, the most relevant features, based on a fan’s location and game status, will be delivered to the home screen. Features such as seat upgrades and in-seat delivery will be surfaced within the app for fans at the game, while fans outside of the venue will be exposed to more extensive game coverage, video and news.

Treading on VenueNext’s turf

The most significant part of the above paragraph is the mention of features like seat upgrades and in-seat concession delivery, services that have not been a standard part of the YinzCam stadium/venue app offering, which in the past focused mainly on delivering content, like stats, live video and instant replays. We have an interview scheduled soon with YinzCam CEO Priya Narasimhan to find out whether or not YinzCam is building the software behind these features itself, or whether it is drafting a third party to supply the code.

Screen shot of Super Bowl app developed by YinzCam.

Screen shot of Super Bowl app developed by YinzCam.

Either way, having such features puts YinzCam in more direct competition with VenueNext, the company that built the Levi’s Stadium app and is also now building an app for the NBA’s Orlando Magic. Though VenueNext’s offering also includes content, at its core its focus is on supporting fan services like food ordering and digital ticketing.

On the content side, the new NBA team apps will have “watch” and “listen” features that will let fans listen to or watch live games. According to the NBA, the watch/listen features will deep-link fans to either a regional sports network broadcast, or national games via the WatchESPN app or the Watch TNT app, or to the NBA’s League Pass broadcast via the NBA app. To watch the games fans would need a qualifying cable contract for the RSN games, and would need a League Pass subscription ($199.99) for those broadcasts.

The NBA and YinzCam also said that the new apps would include support for Twitter’s mobile development platform, Fabric, which will allow fans who are logged into Twitter on their devices to “tweet, retweet and favorite directly from the team app.” Direct integration of Twitter activity is an interesting twist, since in most cases fans at games spend far more time using apps like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram than team or venue apps.

According to the release YinzCam will redesign team apps for the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, and Utah Jazz. Though the Washington Wizards are listed as a YinzCam client on YinzCam’s website, they are not included in the new-app redesign list.

Equity for content rights

Though the terms of the NBA’s equity investment in YinzCam aren’t described, our guess is that the deal is similar to the one YinzCam struck with the NFL, where YinzCam provided a slice of equity in exchange for content broadcast rights via its team and venue apps. YinzCam founder Narasimhan, who has historically eschewed venture capital in building her 30-person company, said exchanging equity for access to content was a smart deal especially for a firm that couldn’t afford to pay rights fees like the $1 billion Verizon paid the NFL for the right to show live content via its NFL Mobile app. YinzCam has a great relationship with the NFL, and was the provider of the Super Bowl stadium app at Feburary’s Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz.

In an interview with Narasimhan earlier this summer, she spoke of the growing importance of fans using apps both inside and outside the arenas; in the press release with the NBA some of that thinking apparently surfaced, in a description about having automated location-based content surface in each app:

The new apps will personalize the home screen experience based on the fan’s location. Core game information, such as stats, play-by-play and box score, will remain accessible, however, the most relevant features, based on a fan’s location and game status, will be delivered to the home screen. Features such as seat upgrades and in-seat delivery will be surfaced within the app for fans at the game, while fans outside of the venue will be exposed to more extensive game coverage, video and news.

The NBA deal follows YinzCam’s deal last year to become the preferred supplier of mobile apps for Learfield Sports, a partnership that Narasimhan said has already resulted in 30 new clients.

One final YinzCam nugget for now:

— Where did the company name come from? Narasimhan says YinzCam is a mashup of the Pittsburgh term “You ones” (a linguistic equivalent of the Southern “y’all”), which when pronounced quickly in a Pittsburgh accent sounds like “Yinz” and “camera” for the personal video the app supplies.

Filed Under: Apps, Basketball, Levi's Stadium, Live sports via mobile, NBA, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , ,

NBA’s Orlando Magic pick VenueNext for new stadium app

September 28, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Screenshot of new Orlando Magic stadium app built by VenueNext

Screenshot of new Orlando Magic stadium app built by VenueNext

The Orlando Magic and VenueNext are working together to produce a new stadium app for the NBA team, one that will support limited in-seat delivery of food, beverage and merchandise, as well as expanded digital ticketing options and even an in-game virtual betting feature.

Confirming reports from earlier this year, the VenueNext-powered app will be soft-launched during the NBA preseason and ready to go when games count, according to press releases from the team and from VenueNext. The deal with the Magic is the first confirmed VenueNext customer other than the San Francisco 49ers, whose owners helped launch VenueNext in part to build the app for Levi’s Stadium.

Like the Levi’s Stadium app, the Orlando Magic’s new app for the 20,000-seat Amway Center will support multiple game-day fan service functions, including the ability to use a mobile device to store digital tickets, and to pay for other ticketing functions like seat upgrades and parking passes. But the ability to order food, beverage and merchandise to be delivered to the seat will initially be limited to just 1,500 Amway Center fans in select premium seating areas, according to VenueNext. At Levi’s Stadium, all fans in the 69,500-seat venue can order food, beverage and merchandise for delivery via the app.

The app will also support instant replay services, powered by the NBA’s content feed, according to VenueNext. Like last year at Levi’s Stadium, fans in Orlando can expect features to be rolled out as the season progresses. Screenshots of the app provided by VenueNext also show the ability to pre-order concessions to be picked up at express windows, but there was no information about how many fans would be able to use this service.

Another screen view of the proposed new Orlando Magic stadium app

Another screen view of the proposed new Orlando Magic stadium app

Perhaps the most intriguing new twist to the VenueNext platform for Orlando is something the team is calling a “gaming feature,” which is essentially the ability for fans to bet on the game to earn loyalty points, called “Magic Money.” Though it’s not cash, the Magic Money can be exchanged for things like seat upgrades or food and beverage, the team said.

This feature is supported by daily fantasy betting service FanDuel, which had previously been a partner of the Magic and is now apparently the title sponsor of the new app. No details of the gaming feature were announced other than a few lines in a blog post from Magic CEO Alex Martins that said:

Fans will be able to play along with the game based on the stats and plays that are happening in front of them and earn points into their Magic Money marketplace account. Anyone in the arena will be able to play.

Earlier this year VenueNext CEO John Paul said that the firm would announce 30 new customers before the end of the calendar year, a count that is now down to 29. It will be interesting to see if any teams that are currently using another app platform, like the content-focused YinzCam apps, add or change to the VenueNext platform, which is solidly focused on fan services. In his blog post, Magic CEO Martins said he was confident the VenueNext app would improve the already-leading Amway Center fan experience:

During the upcoming season, our fans will be able to interact in so many more ways than in the more static fashion they’ve experienced in the past. Overall, most sports team apps are focused on content, which is one dimensional. Now, through this brand new experience, NBA fans for the first time will have a more dynamic and comprehensive experience.

Filed Under: Apps, Basketball, Levi's Stadium, NBA, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Levi’s Stadium app adds more ticketing, social media features for 2015 season

September 14, 2015 by 2 Comments

Levi's Stadium app showing direct link to 49ers team app. All photos: Paul Kapustka, MSR (click on any photo for a larger image)

Levi’s Stadium app showing direct link to 49ers team app. All photos: Paul Kapustka, MSR (click on any photo for a larger image)

You aren’t yet allowed to order up a touchdown or click a link to guarantee a 49ers victory, but new enhancements to the Levi’s Stadium app should make the game experience even better this season for all fans who visit Santa Clara for NFL games.

John Paul, CEO of Levi’s Stadium app developer VenueNext, laid out some of the improvements that fans will see when they use the stadium app starting at tonight’s season opener against the Minnesota Vikings. Tops among the enhancements are greater integration with the Niners’ separate team app, better support for electronic ticketing, and some interesting social media features that include the chance to see yourself live on one of the new big-screen TVs installed over the football offseason.

Though the Levi’s Stadium app got a good workout in 2014, with somewhere north of 200,000 unique users, Paul noted that number means there’s still a lot of Levi’s Stadium visitors who still haven’t heard of or bothered to use the app. “We’d love for more people to be aware of it [the app],” Paul said, and one way the VenueNext team is hoping to increase that number is through one-click integration with the existing team app, which focuses more on content and team information, and not the stadium-specific things like food ordering and ticketing that the Levi’s Stadium app supports.

App showing ability to buy pricey parking ticket for your RV

App showing ability to buy pricey parking ticket for your RV

The integration will start with one-click logos on both apps that lead directly to the other one — in the Levi’s Stadium app case, there is now a 49ers logo in the upper right corner that takes you directly to the team app (or to the app store if you haven’t downloaded it yet). Paul also said that if fans log in to the team’s Faithful 49 loyalty program on either app, they will be logged in on the other app automatically, so that any of the points-earning activities are tracked more easily.

Easier ticket transfers

Paul also said the Levi’s Stadium app will support more and easier electronic ticketing features, like the ability to transfer multiple tickets in one transaction, instead of having to do transfers ticket by ticket as was required last year. The app this season will also support in-game purchases of tickets to ancillary events and services, like the pregame RedZone Rally party area or the postgame Michael Mina parties. Fans can also use the app now to purchase premium parking, Paul said, and be guided right to the reserved spots via the app.

New outward-facing TV screen at Dignity Health gate

New outward-facing TV screen at Dignity Health gate

A fun new program with the app could allow fans to see themselves on the new big TV installed at the Intel gate, provided they log in to social media accounts with Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and tag a picture of themselves with the #levisstadium hashtag. Paul said Niners interns will be scouting hashtagged photos and then trying to match them to fans who are identified by beacons outside the Intel gate. If it works, fans should get a text or message alerting them to their pending 7 seconds of fame. “That feature should be a lot of fun,” Paul said.

And behind the scenes, Paul said that the VenueNext team worked hard to improve the app’s functionality when it encounters variable network connectivity, such as when a fan is connected to the Wi-Fi network but gets up and moves, an action that can temporarily cause a loss of connection. This year, Paul said, such actions shouldn’t affect things like food orders that have already been activated, since the app will work better on the back end to preserve such actions even if the user gets disconnected.

Not yet ready for launch but coming soon are two other interesting app features: One, Paul said, will allow fans to pay for and send (via in-seat delivery) food and beverage orders to other people in the stadium, provided they know that person’s phone number and seat location. Another feature will allow fans to use the stadium’s beacon-powered location system to meet each other, with the app showing where people are en route to an agreed meeting location. The first feature, Paul said, might be operational by the second game of the season, Oct. 4 vs. the Packers; the meetup function, he said, might not surface until mid-season.

Paul could not comment on any other VenueNext stadium deployments — the company has said publicly that it will have 30 new clients before the year’s end, and at the recent SEAT conference this summer yours truly heard several well-placed rumors that said VenueNext had signed other NFL team deals, but none have yet been publicly confirmed. Watch this space for more info soon!

Filed Under: Apple, Apps, DAS, Facebook, Instagram, Intel, Levi's Stadium, NFL, Social Media, Sports Social Media, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

USA Today launches enhanced sports weekly app

April 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment

usatod

While I often read USA Today online I did not realize that it had a separate sports app called USA Today Sports Weekly that is available for free from iTunes, Amazon Kindle and Google Play, and which has just been upgraded to include new interactive features.

USA Today said that the revamp was due to the changing viewership habits of its readers which are continually moving from the print copy to digital versions.

The app will feature pretty much what a user would expect from USA Today with coverage of all of the major pro and college leagues with a heavy emphasis on the NFL as well as a solid influx of news from international sports and leagues. There will be editorials, opinion pieces and polls and it will handle fantasy sports including tips and advice.

A new feature that came out with the latest rev is called Stream and it is a social feature that in real time enables a crowd sourced stream of user suggested sports news feed. It also enables users easily cut and send or save articles that interest them. This will be moderated by the community.

There are few things that a prospective user should be aware of if they download the free app, since it has that little + sign next to it, which means in app purchases ahead. The app itself is just a shell, like an embedded e-reader. To actually get the copy for each week requires an in-app purchase, which starts at $2.99 for a single issue. A three-month subscription will run a user $12.99 while the six-month version is $17.99 and the full year is $38.99. Each week provides a preview so that if you are looking just for one that focuses on a specific event or issue, say the NFL Draft, you can find that out prior to purchasing.

I will be interested to see how well the subscription model does for USA Today. While I read the publication’s sports section I also know that there are plenty of free alternatives on the web, ranging from local newspapers up to ESPN. In an age where you can find any number of dedicated bloggers that covers an issue very closely such as NFL cap issues and make their findings available for free why would someone pay for a generalists view?

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apple, Apps, Athlete to Follow, Baseball, Basketball, English Premier Soccer League, ESPN, Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Sports, FIFA, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, NBA, NCAA Football, NCAA Hoops, NFL, Olympics, Soccer, Sports Social Media, Tennis, USA Today Tagged With: , , , , , ,

RBI Baseball is here; Best ballparks for craft beer

April 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment

MLB has released R.B.I Baseball 14 to the joy of long-suffering fans of the game who have been waiting and hoping for years that the title would be reinvented and reinvigorated for a new generation of fans as well as older fans.

The game is the first one for consoles developed by the MLBAM and is available as a digital download for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 entertainment systems as well as for iPhones and iPads. The original game was discontinued around 20 years ago.

Quidditch is a real thing?
Apparently not only can you really play quidditch, there is an actual World Cup for the sport. The game that was made famous via the Harry Potter franchise of books and movies, sans magical brooms and a few other minor details, is being played around the globe these days.

Not only is it being played but it is gaining a bit of international support as teams from Canada and Australia will be among the 80 teams participated in the sport’s seventh World Cup in South Carolina last weekend. As a spoiler the University of Texas retained its crown beating Texas State University. Time to start practicing for next year.


Cubs’ fans disappointment may continue for 6 more years
When a new owner comes to town to take over a forlorn franchise there is always hope that they will manage to achieve what so many have failed to do in the past, create a winning atmosphere that will help make up for past failure.

That is what Cubs fans were certainly hoping for when Tom Ricketts et al took over the team. Yet it seems that a stadium and team that do very well in attendance and broadcasting viewership need to wait for new contracts and rebuilding. Or it could be the way the loan is structured and they don’t want to talk about that.

The 10 best ballparks for craft beer
When I started going to baseball games the options for food and beverages were very limited but that has really changed for the better. Now the Daily Meal has taken in upon itself to track down which stadiums have the best craft beer — why is this not a job assignment that I am ever given?

They list #1 as Safeco Field in Seattle, and the overall West Coast is well represented with AT&T and Petco also listed. Also did you know that at Yankee Stadium the space where they sell crafty beer is called ‘beer mixology destination?” Beer Mixology, really?

Qatar World Cup construction worker death rates continue
The World Cup that is due to be played in Qatar has already been under a cloud due to complaints about corruption and the fact that the tournament might have to be moved from summer to winter due to, what else, hot weather. But one issue that also seems to be running under the radar is worker treatment.

According to a piece in Slate 1,200 workers have already died building the facilities for the 2022 event. However FIFA said that it would look into it, which since it is responsible for the awarding of the games in the first place seems like the fox watching the hen house.

Wilson brings digital data collection to basketballl
Golfers can get a version of a smartwatch that tracks their game and provides real time feedback, there is a host of apps for runners and bicyclists to track their efforts and skiers can get goggles that lay out the run and show speed and slope. Soon recreational basketball will join the digital world with an app that will help Sunday morning athletes track their efforts.

There is more than just an app in the Wilson Smart Basketball program; there is of course a basketball that helps feed in the data. The app and accompanying basketball are scheduled for release for this year’s holiday season.

CBS to get ‘strong’ Thursday Night NFL slate
After outbidding rivals for the newest set of games that the NFL will be playing on Thursday nights CBS appears to be receiving an extra with the deal. It has been reported that the NFL will be taking steps to make those games between what are viewed as strong teams, not necessarily quality teams, but ones that will bring strong viewership.

Of course the quality of the games at the early point of the season, when offensive lines have not yet jelled, rookies are still learning the playbooks and teams have their new coaches is sometimes average at best and add in the fact that teams really only get two days to prepare for Thursday games I am not sure I would put the quality tag on any of these games just yet.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Baseball, Basketball, CBS Sports, Chicago Cubs, English Premier Soccer League, Fantasy Sports, FIFA, iPad, iPhone, Major League Baseball, NFL, Soccer, Tablets Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mobile viewership soars in setting March Madness record

April 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

f4

Mobile digital viewers are making their collective strength known during the current NCAA tournament by blowing away last year’s then record setting totals, and doing so with the championship weekend still ahead.

The numbers of hours of live video consumed is up only slightly from last year but the amount of live video streams that fans are viewing has tremendously increased as users are voting with their tablets, computers and smartphones that streaming video is a viable delivery format for fans.

The breakdown for the tournament through its second week shows that NCAA March Madness Live has seen 13.5 million hours of video watched, a 7% increase over last year’s 12.6 million at this point in the event. That video is comprised of 64 million live video streams over that time period, a 40% increase from last year’s 45 million. To put it in a clearer context last year for the entire tournament there was a total of 49 million videos streamed.

The role of mobile usage in driving up these numbers is obvious. Simply counting the mobile portion of the total streaming viewership shows that smartphones and tablet usage saw a 71% increase over the same two weeks last year with live streaming hours on those two platforms increasing by 38% over the same span a year earlier.

Of course in terms of percentages the growth appears to be leveling off since in 2013 the growth rate for live video streams was 145% over 2012 and the number of hours was up 201% from 2012, but it shows that strong growth is still occurring and is likely to maintain a strong pace going forward.

According to video delivery technology firm Ooyala the amount of minutes video minutes that have been viewed on tablets and smartphones has grown 719% in the last two years and that sports fans spent 62% of the time viewing videos longer than 10 minutes. It estimates that mobile viewership will encompass half of all video viewed by 2016.

Two Final Four Apps Launched
NCAA.com and Turner Sports are launching a pair of event-based apps to take advantage of the interest in the Men’s and Women’s Final Four tournaments this weekend available for Android and Apple mobile devices.

The two apps, NCAA Final Four North Texas app presented by AT&T and Women’s Final Four Nashville will serve fans at the events as well as those that will be following them remotely. For fans in the two towns where the games will be played the app can serve as a guide to the city and event with information such as schedule information, interactive maps, tickets, free Wi-Fi locations in the cities, news, and social media features.

The Men’s app appears to be the more feature rich and has a number of events such as AT&T Final Four Photo Hunt- a scavenger hunt around North Texas, the Coke Zero NCAA Social Arena. Both have an interactive map, the ability to buy tickets and merchandise and a daily events schedule.

Filed Under: Android, Apple, Apps, Basketball, Live sports via mobile, Live Sports Video Consumption, Market Research, NCAA Hoops, NCAA.com, Social Media Data, Sports Social Media, Tablets, truTV, Turner Sports Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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