It comes as no surprise that the sport industry is expected to generate $73.5b by 2019, according to Forbes. A significant amount of this revenue is going to come in with the help of software. With each eventful game season, there will more and more teams with a branded team app, a digital vehicle to drive the passions of fans beyond the long-established limits of fan experience. There will be team apps for clubs and leagues; college and school teams will also have their sports apps in time. As of today, the trend for the branded mobile app approach to fan engagement is on the outset, as many technologies (like Augmented reality) need time to become popular. Still, many teams, including the San Diego Gulls and Grand Rapids Griffins, already have their branded team apps. If your team is also planning to create one, there is a number of essential features to start with.
Beacons in a team’s branded mobile app
Today many businesses rely on vast retail spaces. As shops continue to grow, stocking more and more products, the busy shoppers often don’t have time to explore the large brick-and-mortar kingdoms to find what they’re looking for. When it comes to sports teams, the problem gets bigger. Fans want to quickly find their seats in big, crowded sports arenas. They would prefer to spend time on any other activity instead of setting out to the game well ahead of time to comfortably take their seats. The saving solution lies in using beacons, the leading geofencing and navigation technology. A team apps for clubs and leagues should embrace beacons for reasons that go beyond comfortable navigation for fans. The technology will kickstart the transformation of the sports arena, as we know it, into smart stadiums which would heavily rely on technology to create new marketing and fan engagement opportunities.
Branded team apps and customizable notifications
Content runs the modern world, informing and entertaining us. Nevertheless, there is too much information around us, and most of it is far from meaningful. Finding the right video or news piece often becomes tiresome and time-consuming. Since the sports business is as eventful as the movie industry, spot-on content delivery is crucial. With a branded team app, the team’s marketing managers are able to send the right content to their fans at the right time. A game-changing star player transfer is in talks? The marketing team would keep the fans up to date on the potential signing, fueling the excitement in small news pieces. There’s a surprise cheerleader performance during the break? Entice fan excitement by sending a notification to the branded mobile app well ahead of the kickoff.
Branded app for team, Live chats, and Chat bots
A branded team app is the best new teammate for everyone involved in the game—especially the fans. It gathers all the meaningful content in one place, and this should include a number of chats. First, a general fan chat, where fans can discuss every team event and accomplishment. Second, a chat for team members to engage with the app users. This would involve instantaneous live broadcasts straight to the branded mobile app: right before the game starts, as players are leaving the locker rooms and heading to the field, right after the game, or even as the team is heading home, in the bus. Moreover, there is space for conversational commerce. A team sports app can be integrated with an additional chat, where fans would buy tickets with the help of chatbots. Be it as it may, none of the above eliminates the need of social media integration into a branded app for teams — the fans will want to share content with their friends outside the sports fan community, too.