Archives for 2011

EVRI’s SportStream Football App not out to “out-ESPN ESPN,” CEO Says

September 20, 2011 by Paul Kapustka

As rehearsed as the routes he ran for the Bengals: NBC Sports' Cris Collinsworth

Well-funded, technically savvy and charging as hard as Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden, realtime content engine Evri still isn’t out to “out-ESPN ESPN,” company CEO Will Hunsinger reportedly told the technology information website TechCrunch.

Nonetheless, Evri ought to be top of mind for every NFL fan, and application developers like Evri are an emerging thorn in the side to such networks as ESPN. The company’s SportStream Football application, available for iOS and Android, gives fans real-time push notifications and robust in-game commentary through social media. It is free, and it is pretty darned good.

No doubt, Hunsinger’s meant his not “out-ESPN ESPN” comment when he said it. First published by the technology website TechCrunch, Hunsinger knows that his company’s immediate future relies on providing information that network game coverage lacks.

Long term, however, such companies as Evri have a legitimate shot at challenging the big boys. SportStream Football users can receive commentary customized to their specific interests in a game, including updates on NFL players from their alma mater. It is a customized experience, and the day is soon coming when personalized commentary is going to be far more compelling than listening to lines NBC Sports Cris Collinsworth and other network sportscasters rehearse in advance and then shoehorn into game-day commentary when it is convenient.

Consider a download of SportStream Football. It is an early winner in the mobile sports content delivery space. At the very least, it will improve your sports reading experience on smartphones and tablets. And, who knows? You may find a Twitter feed you find a whole lot more insightful than what you are being spoon fed through your network feed.

Filed Under: NFL, Uncategorized

NFL fans can improve team’s trading chances, report indicates

September 19, 2011 by Paul Kapustka

NFL players trade value goes up when they kill on Twitter, expert says

Mike Germano, a social-media adviser to the NFL Player Development Department, told the Boston Herald on September 19, “I believe that the NFL trades are based as much on a player’s social currency as on his performance record.”

Germano’s statement is one of the first bonafide, on-the-record comments by someone affiliated with a professional sports league that an athlete’s on-line appeal might be equal to his abilities to perform inside the lines. The fact is this: If your NFL team has a second-string quarterback ready to be dealt, he might fetch better picks if he’s outspoken and savvy with smart phones and such tablet devices as iPads than if he’s a social-media dud.

Germano, president and co-founder of digital agency Carrot Creative as well as adviser to the NFL, made his comments after reports that Bill Belichick, head coach and grumpy mastermind of the New England Patriots, recently asked wide receiver Chad Ochocinco to tone things down on Twitter.

If you are an NFL fan who wants to help their team in every way, you are not alone. And here’s one thing you can add to your repertoire: If you know your team is getting ready to trade out of a quarterback controversy, or likely to move any other player on your team, you might want to pump up the trade bait’s Twitter presence. You can do that simply by adding a Twitter follow to that soon-to-be-dealt player, and then tossing him some @ sign openers. Facebook, foursquare and a host of other smartphone- and tablet-accessible applications are also available to an NFL fan who wants to help the general manager get the highest value in a deal.

The trend of player values based on social-media abilities isn’t going to end. The NFL has become a game with a 360-degree view, and is perhaps the most advanced sport in using social media to enhance the fan experience. But, since social media is a two-way street, it only makes your 12th-man skills more valuable. There will forever be immeasurable value in your ability to help quiet the stadium when your team is at home, has the ball on the opponent’s one-yard line, with 30 seconds left of a tie game. But your ability to engage the players on your team with social media skills is becoming just as strategic.

Filed Under: NFL, NFL Draft, Twitter, Uncategorized

NHL To Slap Players Who Shoot-Off Mouths With New Social Media Policy

September 18, 2011 by Paul Kapustka

Phoenix Coyote left winger Paul Bissonnette represents a new generation of professional athlete, who can keep fans connected with irreverent commentary. He’s not yet a very good NHL player, playing in only 48 games in the 2010-11 NHL season, and scoring exactly one goal. But the 26-year-old can really tweet. As of Sunday September 18, he had 133,783 followers @BizNasty2point0, and he is in near-constant dialog with his fans, answering questions in a matter of minutes.

Now, Bissonnette is going to have to be a little more careful about what he says. The NHL released this week an in-depth social media policy that tells players what they can and cannot do on such channels as Twitter and Facebook, and some of Bissonnette’s most recent posts would violate league policy if they came on a game day.

Consider Sunday:

Bissonnette received a Tweet from fan Michael Kinky that said “just read about ur hand/wrist injury, how bad does that still affect daily life?”
Bissonnette responded seven minutes later “that injury was bad. A guy stepped on my wrist with his skate. Cut tendons, nerve and artery. I lost feeling in my thumb.”
Six minutes later, Bissonnette tweeted “folks that wrist injury was 3 years ago.”

Under the NHL’s new policy, that three-tweet exchange would probably be a game-day violation. Even though Bissonnette moved quickly to clarify to fans that he was commenting on an old injury, his first response was discussing an injury that may or may not be current. And on a game-day, that kind of information could be used in bookmaking or other activities the league wants to discourage, and Bissonnette might have been fined.

Luckily for Bissonnette, it wasn’t a game day and he’s a fringe player who can hardly break into the line-up, let alone move a Las Vegas line. Since his transgression comes only days after the NHL introduced its social media policy, it instead illustrates how significant these new policies could become in coming years.

Ice hockey was one of the last professional sports leagues to institute a policy, so it comes at a time when ties between social media and sports is tighter than ever. There was more media exposure placed on the NHL’s agreement than any other than came before it, and the policy gives mobile sports fans real insight into the limits placed on players in all professional sports leagues.

Yahoo journalist Greg Wyshynski had by far the best take on the NHL’s agreement with his “inside the NHL’s new social media policy for players.”

Wyshynski wrote:

“The good news is that the new policy doesn’t completely muzzle them. The bad news is that it’s been made crystal clear that Big Brother’s got an eye on Twitter and Facebook, watching for NHL players that share a little too much with their fans.”

Here’s what mobile sports fans should know about league agreements:

–Players are typically blocked out on game days. In the case of the NHL, players can’t tweet beginning at 11 am through postgame media obligations. Fines can result.

–Players typically run their tweets through the public relations offices of their respective teams so don’t expect much more than personality to come across your smart phone.

Filed Under: NHL, Twitter

Friday’s Technology Tidbits

September 16, 2011 by Paul Kapustka

Microsoft deals Flash another blow

Microsoft has decided to not support plug-ins in its Tablet version of Windows 8, which means that it will not support Flash. For the uninitiated but mildly interested this does not mean the type of Flash that got Uncle Ernie in trouble but rather the technology from Adobe that is used to add animation, video and interactivity to web pages. The thinking is that Flash is old technology and the the more recent HTML5 is better suited for the mobile users because of its low power demands, among other features. Microsoft is following Apple in this move, which also does not support Flash for its iPad and iPhone platforms. However Microsoft will offer an option that is expected to enable users to continue to use the technology if they so chose.

Come for pease pudding, stay for Football?

While the use of tablets seems to be growing every day, this is a tack that might actually get me off the sofa when a game is on (well not really). A British supermarket chain in London is testing the use of iPad-equipped shopping carts. The purpose of the iPad is not as a tool to check your list or to do comparison shopping. No, it is there so that you can view streaming sports while deciding if the beer on sale is worth saving a few quid. Sainsbury is teaming with Sky Sports for the service. Sainsbury provides a cart that has an iPod dock. iPod owners can download a free app called Sky Go iPad , available to Sky subscribers, that enables them to watch several sports channels. The carts will include special bumpers and sensors to help prevent collisions while watching the latest goal. Of course I guess you could also use it for the shopping list, but why bother?

Android-based tablets losing ground to RIM? Really?

According to the latest report from market research firm IDC, tablets that run the Android operating system are losing ground to newer players, including both Research-in Motion’s PlayBook which managed to gain a 4.9% market share for the quarter. The firm said in its second quarter report that the tablet market continues to be led by Apple’s iPad, shipping 9.3 million units that account for 68.3% of the market. The Android devices fell from 34% market share in the first quarter to 26.8% in Q2. Only part of the drop was due to growing RIM sales. The Hewlett-Packard fire sale on its TouchPad has a huge impact as well, expecting to comprise 4.7% of the market by the end of next quarter. The demand was so great for the cut rate devices that the company built an additional run. At $99 per, it makes you wonder what the real breakeven point for the devices is. Still HP will be out of the running soon and expect the Android systems to continue their upward growth in sales and market share.

The Atlantic nails the NCAA, hopefully will wash it to sea

In case you have missed it, the October issue of The Atlantic just lays into the NCAA with a well written, well researched piece on what a sham it actually is. I really doubt that anything will come of it, I mean look at the pat on the hand the Fiesta Bowl received for its transgressions. While a $1 million fine might seem like a lot to a working stiff, it is just two years salary of the guy that formerly ran the program. Instead of citing all of the points that I liked I think just these early quotes show where it is going.
“Why,” asked Bryce Jordan, the president emeritus of Penn State, “should a university be an advertising medium for your industry?”
Vaccaro did not blink. “They shouldn’t, sir,” he replied. “You sold your souls, and you’re going to continue selling them. You can be very moral and righteous in asking me that question, sir,” Vaccaro added with irrepressible good cheer, “but there’s not one of you in this room that’s going to turn down any of our money. You’re going to take it. I can only offer it.” Ouch.

Filed Under: Android, iPad, Live sports via mobile, NCAA Football, Soccer, Tablets

New Mobile App Gives Fantasy Football Owners the Ability to Track Multiple Teams

September 15, 2011 by Paul Kapustka

Now all scoring and action available at one place on your phone

A new app from PRMtime Fantasy Apps could be a lifesaver for serious fantasy football owners who are often on the road by providing a single program that encompasses a range of information on their teams, regardless of which sites they are located.

The app is not designed to be an all-in-one stop for owners that need to change lineups or make roster moves but rather it enables them to follow how their teams are doing, who is earning them points and other data that relates to wins and losses across a range of leagues. It covers not only your teams but your rivals as well so that you can always have an instant snapshot of where you stand.

The advantages of such a program are pretty obvious. Sitting at an airport trying to watch a game with 67 other stranded passengers is a pain. Looking up how each of your players and teams is doing is that pain magnified by 10. A one stop shop for information not only on your own team but your rivals eases the problems of following multiple teams and also helps prevent your battery from going dead. Managing the team is something that should always be done prior to kickoff so the lack of those features is not a real issue.

Created in a partnership with STATS LLC the app is called PRMtime Fantasy Football Mobile Live Scoring App, a snappy name if I have ever heard one. While the initial release is designed to be used by owners in NFL fantasy leagues the company said that it will be expanded to cover college football in the near future and from there a variety of additional sports. Also look for mobile and desktop versions of the program sometime in the future.

Designed for Internet-enabled phones the Fantasy Football Mobile Live Scoring App is available for Android at GoogleMarketPlace, for iPhone at iStore and for all other web-enabled phones head to PRMtime’s web site, www.prmtime.com for instructions.

A user heads to the site, creates a league ID, logs in all of their teams’ rosters and other members of the leagues. Caution should be used to ensure that you have the correct scoring features so that you can get accurate updates. The initial app is free and for an additional $4.99 live scoring is included with the information provided season long by STATS.

Filed Under: NFL, Stats LLC Tagged With: Fantasy Sports

Verizon Using 4G LTE, not Wi-Fi, for Stadium Upgrades

September 13, 2011 by Paul Kapustka

Though putting dedicated Wi-Fi networks inside stadiums and other large gathering areas is all the rage this year, Verizon Wireless seems to be taking a different path and is instead adding more cell towers with its 4G LTE cellular service to handle the bandwidth crush brought on by phone-wielding fans.

According to two recent press releases Verizon Wireless is beefing up its 4G coverage by adding four cell towers around the football stadiums at both Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin, to better handle cell traffic at each place on game days.

Though the self-serving press releases sound wonderful — who doesn’t want better cell coverage? — the caveat in this case is that you may only benefit from the improvements if you have one of Verizon’s newer, expensive 4G phones. Other carriers, most notably Verizon’s chief competitor AT&T, seem to be leaning in favor of adding Wi-Fi coverage to stadium sites, perhaps because A) it’s typically easier and cheaper to put in Wi-Fi and B) it can accomodate all types of smartphones since most advanced handsets these days also come with Wi-Fi connectivity built in.

The caveat for the AT&T Wi-Fi announcements is that to benefit you must already be an AT&T customer, meaning that many fans might not see any improvements. There is some talk about AT&T possibly allowing non-customers to use their public Wi-Fi hotspots for a daily fee — such as the one AT&T just turned on in downtown Palo Alto. More on this tomorrow, when we are scheduled to speak with some Ma Bell types at an event in that very university town.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Wi-Fi