One of the rapidly expanding elements of sports media is mobile coverage. Sports fans can use their phones to access news & information, team reports, and even live television & radio coverage more than ever. Here's a quick look at some of the sports elements I'm using on my own phone, a Google Android device on the Verizon network.
NFL, NHL, MLB, & NBA Official Apps -
The four major professional sports leagues have all entered the mobile app arena. As a Verizon Wireless customer, the NFL and NHL apps stand out in particular, as they have exclusive contracts with the carrier.
The NFL Mobile app, exclusive to Verizon, is a free application. In addition to live game trackers and a news feed, the app offers VCAST Video subscribers 24/7 coverage of the NFL Network, and live broadcast of the NFL Red Zone channel, which whips through coverage of live games on Sundays, as well as the Sunday Night NBC game, live on your phone. This live telecast feature is great for a fantasy football junkie like myself, and I'm paying the extra few bucks a month for VCAST during the NFL season just for that. Video quality is pretty good, and there are very few hiccups in the broadcast, even with my outdated Droid Eris phone.
The NHL app is similar in design to the NFL one, also exclusive to Verizon and with a similar feature set. The difference here is that live broadcast of hockey games is not contained in the VCAST package (VCAST subscribers do get free audio broadcasts), but available for an extra fee, in the neighborhood of $80 for the entire 2010-11 season. This is a pretty steep price for the ability to watch games on a small phone screen, especially when broadband Internet coverage of games is available for a little over $100.
The MLB and NBA apps are not specific to Verizon. The NBA app, despite a somewhat clunky interface, does a great job of tracking games live, with full up-to-the-minute stats available for every NBA game. A $10 a month premium, that I happily paid, allows for audio broadcasts of all NBA games. An additional $50, a much more reasonable price, gives access to all video broadcasts of NBA games. A flaw in this feature- Local games (wherever your phone is at the time) are blacked out. I think mobile access is a great resource for people who might be away from home but in town when their local team plays, and not being able to pull up the game on their phone defeats the purpose for most potential subscribers. I know that I would consider forking over the money, if I could watch the Bucks on my phone while in Milwaukee. The video service is also available as part of the NBA's "Three Point Play" package, which gives users TV, Internet, and mobile access to all (non-blacked out) games for one price.
The MLB app is, in my opinion, the best designed of the bunch. A crisp, easy to navigate interface offeres game tracking, news, and plenty of social media options. Unfortunately, this is the only official app without a free version, but the $15 per season fee is reasonable, and includes audio broadcasts of every game, and on the iPhone, video broadcast of one game per day (Major League Baseball chooses the offered game, this feature is allegedly coming to other smartphones next season). A nice perk here is that subscribers to MLB.tv, the Internet broadcast package, can access video of all games, not just the MLB-chosen contest.
VCAST-
Verizon's VCAST Video service has an ever-growing library of sports offerings. The video service has archived clips viewable on demand from ESPN, FOX Sports, CBS, and other sports entities. In addition, VCAST broadcasts selected college football, hockey, and other sporting events (including last summer's World Cup) live, as well as the NFL broadcasts mentioned above. $10 per month is the premium for this, but if you use your phone to access a lot of video content (VCAST offers much beyond the realm of sports, including archived episodes of many current TV shows), this is not a high price to pay. I'm paying it right now for the NFL offerings, and will probably suspend it at the conclusion of the football season, but that is more a function of not using my phone to access vidoe to often, rather than my not being pleased with the service.
Third Party Offerings-
The beauty of smartphones is, as micro-computers, they allow for a limitless development of apps. Many developers are creating sports-related apps (some officially endorsed by their respective leagues or teams, some not), that allow users to access news, scores, information, and in some cases, audio and video of their favorite sports teams. As a result, sports fans can get the information they need on-the-go. This amazes me, as I think back to my childhood, and having to wait until the next morning's newspaper to get out of town scores. The mobile age has been kind to the sports world, and I look forward to what else is yet to come.
NFL, NHL, MLB, & NBA Official Apps -
The four major professional sports leagues have all entered the mobile app arena. As a Verizon Wireless customer, the NFL and NHL apps stand out in particular, as they have exclusive contracts with the carrier.
The NFL Mobile app, exclusive to Verizon, is a free application. In addition to live game trackers and a news feed, the app offers VCAST Video subscribers 24/7 coverage of the NFL Network, and live broadcast of the NFL Red Zone channel, which whips through coverage of live games on Sundays, as well as the Sunday Night NBC game, live on your phone. This live telecast feature is great for a fantasy football junkie like myself, and I'm paying the extra few bucks a month for VCAST during the NFL season just for that. Video quality is pretty good, and there are very few hiccups in the broadcast, even with my outdated Droid Eris phone.
The NHL app is similar in design to the NFL one, also exclusive to Verizon and with a similar feature set. The difference here is that live broadcast of hockey games is not contained in the VCAST package (VCAST subscribers do get free audio broadcasts), but available for an extra fee, in the neighborhood of $80 for the entire 2010-11 season. This is a pretty steep price for the ability to watch games on a small phone screen, especially when broadband Internet coverage of games is available for a little over $100.
The MLB and NBA apps are not specific to Verizon. The NBA app, despite a somewhat clunky interface, does a great job of tracking games live, with full up-to-the-minute stats available for every NBA game. A $10 a month premium, that I happily paid, allows for audio broadcasts of all NBA games. An additional $50, a much more reasonable price, gives access to all video broadcasts of NBA games. A flaw in this feature- Local games (wherever your phone is at the time) are blacked out. I think mobile access is a great resource for people who might be away from home but in town when their local team plays, and not being able to pull up the game on their phone defeats the purpose for most potential subscribers. I know that I would consider forking over the money, if I could watch the Bucks on my phone while in Milwaukee. The video service is also available as part of the NBA's "Three Point Play" package, which gives users TV, Internet, and mobile access to all (non-blacked out) games for one price.
The MLB app is, in my opinion, the best designed of the bunch. A crisp, easy to navigate interface offeres game tracking, news, and plenty of social media options. Unfortunately, this is the only official app without a free version, but the $15 per season fee is reasonable, and includes audio broadcasts of every game, and on the iPhone, video broadcast of one game per day (Major League Baseball chooses the offered game, this feature is allegedly coming to other smartphones next season). A nice perk here is that subscribers to MLB.tv, the Internet broadcast package, can access video of all games, not just the MLB-chosen contest.
VCAST-
Verizon's VCAST Video service has an ever-growing library of sports offerings. The video service has archived clips viewable on demand from ESPN, FOX Sports, CBS, and other sports entities. In addition, VCAST broadcasts selected college football, hockey, and other sporting events (including last summer's World Cup) live, as well as the NFL broadcasts mentioned above. $10 per month is the premium for this, but if you use your phone to access a lot of video content (VCAST offers much beyond the realm of sports, including archived episodes of many current TV shows), this is not a high price to pay. I'm paying it right now for the NFL offerings, and will probably suspend it at the conclusion of the football season, but that is more a function of not using my phone to access vidoe to often, rather than my not being pleased with the service.
Third Party Offerings-
The beauty of smartphones is, as micro-computers, they allow for a limitless development of apps. Many developers are creating sports-related apps (some officially endorsed by their respective leagues or teams, some not), that allow users to access news, scores, information, and in some cases, audio and video of their favorite sports teams. As a result, sports fans can get the information they need on-the-go. This amazes me, as I think back to my childhood, and having to wait until the next morning's newspaper to get out of town scores. The mobile age has been kind to the sports world, and I look forward to what else is yet to come.
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