4 - FIFA/CIES International University Network

SPORTS APPS
SPORT/LEAGUE/TOUR AWARD:
F1 TIMING
IT WAS A PHOTO FINISH for the top two
places for this category although more data on
downloads could have indicated a clear winner.
However, leaving aside which app has made
most money, both the top-ranked apps - the F1
Timing and Major League Baseball’s At Bat -
offer innovations of a different kind, making
each worthy of a winning score.
Ultimately the exceptionally high value of the
Soft Pauer-developed F1 Timing App (£19.99),
combined with its technical excellence, make it
both the winner of this category and, on a the
basis of total points scored, overall winner in
the 2010 apps ranking.
For the Formula 1 racing aficionado this
download offers the ultimate value-added
experience to both practice and race days. On
television or at the racetrack in particular there
can be frustratingly little information as to
timings and standings.
The F1 Timing app offers the chance to
follow the cars around the twists and turns
of the track in real time. There is wealth of
background data, statistics and facts, archive
video and an audio commentary option.
Design is clear and functional giving users
the chance to select and follow their favourite
1. F1 Timing
2. MLB At Bat
3. Euroleague Basketball
3. Aussie Rules football
5. UEFA
6. NBA Game Time
7. FEI
8. F1 app
9. World Rally Championship
10. NHL
team. New for the 2010 version is a unique
playback feature where the action can be
delayed and replayed.
A close second place in the category went
to MLB’s At Bat app (MLB Advanced Media,
£8.99) which has also received a makeover for
2010. When it launched last year, MLBAM set
a new standard in mobile service by offering
video to subscribers for the first time. Not
content to stand still in this fast moving field
- and perhaps reflecting the limitations of
mobile video that remain - the 2010 version
sports a radio option which survives the
vagaries of cellular networks that are creaking
with demands for data.
Also new for this year is a considerably
lower price point although users are asked
to pay a premium for the iPad version. What
does remain in 2010 however is MLB’s
blacking out of coverage in the city of teams
playing home fixtures, despite there being
little evidence of cannibalisation.
There is no football in the top three
although UEFA does make an appearance at
number five overall. Golf, tennis, cricket, rugby
(union or league), athletics and American
football are also conspicuous by their absence
from the top spots, however these major sports
leave the way open to two sports in joint third
place: Euroleague Basketball (Genera Mobile,
£1.19) and Aussie Rules Football (AFL, £2.99).
Euroleague is the warmer and friendlier of
the two, delivering all the usual features plus
an unusual ‘Devotion’ section with blogs,
interviews and podcasts.
58 SportBusiness International • No. 160 • 09.10