4 - FIFA/CIES International University Network

SPORTS APPS
EVENTS AWARD:
WIMBLEDON 2010
ALTHOUGH WIMBLEDON 2010 is the winner
of this year’s top event app award, just ahead
of Australia Open Tennis 2010, the real winner
across this category is IBM, which produced
both tennis apps as well as the golf apps in
third and fourth spots.
Whilst not the most technically innovative
this year, these products offer a great service
for the fan in the stands and in the office.
When they first appeared in 2009, the
navigation was ground-breaking and sponsors
IBM set a standard that has been followed by
many other apps in the sports space.
In 2010 the design still looks fresh,
particularly the Australian Open Tennis
interface, but the Wimbledon app pipped the
others by offering a slightly better range of
services including ticketing and debenture
information and travel updates.
The app, which was free to Apple iPhone
users and those tennis fans with phones
running Google’s Android operating system,
combined live video streams from showcourt
matches, ‘Murray Mount’ (a spectator site
on the Wimbledon grounds also known as
‘Henman Hill’) and even taxi queues.
The software was also able to determine
1. Wimbledon 2010
2. Australia Open Tennis 2010
3. US Masters Golf
4. US Open Golf
5. Giro d'Italia 2010
6. Vancouver 2010
7. NBC Olympics
8. Volvo Ocean Race
9. Commonwealth Games 2010
10. Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
a user’s location and supply geo-specific
information on everything from the length
of queues for strawberries and cream, to the
location of the nearest cash machine.
This year is an ideal time to be reviewing
apps in the event space as it includes some
of the giants of major sports events, namely
the Winter Olympic Games and the FIFA
World Cup - and it is important to explain why
neither the Vancouver nor South Africa event
hit the top spots.
The FIFA event is easiest to explain: there
was no official app other than an Electronic
Arts World Cup game, leaving the market wide
open for literally dozens of products. Perhaps
the most downloaded was ESPN’s Soccernet
2010 (ESPN, free) but this reflects the unique
size of the US market and the company’s reach
elsewhere. In the UK, the Telegraph World Cup
app was popular and the England App provided
some unique behind the scenes video from FA
TV, but both were created with the domestic
market in mind.
In contrast, Vancouver 2010 dominated the
app downloads for the event but made it to just
sixth position in the rankings. It had a bright
intuitive design and, as we might expect,
offered good exposure for its sponsors, but
on the downside the content was surprisingly
limited despite the event comprising dozens
of individual championships and thousands
of competitors. Other apps have showed what
the media can do in providing the chance to
drill down to a very granular level and this one,
whilst of a high quality, simply did not.
SportBusiness International • No.160 • 09.10 59