How Are Sports Apps Increasing Fan Engagement?

It’s no secret that sports apps are quickly becoming a necessity for the modern fan. Between checking scores and participating in fantasy leagues, the opportunities for fans to be reached through a mobile app are endless. However, you may still be wondering, “How are sports apps increasing Fan engagement?” The answer to that question comes in 5 parts:

Part 1: Rich Push Notifications

If you ever get alerts on your mobile device from an app you have downloaded (for example, when Amazon is having a sale), you are receiving “push notifications.” Push notifications can be greatly beneficial to your app’s success, or it can be greatly detrimental. It all depends upon how you use your push notifications features. For example, when push notifications are sent so often that they become intrusive with the users, your app success rate drops dramatically.

So, what can you do to make the most of the push notifications you send out? Make those push notifications “rich!” A rich push notification is a notification that includes media, such as a picture, video, etc. With rich push notifications, a sports app can pull in users and promote Fan engagement by catching the attention of users and then directing them to the app for further engagement and fun!

Part 2: Understanding the Ecosystem

It is becoming clearer every year that advertising through paper or physical methods are diminishing while advertising through technology (television, apps, etc.) is rising. The statistics support this trend: 65% of sports fans under the age of 21 are getting their sports content on mobile devices. This number is increasing year after year and will continue to increase as the sports advertising world shifts from paper to electronic methods. Bottom line: Technology is in, paper is out. This means more users will be interacting and engaging with sports apps as their popularity grows!

Part 3: Mobile Ticketing

One of the biggest trends in the sports apps market today is mobile ticketing. Users like to be able to choose seats, purchase tickets, and scan their digital tickets at the stadium doors. No more worrying about how or when to print tickets and then keeping up with those printed tickets. Therefore, sports apps with a mobile ticketing feature increase Fan engagement by providing users with a convenient, eco-friendly way to purchase and use event tickets.

Want to know something else? Not only does mobile ticketing increase Fan engagement and in turn increase ticket revenue, but this feature also feeds important data to you. You can use data from ticket purchases to send only relevant notifications to users, like stats, future events, etc., based on teams they follow and locations where they attend events (see Part 4: Geofencing). In short, mobile ticketing ups your sports app engagement game in many ways. So, ask yourself: Why aren’t you utilizing a fantastic feature like mobile ticketing?

Part 4: Geofencing

Geofencing is basically narrowing down information sent to users based on the location of their activity in your app. For example, if a user provides his/her zip code when account registration is conducted (when first downloading the app), then you can send relevant events, stats, and so on to the user based on his/her location. Geofencing data can also be found when ticket purchases to games at a certain location are made through the app. So, essentially, you are narrowing down your app’s information to personalize the user’s experience based on a location. When users are given notifications that are relevant to their location, they are more likely to use and engage with the sports app sending the notifications. Thanks to geofencing, users won’t be bogged down with irrelevant notifications and will therefore use your sports app with positivity.

Part 5: Partnerships

When teams and businesses partner-up, the revenue possibilities skyrocket. For instance, the San Francisco 49ers have partnered up with Amazon Prime to provide fans with incredible tailgating benefits. With this partnership, fans can order tailgating items and have them delivered to the stadium parking lot on game day. Just like that, revenue is gained on ticket sales for the 49ers and products sales for Amazon Prime!

Now, how can partnerships increase sports apps Fan engagement? One way is by providing conveniences to fans that will require usage of the sports app, such as purchasing products through links embedded in the app that take the users to the partner’s products website. Also, partners can provide users with discounts on products or services when the users order goods through the sports app. As you can see, partnerships benefit not only your teams and businesses, but also your fans!

Sports apps are on the rise and are changing the way fans interact with their favorite teams. Gamification is the key to the success of any mobile app. Check this blog post to know more about gamification. When your fans feel needed, wanted, and entertained by your sports app, their engagement levels reflect those positive experiences. In conclusion, by using all these parts to increase Fan engagement, a sports app can grow from a mediocre app to a phenomenal app