Re-imagining the in-stadium experience on mobile
The future of modern stadia is based on a highly connected environment where the sports organization engages the fan in exciting new ways. Rather than simply provide open WIFI access, Celtic FC wanted to enhance and own the fan experience on match day.
Ness partnered with Sports Revolution to design, develop and test an engaging second-screen proposition which enhances the live match and offers stadium partners a platform to monetize fan behaviour.
Ness built a phased product roadmap which focuses on creating a mobile platform for iOS and Android devices and showcases core data features. The goal was to make sure the data analysis of initial fan usage truly validated our assumptions and informed the direction of the solution.
After a comprehensive period of discovery and definition, it became clear the Stadium Live mobile app needed to improve the live experience without detracting from the match itself. The design had to be complementary, rather than intrusive, and needed to engage fans with social content.
Ness, Sports Revolution and Celtic FC created a “Feature Value Matrix” to identify the core features which would be included in the minimum viable product (MVP), including valuable match statistics, voting, image gallery, league table, integration with Twitter and Facebook feeds—and access to behind-the-scenes team footage.
The strategy is to build a successful experience for Celtic that can be leveraged across other stadia. Ness created a white-label product eco-system using a multi-tenanted backend and CDN which accesses a CMS that allows Celtic FC’s writers and editors to curate and publish content in real-time. Flexibility and ease-of-use for content editors is integral within the system.
When the CMS user imports photos, videos and tweets, it optimizes video and imagery for mobile device consumption on-the-fly. The app features dynamic match information (events, scores and timings) from a sports data provider - and updates automatically in real-time.
As part of the speed-to-market strategy the app was built using a hybrid technique, making the content easily updateable on Android, iOS and the web. Significant benefits are that the CMS previews all content for any device and future-proofs the application for later cross-platform releases.
The app was launched at the start of the 2013–14 season and immediately started to engage fans, winning the “Best App for Fans” accolade at the Sports Technology Awards 2014.
The application uses an elegant timeline feed and posts are made in real-time by football experts who offer an engaging, alternative live guide to the game. Future plans include premium content and in-game betting.
To learn more about speeding innovation with Ness, contact us today.