North American sports market size is estimated to be worth $76.05 billion dollars by 2020
Dallas Cowboys sports team’s brand value (amounted to $4.8 billion dollars) was ranked as the most expensive one in 2018.
According to the Sports Business Institute, 87% of sports fans second screen during a match; they look at replays, check the scores of other games, or use social networks to boast about attending the game in person.
Reference Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/214960/revenue-of-the-north-american-sports-market/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/278027/brand-value-of-sport-teams–franchises-worldwide/ https://www.sbibarcelona.com/newsdetails/index/105
Need for Sports App
Digitalization of sports opens up several avenues for business. Not only can a sports avid view the game at any time at any location, but can also engage in activities such as, buying sports merchandise, interact with their favourite sportsperson, engage in betting on their favourite team or sports player, and playing fantasy sports. Hence, while developing a sports app, ensure that you include features that help you stay competitive, and therefore, successful.
10 Features to Incorporate in a Sports App
While making an app, ensure that the user can personalize the app surface by creating their own user account where they can add their favourite team or player and be intimated with new updates, scores, breaking news, event details, etc.
Also, it is necessary to create a secure payment gateway so that the user can update and store their card details, in case they wish to purchase tickets, sports merchandise, play for their dream team or in certain cases even bet. You can also integrate our payment gateway app with a third party to give the users a wider range sports events and teams they can invest in.
Ticket Sale
Fans don’t want to miss out on a sports event; hence, you can create a feature where they can purchase tickets to watch their favourite team or sports event before the tickets get sold out! By allowing the user to purchase tickets from a third-party gateway, you can make a fee for the same; i.e. you get a fee from every transaction as you generate a new lead for that third-party service.
Sports Merchandise
One of the largest profit generation in the sports industry comes through selling sports merchandise. By creating an aggregated sports app, you can sell merchandise of the most popular sports teams or sportsmen in the app store. Sports merchandise includes, t-shirts, mugs, flags, banners, caps, collectibles, autographed objects such as balls, bats, etc.
There is also an option to create a tie-up with a certain team or sportsmen which would allow you to sell exclusive merchandise and generate an even bigger profit.
App for Fantasy Sports
If you are a gaming enthusiasts, you would know how addictive it is to play fantasy sports; and if you are not then let us explain – fantasy sports is an online game where fans can create virtual teams of real-life sport pros and make them compete in virtual leagues and championships.
Creating a fantasy sports app, can generate a lot of revenue, especially from users who like to gamble. Some examples of fantasy sports app include, the IPL League, NFL, CBS Sports Fantasy, Yahoo Fantasy sports, and more.
Social Media Integration
Social media is also a revenue generating tools that can be exploited if used in the right way. Sports industry is famous for sports enthusiasts who love to report every small move in the game or any update on their favourite sports person.
Hence, integrating social media into the app can allow users to share data from the app to a social media app by just clicking a few buttons; for instance, re-tweeting scores, or an edge-of-the-seat performance shot, etc. Also, instead of creating a user account and re-fill their details, you can allow users to sync with app with their Facebook, Google, or Twitter accounts.
Integrating with Calendar
What better way to be updated on upcoming games or sports events than a simple reminder on your smart-device. In your app, you can also integrate a time ticker that notifies the user the mins and seconds (XX h YY m) left for the game to begin, or break to end.
Sports Team Catalogue
Even though apps need to have functionalities; it is important to include a sports catalogue that has a history about the sports event, information about sportsmen and even a little information about the team, as a whole.
Newsfeed and Notifications
Incorporating the newsfeed functionality in the app will allow the sports app to send regular updates and the news of the sports industry to their user. Newsfeed allows you to send tournament tables, performance of sports teams or sportsmen, etc. If a dedicated app for a certain team or team sports tournament is formed, you should include a Match Day Centre. This information hub contains all the relevant data regarding the games, i.e. the score, highlights from games and press conferences, tournament table, etc.
Sending push notifications or SMS notifications is also a great way to interact with user base. It is a technique of reminding them to visit the app and use it. With the help of push notifications, you can send your users reminders, regular updates when the game is going on, highlights of the game, etc.
Live Streaming
Live streaming a match builds the core of a sports app; the convenience of streaming matches anytime, anywhere is what can build a huge database of users with the help of exclusive live broadcaster’s content that can’t be found on aggregator apps.
Sports video streaming apps like BBC and Fox, also send users personalized content based on their location and preferences. Another option of live streaming apart from video is audio streaming, for instance the NBC Sports Radio app.
Making Bets
Did you know that in the UK, approximately 40% of people aged 18 to 54 bet 10 to 100 pounds online each month?
Reference Source: https://www.beatingbetting.co.uk/statistics/uk-gambling-data/
There are plenty of people that gamble on sports, some as professionals and some just to raise the excitement and the stakes of the game. Hence, if you wish to incorporate betting in your app, firstly, you will need a gambling license and provide an age verification mechanism to secure your business from potential legal claims.
You will also need to make sure that you create a secure payment gateway on integrate a third-party app. If you are targeting users that are heavy betters, you also need to ensure that your app provides match statistics with live updates and push notifications. You’ll also need to decide if the user can bet with real currency or through in-app currency.
Wrapping It Up
Sports app can be of two types:
Streamlined – where unnecessary data is filtered out, and all types of sporting events are showcased. For instance, 365Scores, has been lauded as one of the best sports apps in circulation, due to its support for ten different sports and a wide range of features, including scores, news, and live notifications about the teams the user is interested in.
One Sports App – where if a user is only interested in one particular sport – be it football, basketball, or baseball – there’s a dedicated app that lets them follow their favourite sport.
If you wish to build a dedicated sports app incorporating features, like discussed above, you can get in touch with the App Scoop Vancouver app developers team.
