By Arina Smith
Smartphones have changed the way we live our lives completely. Gone are the days where our mobiles were purely for ringing friends and family, and maybe sending the odd text message. We now use them for EVERYTHING. We manage our social media on them, use them to take photos and videos to hold precious memories, and even use them for work in terms of joining video meetings and checking our emails. But they’ve also changed the way industries around the world operate, one of the biggest impacts being on sports.
Sports used to be about supporting your local team and traveling the country, or the world when it comes to national competitions, to watch them play. It doesn’t matter whatever sport it is that you follow, they all pretty much operate in the same way. Or they did, until the introduction of the internet, the ability to broadcast sports events on the other side of the globe and the power of being able to access everything on your smartphone.
Now sports have gone global. Take my beloved Liverpool FC for example, they are part of one of the biggest matches watched around the world vs Manchester United, attracting half a billion viewers each time they face off. Not to add to the fact that they have millions upon millions of followers, likes, subscriptions, and whatever else you can do on social media platforms. No longer is it a sport just for the local community to get behind, teams are now global brands and make huge turnovers every year.
How Sports Apps Helped Make That Happen
Whilst sports started growing before the popularity of apps on smartphones, they have significantly contributed to that growth since their introduction. For example, you can get apps like FlashScore that allow you to track sports events for a number of sports from around the world in real-time. It also gives you statistics, league standings, and even some very basic live commentary for you to follow the game on if you can’t catch it on TV or Radio.
It’s an app that is very popular with people who enjoy betting on sports, as it allows them to track everything with utmost efficiency. And the sports themselves have also moved into mobile betting platforms, with most clubs having a bookmaker sponsor that they promote people to use. Although that is coming a little more restricted, with some countries clamping down on gambling promotions.
But betting apps on mobile aren’t all about just being able to back your team to win with ease, they also offer opportunities to watch sports as well. You may find you have to make a minimum bet on an event, which will be a few pennies at the most, but doing so will open up a stream to watch your favorite sports on, such as South American football, for example, you can find many of their games on some of the top sportsbooks.
Then you have the more widely used apps like YouTube, where clubs will have their own accounts you can subscribe to. You’ll find exclusive content such as footage from training sessions, exclusive interviews, and more. But one of the biggest benefits is being able to see highlights of your teams after their matches. Ideal if you’ve not been able to catch it due to work, or the game just not being shown in your area. Some broadcasters will even show live matches on YouTube like when BT broadcast the Champions League final for free on their channel.
Where to Next?
Well, it’s impossible to tell. But in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were some places that were allowing supporters into stadiums and arenas at times. And they used apps to help minimize contact between people, by using a digital ticketing system, so there was no cross-contamination of tickets. Just the need to scan a barcode you’re sent for entry into the stadium. So that’s one way in which apps will continue to evolve the world of sports.
But what do you guys think? How else can apps influence the world of sports as we know it in a way that we haven’t already mentioned? Why not let us know by dropping a comment below or dropping us a message on our social media channels.
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