The NFL American football league has launched an in-stadium app providing video content for fans attending its Super Bowl showpiece game in Phoenix on Sunday.
The Super Bowl Stadium App is presented and developed in association with telecommunications company and existing NFL partner Verizon. It will offer ticketholders at the University of Phoenix Stadium for the game between Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots exclusive in-stadium video content including all Super Bowl commercials, replays from four different camera angles, concessions maps and up-to-the-minute gameday notifications.
Available on Windows, iOS and Android smartphones and tablet devices, the Super Bowl Stadium App is a first for the event and is free to download from the NFL website and each respective operating system’s app store. It is an extension of the NFL Mobile app which gives fans live streaming, scores and stats alongside video highlights and information on the Super Bowl competitors.
Speaking to the Mashable.com website, NFL chief information officer Michelle McKenna-Doyle said: "If you download the app from home and you're not at the stadium, it won't work. It's based on several other apps already being used by football clubs at their home stadiums and is a part of a larger effort by the league to incorporate technology into the fan experience and other parts of the game."
The NFL will also programme video boards with information utilising its Next Gen Stats during the game. Launched for 2014, Next Gen Stats provide real-time location-based information such as speed and distance travelled and acceleration of individual players. The Zebra-Technologies-developed system for the service was installed at 17 stadiums this season, with the University of Phoenix Stadium becoming the 18th for last week’s Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl.
On the extension of the Next Gen Stats facility, McKenna-Doyle added: "We decided to test a few things at the Pro Bowl because it’s very hard to recreate the experience of a stadium in a lab. We want to see what it is like with people and make sure it seamlessly works."