Turner Sports Launches Branded iPhone App

SportsNOW aims to create “virtual sports bar” experience

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/11/2010 6:57:57 PM

Turner Sports has created a new app for Apple's iPhone, SportsNOW, which gives fans instant access to live scores and player stats from marquee sports like NCAA Men's Basketball, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL). It also includes a social media messaging feature that allows fans to interact and engage with friends and other fans.

Turner Sports, which manages Websites for NASCAR, the PGA Tour and the NBA, has already launched over 100 apps on behalf of its clients, the bulk of them being for individual NBA teams. But SportsNOW, which is being sponsored by Dodge's Ram Truck Brand, represents its first branded consumer product.

Turner began developing SportsNOW about eight months ago after performing extensive consumer research, said Turner Sports EVP and COO Lenny Daniels: "We said, let's stop for a minute and think about what's missing in the marketplace and what a consumer really wants."

Turner decided the answer is to create a "virtual sports bar" experience on the iPhone, said Daniels, where a user can customize the interface to follow multiple sports, teams and players at the same time. Fans can also use the app to update their Facebook page and Twitter feed with their thoughts on game action, read other fans' comments and "trash-talk" directly from the app.  SportsNOW is now available for download at the App Store at www.itunes.com/appstore/ and includes real-time scoring, in-depth game-by-game statistics and game recaps.

Turner, which is not bringing video or any other rights-based content to SportsNOW, will look to add information from additional sports such as Major League Baseball, professional golf, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the NFL in the future.

Daniels expects that the app will also make its way to the Blackberry and Android smartphone platforms. There are no near-term plans to bring the SportsNOW brand to the Web or other digital platforms, though Daniels says that is possible in the future.