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27
Free iPad sports app a must-have for sports junkies
If you have even a passing interest in sports (or just want to show off your iPad), get TheScore.
by Rick Broida
If you have even a passing interest in sports (or just want to show off your iPad), get TheScore.
When I see an app like TheScore for iPad, it forces me to think in big-picture terms, as in: this is how sports news was meant to be consumed. Not in some day-old newspaper or tiny iPhone app, but on a big, beautiful screen jam-packed with scores, standings, videos, and blogs.
In other words, I’m really digging TheScore–and I’m not even that into sports. (It says clearly on my Tech Nerds of America membership card that sports are permissible only as a "passing interest" or for "social interaction research.")
Actually, I do consume a lot of college basketball, which is just one of the dozen-plus major categories covered by the app. Others include MLB, football (both American and Canadian), basketball, hockey, and numerous soccer leagues I’ve never heard of.
Within any selected section, you can scroll through related Top Stories, Buzz, Videos, and Blogs, or check out the latest scores and standings.
The latest baseball scores appear in a scrollable ticker across the top, followed by a search option for looking up players or teams. Search for Detroit Tigers, for example, and you’ll get team headlines, current standing, game schedule, and a list of team leaders (any of which you can tap for a pop-up summary).
TheScore also serves up half a dozen video channels (including "The Basketball Jones" and "The Break") and an equal number of blogs ("Hockey or Die" and "Branded" among them).
In short, there’s an endless amount of good stuff here for sports fans–and you just can’t beat the price: TheScore is free. (Ad-free, too.)
27
The Score scores with iPad app
Toronto-based sports channel one of first out of the gate
Susan Krashinsky Media Reporter
From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail Published on Monday, Jul. 26, 2010 6:34PM EDT Last updated on Monday, Jul. 26, 2010 7:34PM EDT
If only the touch-sensitive iPad
screen were more responsive to those wearing a foam finger, sports fans would have just about everything they need.
Score Media Inc. (SCR-T0.91—-%) launched its exhaustive iPad application on Saturday, building on the Toronto-based media company’s offerings for other platforms beyond its specialty TV station.
Score Media has already had cross-border success with its smart phone apps for devices such as the iPhone and the BlackBerry. On the bigger screen of the iPad, it offers the usual stats and box scores, as well as blogs, videos and articles on sports ranging from college basketball to Frisbee and Red Bull Flugtag (a competition for “human-powered flying machines”).
With the launch, Score Media enters an arena where other media companies have been relatively slow to develop products. The Score’s biggest competitors in specialty television, Sportsnet and TSN, both have apps for the iPhone, but nothing specifically developed for the iPad yet.
ESPN has a similar product in ScoreCenter XL, but it costs $5 to download, while theScore iPad edition is free. Major League Baseball’s app is even pricier, at $15. Since its launch on Saturday, theScore is now the top free sports app and the second-most popular app overall in the Canadian iTunes store. In the U.S. store, it’s ranked second in the free sports category, just behind Sports Illustrated.
The divergent paths of paid vs. free are being navigated by media companies beyond just the sports realm. The Wall Street Journal, which has had success charging for its content on the Web, offers a free download for its iPad app, but then prompts users to subscribe, or register for free for a limited amount of content. BBC News is just one outlet with a rich, well-constructed free app.
For media companies that are not publicly financed, as the BBC is, such free apps depend on advertising for financial support. The Globe and Mail’s app, which launched Sunday, is one example, dominated so far by automotive ads. Score Media has a similar business model in mind, but ads are not yet launched on its app.
“We’re in front of our advertising partners right now with it, and the reaction has been positive so far,” said Benjie Levy, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Score Media. The company has been successful selling ads for its mobile offerings – which have been downloaded 4.5 million times so far across the BlackBerry, iPhone and Android devices. Mr. Levy expects many of the same advertisers targeting young men, such as beer companies and fast food restaurants, will also be drawn to the iPad.
“Making it free turns the app into a more widespread marketing vehicle,” said independent technology analyst Carmi Levy. While paid apps can turn away part of a potential audience, he added, the right free apps could be the “ideal means of connecting audiences to media outlets more closely than ever before.”
19
TEAM member goes for sportscasting gold
ANDREAS MORSE
METRO EDMONTON
July 19, 2010 5:40 a.m.
The?TEAM?1260 radio personality Meg?Morrison is vying for a shot at becoming Canada’s next sportscaster.
Tune in
- The show starts Sept. 13 and will wrap up in mid-November.
- The winner gets a one-year contract with The Score, as well as a one-year contract to be a Gillette spokesperson.
She may have a voice for radio but Meg Morrison from The TEAM 1260’s Jason Gregor Show is hoping her face will end up on television.
The search for Canada’s next sportscaster has narrowed to 10 finalists. Morrison, a Stony Plain native, is one of two female contenders from Alberta left in the Gillette Drafted 2 reality show, which will air on The Score this fall.
Morrison graduated from the radio and television program at NAIT when she was 19 and has been in the field ever since.
But the 25-year-old is hoping this will be the next step in her young sports broadcasting career.
“Statistically, my chances are 10 per cent,” Morrison said with a laugh.
“I like to think that I have a little bit of an upper hand, though. Working with Jason Gregor on the Team, he’s taught me so much so I’m just hoping that that shines through and that I can kick some butt down here.”
Morrison said she comes from a sporting family so The Score job would be a dream achieved for the self-described small-town girl.
19
Bringing the ‘boom shacka-lacka’
Vancouver wannabe-sportscaster JACKED about on-air competition Glen Schaefer, The Province
The Province
Published: Monday, July 19, 2010
Spencer trained last year with World Wrestling Entertainment in Florida, appearing in broadcasts of RAW and Smackdown. Prior to that, he ran for mayor in Vancouver.
Gerry Kahrmann, PNG
Austin Spencer is just JACKED to be among 10 contenders for an on-air sportscasting job at The Score.
The 25-year-old Vancouverite is currently in Toronto, filming the weekly reality show Gillette Drafted 2: The Search for Canada’s Next Sportscaster, but you can hear the capital letters over the phone as he enthuses about the show.
"It’s my favourite channel, ‘the home for the hardcore,’ just like me ’cause I’m absolutely JACKED to be part of the competition, just jacked about it," Spencer says.
The show airs weekly starting in September, and the winner gets a one-year contract as an on-air commentator, as well as an endorsement deal with razor-maker Gillette.
"When they say Gillette is ‘the best a man can get,’ I like to say that myself and The Score are the best a fan can get."
Spencer repeated that line a couple of times for good measure. "I came up with that one by myself Glen, so don’t think that they’re feeding me lines. Honest to God, I came up with that myself."
Spencer trained last year with World Wrestling Entertainment in Florida, appearing in broadcasts of RAW and Smackdown, but headed home when the WWE couldn’t offer him anything long-term as a wrestler. Prior to that, he ran for mayor back home in Vancouver, and he played football for the University of B.C. Thunderbirds while earning his degree in political science.
In early June, he heard about the Vancouver auditions for The Score’s competition, where hopefuls were invited to appear in person or submit audition videos.
"I said, well, I’ve got to show up in person to show the whole wrestling personality, the entertainment value," he says.
Contestants had to pick one of four clips of sporting events, and do their own commentary. Spencer chose a clip from a Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks playoff game.
"I wanted to show I could cover basketball as well," he says, adding he referenced Nintendo’s NBA Jam video game in his commentary. "I heard retro was in, so I tried to play to that. When they were going through the highlights, I would be all like, ‘He’s heating up.’ When they threw down a slam dunk, I went ‘Boom shacka-lacka.’"
Drafted is set to air Monday nights after RAW, which seems like a good fit.
gschaefer@theprovince.com
19
Francois closer to being Drafted
He’s a finalist in the race to be a TV sportscaster
Mon. Jul 19 – 4:52 AM
Sean Francois of Cole Harbour
Sean Francois credits fatherhood with teaching him not to take no for an answer.
The 34-year old Cole Harbour resident returned to compete in Drafted, the national search for a sportscaster for The Score, this year after failing to earn a spot as a finalist in last year’s competition.
"I wasn’t chosen as a finalist for Drafted last year, but I didn’t go home with my tail between my legs," Francois said in a release. "I learned from my first audition and brought a new game plan to this year’s competition."
Francois, who’s a computer systems analyst, showed his broadcasting stuff in May at an audition at Mic Mac Mall, one of five auditions held across the country and will be named today as one of the 10 finalists.
He described himself as passionate about sports and even more passionate about showing his two kids it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. That, he says, is why he’s pumped to have been selected as a finalist on this year’s show.
"I believe having children prepared me for something like Drafted because, as a parent, you have to be flexible, patient and consistent in dealing with your kids," Francois said. "I believe I’ll need a lot of those attributes in this competition."
Gillette Drafted 2: The Search for Canada’s Next Sportscaster will be featured as part of an upcoming reality series on The Score, debuting this fall. The 10-episode show will ultimately crown the winner of a one-year contract with Score Media as its newest multidimensional sportscaster, plus a one-year spokesperson contract with Gillette. The judges will include Sid Seixeiro, Greg Sansone and Cabbie Richards.
7
Vancouver man among national sportscaster contest finalists
Gillette Drafted 2 to air on The Score this fall Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Vancouver+among+national+sportscaster+contest+finalists/3238878/story.html?cid=#ixzz0uAGy7Dlh
By Darah Hansen, Vancouver Sun July 7, 2010
VANCOUVER – A Vancouver man is among the top-10 finalists in a national challenge to win the chance to cover the world’s most coveted sporting events – and athletes – for a year.
Organizers of the search for “Canada’s Next Sportscaster” announced earlier today that a resident of Shaughnessy will compete on the reality show Gillette Drafted 2, which airs on The Score this fall.
The man was selected from hundreds of would-be sportscasters who tried out their game-calling skills before a live panel of judges earlier this year.
This is the second year for the contest. Last season, 10 finalists were tested for weeks on their on-camera skills, sports knowledge and confidence before Paul Brothers, an unemployed student from Bishops Falls, Newfoundland, emerged victorious.
Brothers continues to work with Score Media after winning a one-year contract.
Contest organizers were remaining silent on the name of the B.C contender Monday. A press release hinted the man “has previously run for political office.”
Finalists will be named July 19.
For more information on Gillette Drafted 2: The Search for Canada’s Next Sportscaster, go to Drafted.ca.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
29
App-etite: Bar-hopping with Budweiser
IN CANADA
Related Content:
mobile
With World Cup games airing so close together, there is little time to cruise looking for a new location. The new Bar Finder for ScoreMobile app solves oh-so-many weekend drinking problems by sorting through TV listings to determine which networks are broadcasting games, and providing maps to bars that are airing those channels.
But the app also highlights the pubs that are offering FIFA or Budweiser on-premise promotions, a feature that can be extended to other Labatt brands in the future, explains Ruben Jongstra, supervisor, digital strategies, UM Canada, the agency that brought together The Score and Budweiser for the mobile execution and co-developed the app with Grip, which handled the creative aspects.
Q: Tell us about your app: what does it do and why did you develop it?
A: With the inclusion of the new TV listings page within the app, we saw the opportunity to provide Canadian sports fans with a tool to help them find the places in which they can catch their favourite sporting events while enjoying a Budweiser. Users even have the option to narrow the list down further to only places which are currently running Budweiser’s 2010 FIFA World Cup on-premise promotions.
Q: What is your media strategy? Why did you think an app was the best way to reach your target audience?
A: By integrating within the application we are able to create a personalized link between Budweiser and Canadian sports fans while being able to provide them with value in the sense of timely and relevant information that will help enrich their daily lives.
Q: How does this app contribute to your overall campaign or brand strategy?
A: We find this integration helps to answer some of the challenges facing the brand in terms of finding innovative ways to engage the consumer, while providing value to not only the consumers, but also Budweiser’s valued bar customers.
Q: How will this app be promoted to consumers?
A: We will be running promotional banners within the ScoreMobile application promoting the Bar Finder tool, as well as be promoting within the Budweiser Facebook fan base.
Q: In what ways will this app continue to be developed going forward?
A: We will look to continue to update and upgrade the Bar Finder tool beyond just keeping the bar lists and promotional details up to date. We also look to leverage this great tool among many of the brands within the Labatt brand portfolio throughout the year in order to give Canadian sports fans the opportunity to participate in all the timely Labatt on-premise promotions as they take place.
Bar Finder for ScoreMobile launched on June 24 and is available for free on iPhone and Blackberry through iTunes App Store and Blackberry App World.
25
Crack a cold one as ScoreMobile and Budweiser unleash the Bar Finder addon
By Ryan Blundell | 25 Jun 2010 13:53 | 
19 comments
Canadian sports nuts are going to love this. The King of Beers and Score Media have announced a fantastic add-on to the already amazing free mobile sports app- The Score Mobile with Bar Finder. Score Mobile is a leading mobile provider of sports scores, previews, stories and player stats. Its many personalization options make it the ultimate source for sports fans. With the newest addition of Bar Finder, users are provided information on where to go to watch the game and have a pint or two. The features include:
- Robust television listings for live sporting events on all major TV networks
- Maps and distances to local bars across Canada where the games are available for viewing
- Highlighted bars participating in seasonal promotions
There’s nothing like getting together with your friends to watch the game; a few laughs, few wings, a few fights and even a few goals. Now you guys can decide where to go to catch all of the action, regardless if it’s the CFL, NHL or whatever your game may be. If you don’t have a favourite pub that you frequent, then this is definitely going to come in handy.
25
How Woodbine is attracting new fans
Updated: June 25, 2010, 3:02 PM ET
By Bill Finley
Special to ESPN.com
Archive
Since as long as anyone can remember, horse racing has been trying to attract new fans — trying and failing. Rock concerts, t-shirt giveaways, "Go Baby Go," marketing campaigns, dollar beers, new bets, nothing, really, has worked. At Woodbine, they grew so exasperated that an expensive television production was producing so little in the way of results that they were ready to pull the plug on the show.
But, first, Woodbine management was willing to start over and give it one more try. Their idea was a simple one: make the show all about gambling and portray betting on horses as the exciting cerebral exercise that it is. No longer would they pitch the beauty of the sport or show features on the circuit’s top jockeys, trainers or drivers. They would, however, teach you how much a $1 six-horse superfecta box costs.
The results have been nothing short of remarkable. Though ratings are not yet available for all of the shows, which are called "Bet Night Live," one recent broadcast attracted 60,000 viewers or about three times the size of the average audience before the new format was put into place this year. Just as significantly, the new show is producing a significant amount of new customers for Woodbine’s on-line wagering site, HorsePlayerInteractive.com. The amount of new sign-ups increased four-fold once the new show started airing.
A show airing on Mondays takes place during live harness racing. The Wednesday show runs during a live thoroughbred card.
Woodbine’s Vice President of Marketing and Communication Andrew MacDonald oversaw the creation of Bet Night Live, which airs twice a week on The Score, a Canadian cable sports network. MacDonald realized there were a lot of people out there who both liked sports and betting and couldn’t figure out why so few of them gravitated toward horse racing. So MacDonald set out to attract people who fell into that group but were largely ignoring racing.
In a refreshing break from racing’s misguided insistence on going after the youth market, Woodbine also figured out that the best shot they had of getting new customers was to target a demographic that consisted largely of males, 35 and older. That group includes a lot of people who like to wager and have the disposable income to do so. Nothing on the show is geared toward the average 22-year-old because the average 22-year-old is usually broke.
The new format was tested and MacDonald learned that the potential horseplayer was having trouble with the learning curve. So, much of the show is educational. The hosts and analysts do more than just make picks; they explain the nuances of the sport, how to configure bets, how to read the past performances. If someone doesn’t understand what a claiming race is, how can they be expected to bet with confidence on that type of race?
"(Potential new customers) felt like they needed an edge," MacDonald said. "They weren’t comfortable with horse racing and wanted to be educated in it. We put those principals in mind when we devised the new show. We rely a lot on graphics. We may not be Monday Night Football, but it doesn’t look like some cheap horse racing show from the ’80s."
One of the co-hosts, Laura Diakun, knows relatively little about racing, which MacDonald sees as a plus. When the talking heads who are well-conversed in the sport start getting too technical, she reels them in and makes them explain what it is they are talking about in terms anyone can understand.
"She’s the voice of the novice," MacDonald said.
At the same time, they are careful not to turn the show into something along the lines of a classroom lecture. Educating the customer is important, but the education process has to include showing them that betting on the horses is fun. To that end, they have incorporated contests into the show and gimmicks that no doubt seem silly to the core player. On one show, Diakun was pitted against one of the expert handicappers and made her selections by throwing darts at the program page. Guess who won?
That’s exactly the sort of thing that racing insiders cringe at, and MacDonald admits that a lot of established customers, as well as most horsemen, don’t like the new format.
"The good thing is that everyone agrees that racing has not done a good job attracting new customers and that it is a problem we need to address," MacDonald said. "When you reveal what the strategy is, getting new customers, and show them that we have been successful, that negates a lot of the negative comments."
MacDonald realizes that neither he nor Woodbine has solved all of the sport’s problems. But he also thinks they’re on to something. When it comes down to it, racing’s greatest asset is that it is, if presented properly, a terrific gambling game. Sell that and maybe people will discover the sport.
"This is not a magic bullet that’s going to change everything for us," he said. "But it is a step in the right direction. I love racing, but I fully believe that without a healthy revenue side coming from the betting the sport could cease to exist. That’s why I believe this is absolutely the right place to put the focus on. It’s early, but we’ve seen that this is successful. We all want to grow new customers. If this continues to work for us, I hope it will work for everyone."
Bill Finley is an award-winning racing writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today and Sports Illustrated. Contact him at wnfinley@aol.com.
14
The Month in BlackBerry Apps
Slacker Stitchers Make Robot Schedules
Jun 14, 2009 09:00 AM
Hey look, it’s our first BlackBerry app roundup. We’ve got free podcasts, free music and free hacks to make your BlackBerry more usable—or let you grind its battery into the ground.
Stitcher: Formerly an iPhone/iPod touch app, Stitcher lets you cut together podcasts to stream them to your phone as virtual radio stations. Mostly news(ish) content, but it spans from the Wall Street Journal to Slate and we’ll take free streaming audio wherever we can get it. Free at App World or OTA for Curve, Bold and Storm. (Image via Crackberry)
LEDReset: Simple, but great: Turns off your BlackBerry’s LED light until the next alert. Grab it here OTA. Free.
ScoreMobile BlackBerry: Real-time sports scores for MLB, NHL, NBA, and PGA from Canadia’s theScore—so perhaps their Canadian numbers aren’t to be trusted. Supposedly, more sports are coming this summer. I’m hoping for PBA scores, personally, since it’s been way too long since I’ve bowled. Free at App World or OTA.
Slacker 2.0: With the latest version of Slacker Radio, song transitions and skip times are supposed to be damn near instant. All of the regular features are still there, obviously, with full stereo over any connection and offline caching being two of its biggest perks. Free in App World.
SmrtGuard for BlackBerry: What makes SmrtGuard worth a look is that it rolls up a bunch of security features for the always-losing-their-damn-phone crowd into one tasty combo: Location tracking, remote data wipe and remote backup and restore. Oh, and stealth listening, so you can hear whoever picked up your phone gloating. I’m sorta surprised RIM doesn’t actually bake all of this into the OS, but SmrtGuard delivers it for $4 a month or $45 for the year.
ForceRadioOn: Do you hate it when your BlackBerry kills the phone because the battery is moments away from death? ForceRadioOn speeds your phone to its doom by turning the cellular radio on against its will, so you can gab for a few fleeting seconds. Free here and other app stores.
BB: Robot Scheduler: The range of this robot schedule slave is pretty impressive. You can schedule emails, texts, audio recordings, GPS location sharing, or pretty much anything else you can do on BlackBerry, in simple or more complex arrangements. It’s only available for the Bold and Storm at the moment. $6 OTA here.
