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Touted as a disruptive, forward-thinking, fan-serving, mobile-first experience, 120 Sports for iPhone delivers 120-second live and on-demand video segments covering buzz-worthy stories in sports. Built using MLBAM’s technology platform, the app serves both video clips and realtime elements called datacards to users, relying heavily on Twitter for viewer engagement and brand awareness. On paper, yes, this is an innovative concept. In reality, there are a few things missing from the experience. 120 Sports is an ad-supported free download developed by MLBAM and Silver Chalice. Stakeholders include Time Inc./Sports Illustrated, Silver Chalice, MLB.com, NHL, PGA Tour and several collegiate conferences via Campus Insiders. Content partnerships include the NBA, NASCAR, UFC, PBR, MLL, NLL, Red Bull, USSA and LPGA. This review was conducted on an iPhone 5 version 8.1.3, with AT&T LTE service. The app is available on iOS and Android devices, and can be accessed via Apple TV and Google Chromecast.
CHEERS: The app does a great job of surfacing must-know stories in a simple, scrolling interface called Timeline. Within each story, there is a video clip featuring the 120 Sports talk crew commenting on the story and providing valuable information and opinion to viewers. After Tiger Woods withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open last week, the youthful, street-clothed team in leather chairs logged a video telling the story and begged the famed golfer to retire. Beneath the timeline video, the app recommends related feeds to follow. For the Tiger story, feeds like Golf, PGA Tour, Farmers Insurance Open and Tiger Woods were served up as single-tap options. Once a user follows a feed, it appears in a section called “Following” for quick-access. Relevant tweets and other relevant media called datacards sit below content. There are many opportunities to tweet @120Sports using the pre-populated hashtag #120Talk. Live shows occur on evenings and weekday mornings. Video continues to run, with in-stream ads between clips, until the user tells it to stop. Content is time-stamped. Stand out content features include “120 Rewind”, a 120-second recap of a day in sports and "Trending," a feed-based section outlining the topics, teams and athletes who are getting the most buzz.
JEERS: The app ignores the fan that wants to read. Without headphones in crowded places, users will not be able to get more than a few lines of content teasing the video clip. Some stories do include links to SI.com for full stories, but a short in-app synopsis of the story is something worth considering, rather than just a teaser. The app offers USA Today Sports Images beneath video, but what does this achieve? Words would be better here. Live content is one of the strong points of the app, but where is the programming schedule? To say that live shows air “on weekday mornings and evenings” is not driving tune-in. For the most part, advertising (banner and pre-roll) is nicely integrated, but full-screen pop-ups are menacing. Interacting with the app can also be a challenge at times due to the small screen and the way the options are presented. Tapping more than once to get to a feature is frustrating. Meanwhile, the casually dressed on-air team felt a bit, well, casual. But that is certainly not a deal breaker.
BOTTOM LINE: Does the 120 Sports app deliver on what it set out to accomplish? Yes, yes, no, yes. 120 Sports is a disruptive concept that brings visual buzz-talk on trending topics in sports to the fan in a “produced for mobile” fashion. The collaborative spirit of the app is not to be taken lightly, and the coverage certainly poses a risk to 24/7 sports broadcast channels like ESPN, as it consists of entirely over-the-top programming. But the phone-toting sports fan may still want their news in the written form, and this app does not cover that base. Also, the in-app advertising could use some regulating. But the strong content was enough to earn 120 Sports an iTunes Editors Choice Award for '14, and iTunes users give the app 4 stars. Some user reviews cite “hyper” talent and annoying ads as negatives, but I agree with the rating and look forward to watching the app evolve over time.
Amie Sheridan (amie.sheridan31@gmail.com) is a freelance writer in Philadelphia.
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