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App Review: Gametime For iPhone Offers Quick, Easy Ticket Purchases

Gametime, a sports-centric mobile ticketing application, provides a quick, low maintenance way to secure reasonably priced tickets to sporting events. “Ultra fast,” “zero printing” and “mobile first” are phrases used to depict the app’s offering. “Less might be more” is another. With two taps, Gametime users can access MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS and NCAA venues. Tickets can be scanned and shared, and no printing is required. Developed in house, Gametime is a free download with no advertising available on iOS and Android. This review was conducted on an iPhone 5 version 8.1.3, with AT&T LTE service.

HOT TICKETS: After selecting a location, the app smoothly slides the user into a succinct listing of upcoming sporting events broken out by team -- showing the next game on each local pro team’s schedule. Selecting a game prompts the app’s registration tool, where users can sign up via Facebook or e-mail to access the ticket listings. Using high-resolution images of in-seat venue views, available tickets are presented to the user. Listings can be sorted by discount, price or section. Individual listings include an in-seat view, an aerial view of the stadium with seat location indicator, and ticket details. Users can easily adjust the number of tickets they want, and the app quickly responds with a revised list. When tickets are selected, a quick addition of a credit card number and a single swipe to buy is all it takes to secure access to the game. This is a shockingly quick checkout that produces a scannable, digital ticket almost instantaneously. Tickets can be shared in mobile or PDF format with no issues. For especially thrifty buyers, the app offers a "Best Price Guarantee" that promises to pay the difference if cheaper tickets are found after the fact.

FLOPS: All sales are final, and with a checkout this simple, that could be an issue. Comparable prices come from teams and include all fees, but do they factor in secondary market prices? This may be a moot point since the app guarantees the lowest prices available, but it would be nice if this was made clear in the app. At first glance, it appears that the app only lists tickets for one upcoming game per team, and this caused some confusion. After some time poking around, I realized that tapping a tiny arrow above the listings opened a menu of upcoming games. This should be more prominent. The “discount” sort button does not appear to change the listings, and there is no explanation of what “discount” means within the app, so this had me scratching my head.

BOTTOM LINE: Sleek, fast and to the point, Gametime aims to sell tickets quickly to sports fans wanting to go to upcoming games. Many of the pain points of a more comprehensive ticket listing service are removed, offering fans an uncluttered way to find reasonably priced seats. The app presents itself confidently, taking a laid back stance on a fan’s purchase decisions, but also gives them a lightning fast way to make an impulse buy. This may have a magnetic effect for some, but it may turn others away. Regardless, the app succeeds in creating a guaranteed, ultra-fast, zero printing avenue to attending games for a reasonable price. I give the app 4 stars, and while most reviews on iTunes are positive, there are not yet enough of them for an iTunes rating.

Amie Sheridan (amie.sheridan31@gmail.com) is a freelance writer in Philadelphia.
See Sheridan's previous App Review submissions for THE DAILY:

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