Soccer, or “The Beautiful Game,” isn’t necessarily that beautiful when you don’t have anyone to enjoy or experience it with. This is especially true in the United States where the sport takes a back seat to many others. Fortunately for soccer fans, NBC has recently released a new app dedicated to helping soccer fans, specifically those of the English Premier League, find others who share their passion and pageantry.
NBC Sports MatchMaker is a free mobile application which gives users the ability to find fellow fans around them mainly using an interactive map feature. The map can also be helpful in finding public locations where others will be watching the same game.
When launching the NBC Sports MatchMaker for the first time fans are given the opportunity to create a profile linked to their Facebook account. After choosing their favorite team, or two, fans are welcomed to the map function which has a convenient countdown to their team’s next match. Then, three hours before kick-off, locations of other fans start appearing on the map. Even days before, app users can chat with others using a messaging system to exchange some friendly, or not-so-friendly, words of intimidation before the match.
Want to be the center of attention? There is an option to form a “Meet Up” location for the next game along with a tab to help manage other “Meet Ups” you are planning to attend, as well as those you are invited to.
NBC provides a news section of the app to help users keep to date with news from around the EPL, in addition to recaps and video highlights embedded within. Also, news alerts can be turned on so not a minute goes by the moment a critical story is published. Fans can choose to be notified of games’ start times courtesy of NBC’s broadcast schedule, too.
However, users of the app have not taken kindly to it and the reviews reflect just that. As of mid-March, NBC Sports MatchMaker has averaged a two out of five star rating in the Apple App Store and no better than three out of five stars in Google Play. Written evaluations of the app describe it as a “smart idea, but basically useless,” while having “too many flaws,” and “so many bugs.”
This reviewer believes the idea of an app helping to bring soccer fans together, especially in the United States, is unique and worth support. Nevertheless, the true blemish of the NBC Sports MatchMaker app is not supporting other prominent soccer leagues. This just doesn’t go for international ones; Major League Soccer and its enthusiasts could really benefit from an app like this to help continue the growth and popularity of the sport on American soil.
