LiveLike’s growing roster of partners rolled out new app enhancements for two marquee names last week: NASCAR and the Golden State Warriors, the latter of which recently became the first professional sports team in the United States to strike a deal with the 6-year-old tech company.
Game Mode will include chats, trivia, polls and more.Courtesy of Golden State Warriors
As fans increasingly seek second-screen experiences for social engagement while watching live events, teams and leagues are looking for ways to avoid losing those eyeballs to third-party social networks and messaging platforms. LiveLike has an audience engagement platform that helps drive traffic to its customers’ own apps through watch parties, gamification and a customizable suite of interactive features.
“All of us use mobile phones during live events, and the only reason we are not engaging during these events with the official apps is because there has not been that engagement interactivity there,” said Miheer Walavalkar, LiveLike’s CEO. “There is no social or community layer. Those are becoming more in demand now. More rights holders are tapping into that audience and saying, ‘You don’t have to do this only on Twitter. You can also engage with us. We can super-serve you with new types of experiences.’”
The Warriors’ Game Mode was set to publicly launch last Saturday when the team was scheduled to host the Brooklyn Nets. Within the Warriors + Chase Center app are features that include chats, trivia, polls, alerts, leaderboards and prizes. The main page of Game Mode allows fans to interact with other fans through live messaging, unique message reactions and custom emojis, all the while keeping up with the game action spotlighted at the top of the screen.
The app was developed in partnership with Accenture, whose team worked closely with LiveLike to integrate the technology into the app. In a beta test since Feb. 4, the time spent within the app for a Game Mode user was significantly longer than it was for a non-Game Mode user.
The Warriors are planning to drive sponsorship around the enhanced engagement. “We try to find that perfect balance for how do we create the best fan experience possible but also how do we support the business and drive revenue,” said Daniel Brusilovsky, the team’s director of consumer products and technology. “We can support both goals by creating amazing digital touchpoints to help our partnerships succeed from a digital perspective as well.”
For the NASCAR season, starting with Sunday’s Daytona 500, the app is bringing fans the ability to connect with each other via a plethora of interactive features such as polls, predictions, a cheer meter, emoji sliders and alerts. NASCAR is intent on steering users in digital social groups onto its platform. Fans are “already coming to us for competition-related information,” said Wyatt Hicks, NASCAR’s managing director of digital media. “Now if we can fill that space of community and socialization, we want to take advantage of it.”
LiveLike’s partners also include sports broadcasters, including Sky Sports and Turner Sports, and leagues, including the NBA.
