Britain’s First UK Basketball App With An Augmented Twist
Photo by Ricardo Esquivel from Pexels
Published by Andrew Carr on January 01, 2020
The Never Seen Before BBL App
“I believe that augmented reality will be the biggest technological revolution that happens in our lives”
–Tim Sweeney
This amazing new Android/iOS application will provide British basketball fans with its first downloadable online app that you can access to view match times, results, player information etc… It will have a user-friendly layout, allowing you to be able to access information without a struggle and have a mixture of bright and dark colours to grab any user’s attention. This is beneficial, this is brand new and without these features the application would look dull and boring. It needs to not only provide the information of team stats & league standing but also an eye-catching layout to make it look professional.
I believe this application will attract the BBL, nothing like it has been done before. It will be the first application to provide the UK and you the consumer with an insight on British basketball; its most unique selling point is its augmented features to help attract different audiences. It allows fans to finally connect with their favourite players and be updated on their favourite teams.
Boosting Fan Engagement
By promoting this application on social media websites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram it can benefit from being cost effective and increases traffic to the application. The info-graphic below demonstrates the engagement from fans who tweet about the NBA application. If the BBL was to do something similar this proves it can be successful and overall fan engagement would increase.
The Augmented Twist
The main part of this application that makes it completely different to others is adding augmented features, this creates that unique user experience. The application will include 360-degree arena tours of every BBL team’s basketball court which targets the demographic of users who may not be able to afford it or who can’t physically go, giving them that personal experience of visiting through the application. A way of advertising the BBL games and the application at the same time will be done by providing advertisement posters around the UK, allowing users to use the app through their camera lens and watching it come to life. The BBL player on the poster will appear stating a message for example “ come to our next game on the 20th of December, it will be a close one” etc.. This hasn’t been done before in the UK, but Spark Compass did something very similar which overall boosted fan engagement and application downloads. You can see this video below:
Would this appeal to you? Being able to watch live games through your smartphone? Walking down the street and spotting a BBL player poster on the side of the road, knowing that it if you go onto the BBL App and view it through your camera lens it would come to life? This application will achieve something never seen before associated with British basketball. Here are the main benefits of using AR for this App that you can experience:
- A personal interaction, you will be controlling the 360-degree tour, you can move and look wherever desired.
- User friendly
- Fun to use
- Unique encounter
“AR increases engagement and interaction and provides a richer user experience”
-Engine Creative
How Successful Augmented Reality is in IOS/Android Applications
So far Augmented reality is a trend that is predicted not to stop increasing any time soon. The reason I chose to add augmented reality to this application is because its unique and interactive. Applications that currently have implemented it have proven that it grabs the attention of users, this is due to giving them the access of trying something new and never seen before.
Augmented reality is beneficial to business; the feature has accumulated over millions of pounds. Pokémon Go was one of the first mobile apps to use AR, they accumulated $100 million and most-downloaded in its first month of release, it is now one of the most successful applications and has almost grossed $2 billion dollars. This concludes that Augmented reality benefits business and would be a missed opportunity to not include in this application. The diagram below furthermore illustrates the revenue forecast in billions for AR from 2016 to 2020.
The Obstacles to Overcome
One of the first obstacles that this application may face that a high percentage of newly developed apps also experience is funding. Funding a new application with augmented features and stat reports may be difficult but reaching out to current BBL sponsors may be the route to go. Current sponsors of the BBL like ‘Kappa‘or ‘Genius Sports‘ could be interested in this application as they are currently working with British Basketball. Another obstacle that may be in the way is gaining permission to create the application. By emailing the BBL commission and pitching this idea to them may be one route. I personally used to work for one of the ball halls that are connected to the local Manchester basketball team the ‘Manchester Giants‘ and use market research techniques like surveying to gain players, coaches and fans opinion on the creation of this app.
It is possible for this app to be created, this application hasn’t been implemented yet because people believe basketball is dead in the UK. Its not, it just needs to increase its fan engagement and without any sort of online application to provide this, Basketball in the UK will never improve. Listen to my quick talk on this subject that goes into further details on the SoundCloud platform: https://soundcloud.com/user-510637988
The End Goal
What I want to achieve from the creation of this app is to finally give the UK basketball fans a chance to connect with their favourite teams, players & coaches like the NBA app provides. Adding an Augmented feature for yourself and the consumers allows this app to stand out from the crowd of different sports apps and benefits overall financially.
“To achieve big bold goals, you need to be firm on the goal, but flexible on the approach, and having a strong why will help you keep your eyes on the prize”
–Gordon Tredgold
Do you believe this Application is beneficial to UK Basketball? Do you think it can provide the UK with something brand new and different? Is Augmented reality a great USP of this application? Send me a message and let me know your opinion, I hope you enjoyed this blog.
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