Fans of North Carolina and North Carolina State sports programs can win prizes for predicting game results and statistics with a new app offering from Learfield and UK-based Low6 Ltd. Inc.
Big Four schools are among the top five entrants from athletic departments, joined by Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.
Learfield is based in Plano, Texas, with local operations in Winston-Salem. It also owns the media rights to Duke, Wake Forest and most of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
He is known for his expertise in college media, sponsorships, fan data, event ticketing, technology and licensing.
North Carolina debuted on February 4 and has since offered mobile games for all men’s basketball games, including the NCAA Tournament.
NC State’s app, branded Wolfpack Predictions, debuted February 15 and has only been activated for regular season games so far.
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Departments use Low6 software technology to “implement their own custom games into existing team and/or school mobile apps, or via web URLs.”
Fans can not only make predictions about halftime and full game score, but also about rebounds, assists, touchdowns, etc. for the game.
Participants can earn points which can be redeemed in weekly gift cards or merchandise prizes worth up to $5,000 for certain categories. Low6 said there are plans to allow fans to acquire non-fungible tokens through the partnership.
“Questions and predictions are very focused on specific game outcomes,” according to Learfield and Low6.
“It will be mainly about the players/performance of the selected team, but from time to time we will also ask about the opponents, that’s for sure.”
The groups plan to provide cross-interactions between opposing fans who have access to the apps.
“It’s really something in the works as we grow in various colleges and sports. Keep your eyes open.”
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The goal is to help sports departments drive more fan visits to their apps.
Low6 states in its marketing pitch that “our Pick’em and Fantasy games are in native apps on iOS and Android, or can integrate directly into your existing official team app and website. Earn revenue for your club for every user who plays your game of choice each month.
This is Low6’s first entry into collegiate sports. Current clients include the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, UFC, NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals, and NBA’s Detroit Pistons.
For example, with Low6’s mobile games for the PGA Tour, “fans can enter the game at almost any time during a tournament week and make selections on competitions, including overall winner, winner group and head-to-head, with the points system directly linked to live odds.
However, there are no online gambling or sports betting elements in the gamification products, which are available through iOS and Android devices.
It is similar in nature to esports activities that have become popular on college campuses in recent years.
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Learfield said it pitched Low6 technology to select Athletic Department properties and partners in mid-November.
“The five schools that have been commissioned so far were simply the first five to commit to activation, although conversations are still ongoing with other properties and athletic departments regarding their arrival in time for football season,” Learfield said.
All five athletic departments featured mobile games in their mobile app designed by Learfield’s Sidearm Sports early on.
“We’re proud to enter the college sports landscape with an established leader, and we’re thrilled to already have so many reputable schools live on the Low6 platform,” said Jamie Mitchell, CEO of Low6, in a press release.
“Low6 technology enables rightsholders to monetize their digital fanbase by leveraging our proprietary platform, increasing both the volume and value of their proprietary data at scale.
“We’re excited to roll out our platform to more schools across the country, potentially seeing Low6 engage with millions of college sports students, alumni, and fans.”
Jeff Rubin, Chief Digital Officer of LEARFIELD and President and CEO of Sidearm Sports, said the Low6 gamification platform “provides our partner schools with an elevated digital offering that their fans can enjoy on any device, anywhere. they find each other, only deepening this unparalleled affinity”.
Sidearm provides the technology platform that powers official websites, mobile apps, statistical integration, live audio and video streaming, and e-commerce platforms for college athletic partners across the country.
In an April 2020 report on gamification by Leadersthe authors emphasized that “knowing your fans, engaging with your fans, interacting with your fans, and collecting fan data should be at the heart of your digital strategy.”
“Transforming data into business information and intelligence will certainly be a key driver of future growth for rightsholders and business-to-consumer strategies will change.
“Gambling, coupled with incentives (such as tickets or merchandise) drives loyalty and introduces competitiveness among fans,” the authors said.
The authors stated that the “first goal is to create brand preference and then to attract a younger audience, as we know for a fact that gamification is very popular among Gen Z.”
“Thinking digital first, focusing on data collection, embedding gamification at the core will help sports rights holders build their next generation of fans.”
