Localizing the Connection between Fans and Teams
1
The Background
Bringing Fan Voices to the Forefront.
NBC is a household name with a strong foothold in cable TV and entertainment experiences. This legacy means there's a wealth of editorial and media resources at NBC Regional Sport’s disposal. Multi-regional editorial hubs, exclusive access to players and live game streaming rights are just the beginning…
The inherited legacy also created hurdles. NBC Regional Sports designed their original app experience based on their business structure: 7 different apps, each devoted to 1 of 7 regions covered, and each limited to short form articles and live streaming.
This experience did not resonate with the modern sports fan who follows multiple teams across regions and needs access to all types of sports coverage about their favorite teams.
2
The Challenge
How do we make a nationwide sports network feel authentically local and personal to the individual fan’s experience?
3
The Solution
The plan: Connect fans with their favorite teams, players and other fans by creating an authentically local experience that makes NBCRS indispensable to the regional sports community.
Adapting to User Behavior
Users can curate their own experience by following only the teams they love. Unlike other sports apps in the saturated market, we moved away from a generic sports aggregator model to allow our users to select and prioritize teams.
Be Fan First
With the rise of social media, younger audiences expect a community-driven approach that lets them be in on the conversation. Our research showed that 89% of sport fans were interested in what other fans are saying.
Striving to bring fans to the forefront of the experience, we created a separate but connected experience per team where fans can interact and engage with their community. This is called the Authentic Fan experience.
One Stop Shop
Regional sports fans aged 18-34 year olds go to 10 different news sources for sports coverage on average. This tells us that our audiences need a 360 degree view of their favorite teams. Our experience ensured we delivered on all types of sports coverage: video, editorial, social/fan engagement and statistics.
4
The Results
We formed a strong relationship between Code and Theory & NBC Regional Sports during the design phase, and the client decided to extend our involvement through development. We continued our engagement with this phase by performing Quality Assurance and general development planning and sprint grooming.
A happy client and a successful relationship has led to the chance for further work in the future with the NBC Regional Sports team, and potentially the larger NBC sports network.
- 5.76 Page Views Per Visit (+78% vs. the old app)
- 11.6 Monthly Visits Per Unique User (+400% vs. the old app)
- 12:18 Time Spent In The App (+158% vs. the old app)
