Xirrus®, the leader in high-performance wireless networks, today announced that Liverpool FC – one of the world’s most historic and famous football clubs – has deployed its Wireless Arrays at Anfield, the home of the Club since its formation in 1892. The first phase of the deployment covers the two-tier, 12,000-seat Centenary Stand and adjoining corporate facilities, enabling fans to access and share digital content during games as never before.

The Wi-Fi network will be available to Liverpool fans for the home game against West Ham on Sunday 7 April. By offering Wi-Fi to its fans, Liverpool is hoping to improve their overall match day experience and encourage them to share the excitement of the game with the global Liverpool fan base. It also opens up a new way for Liverpool to gain insight and feedback from its fan base which hasn’t been possible up to now.

Andrew Robinson, Head of Digital Media and Technology at Liverpool Football Club, explains:

“Running our own data network based on Xirrus technology means we can provide our fans with a dedicated, robust and high quality experience. The added reliability and performance of high capacity Wi-Fi over 3G connections will encourage our fans to use social networks like Twitter and Facebook to share their experiences with fans unable to make it to the game.”

Robinson continues:

“A massive driver for this new network is that we can gain more insight into our fans than ever before. Sign-in will be via a one-time registration process using an email address and fans will be encouraged to tell us their likes and dislikes. The technology will allow us to find out what devices fans like to connect with the Club on so we can invest in digital platforms accordingly. We will also find out more about how fans use the stadium and its facilities so we can adapt these to better serve them.

“The experience that we’ve created from day one is something we think fans will get very excited about. We’ll be providing in-match stats, food and drink offers, access to online retail, in-play betting in partnership with Paddy Power and also the ability to engage with a global audience outside of the stadium through social media platforms.”

This development is one we have seen start to take a hold in sport.  Despite clubs being activate in promoting the use of mobile around games, the inability to even send a text message never mind a tweet has been something that has needed to be addressed.  We saw how well it can work and enhance the fan experience at London 2012, now we are seeing more and more top football teams follow that lead.

It will be interesting to see the digital activations that will follow on from launch, taking advance of this new connectivity.  Are you a Liverpool fan?  What do you think of the announcement?

We all like a good pie at a football match (fact) and we all hate queuing (another fact).  But a solution to our problems may be on its way…. Hearts fans have trialling a new experience, the chance to jump the pie queue – good idea of what!  And it’s all done via by placing orders through their smartphones.

The club has developed a mobile app that allows supporters to place orders and have food and drink delivered to their seat.  Sadly, due to drinking restrictions in football stadia we don’t think this includes beer orders.  But could be a great idea for cricket matches.

It was available to Tynecastle fans who used the app during saturdays match with Motherwell.  We’re not sure about the results of this trial but am sure it went down well.  That is depending that the 3G was working well enough.

A statement on the Scottish Premier League club’s website said:

“Supporters seated in the upper sections of the Wheatfield Stand will have the unique opportunity to use their Android or iOS smartphones to skip the queues and have their food delivered direct to their seats, ensuring that they don’t miss a minute of the action on the pitch.  This is a UK first in terms of the use of mobile technology for ordering at a football match.  Following this initial deployment, it will then be rolled out to other areas of the stadium throughout the remainder of the season.”

The new app has been developed along with catering partner Saltire Hospitality and mobile technology company QikServe.   Supporters who have downloaded the app will be able to scan barcodes on their seats to find the available menu.  QikServe orders will be put on hold during half-time, while the concessions kiosks are at their busiest at the Edinburgh stadum.  Dan Rodgers, QikServe’s founder, added:

“The classic pie and Bovril combination is a British football tradition and that will never change, but our goal is to use mobile technology to bring that tradition into the 21st century.  The convenience of ordering from your seat is a perk normally reserved for the executive boxes, but QikServe makes it possible for everyone.”

Before we get too carried away with the potential for apps of this kind, there is one lingering issue that has been raised by many in the sports tech industry.  Phone Connectivity!  We have all been to sports events where you can’t even get a text message, never mind bring up an app and place a seamless order from your seat.

The Daily Record spoke to one supporter who said she often had problems getting phone reception at the stadium.  “I constantly struggle to get a signal at Tynecastle, so if they were going to do it, they would need to have free wi-fi for it to work properly.”

There are signs that these issues could become a thing of the past.  Companies such as Cisco have partnered with clubs to offer wifi and better 3G coverage on match days (though still restricted to the bigger European and American clubs).  There are cheaper solutions being developed and we all saw during London 2012 how well it can be done.

Will it work?  Lets wait and see but fingers crossed it can (it’s good PR for the club anyway).

Next week sees the start of the first major tennis event since Andy Murray’s famous win at Flushing Meadows last September.  The Australians have always proved to be very good when it comes to utilising social media for their events and this year looks like they are doing it again.

Here we’re going to be taking a look at what they are doing and also what they are doing to help publicise the initiatives.  They now have multiple channels going including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google+ and Foursquare (wow!) as well as having mobile apps for iPhone, Android and iPad.  Community managing all those pages and producing unique content will a tough task for sure.

So lets start at the main hub of activity, the website.  People will be flocking to AustralianOpen.com for results, news and lives scores over the next couple of weeks as Murray, Djokovic, Federer, Williams and Sharapova take to the arena.  The different channels are not too obvious at first glance on the homepage, the main plug being the official hashtag #AusOpen as they look to make conversations trackable in a unifiable way.

The main area for their social activity is the Fan Centre.  Here are explanations and links to all the main hubs of activity.  It’s a simple destination which gives fans access to all the information they could need to follow the competition in different ways.

This is a very new feature and one which will be very interesting to keep an eye on.  Starting on Monday they will be running a leaderboard of all the players in the Open.   Every time you tweet about a player or ‘like’ something written about them on this site, their ranking improves. This gives a great opportunity (and reason) for fans to get behind their favourite player and interact with content about them on the site.  Not sure what software they are using to monitor it and how often the table will be updated.  Will be a separate article on this once it is up and running (and I can find out more info).

Twitter

As well as running an official hashtag, something clubs and events should be doing to help fans, they have two official Twitter accounts; @AustralianOpen and @AOSOS.  The first is the main account which you keep in touch about news and results. The second is more interesting for me as it is a dedicated customer service channel for any event information.  Again is very simple and enables their team to pick out the relevant tweets and reply to them quickly.  Fans can also use the #AOSOS hashtag to get the same service.

Facebook

A more visual approach with pictures of players training, behind-the-scenes imagery and links to videos.  They’ve built up a fanbase of almost 800k since its launch in 2008 and certainly gives a different perspective from other channels of the event.  It is a more unofficial, relaxed look which is less about results and more about personality.

Google+

Slightly different imagery is used here and there is more of a concentration on videos as well.  It can be very hard to come up with a content plan that covers so many different channels whilst giving a unique experience on each.  Many go with regurgitating the same content across all to the greatest ‘reach’.  But at the same time you need to people different reasons for visiting each.  The Australian Open team seem to be doing just that and with 63k+ fans they have a good audience base as well.

Foursquare

This platform has gone a little quite over the last few months as the clamour for geo-location apps appears to have calmed down.  I for one have not used it in a long time now as the benefits to the user have yet to be seen.  At the Aus Open they have identified it as a platform to help people make the most of the event area and be more of a guide.  People do leave tips on there for others to pick up and this could be very useful for those who are there for the day.

Pinterest

A new platform for them and not many followers of the account at the moment (just over 300).  Currently it cover more iconic photographs from last years event and a few archive images as well.  be interesting to see how they use the platform and what benefit they derive from it.  So far it has mainly been fashion brands who have found it good at driving ecommerce sales and Liverpool and AS Roma have been two football clubs to see its potential.

YouTube

With so much video content coming out of the event aYouTube channel is almost a must.  They run Australian Open TV through the website and this does a good job of backing that up.  Already there are highlights of some of the qualifying games which have been running throughout this week and some behind-the-scenes promo videos.  Will be a good page to keep an eye out for if you love your tennis.

Mobile

They are running apps for both iPhone and Android as well as having a mobile enabled website so that fans to keep abreast of the latest happening wherever they are.  As was proved at the London 2012 Olympics, mobile is proving to be the biggest generator of online visits around events.  This will be from people going to the event and also those who are at work or travelling and dont have access to their laptop or PC.

iPad

This could be covered under mobile but I thought it deserved its own section.  Some may see the decision by the organisers just to offer special apps for iPad and not any of the other tablet devices, especially as there are so many options out there nowadays.  The image below gives more information on what they offer.

Conclusion

They are offering fans and commentators access to so much information that few have been left out.  There is a great mix of imagery, video and text.  There is a great variety in the mobile offering and they are testing new platforms as they come out (interesting that still no Tumblr page though – very visual).

They also have the ‘Popcorn Tennis Blog‘ which is a live blog which will be running throughout the event.  Liveblogging has taken off with more conferences and events running them, giving more analysis then you will get from Twitter or Facebook.

Tomorrow sees the start of the acclaimed Social Media Week here in London and I’m delighted to have been asked to chair a ‘fireside chat’ with Alex Balfour.  Alex has been at the forefront of bringing to the world the most social Olympics there has ever been and no doubt encountered many challenges, as well as successes, along the way.

Opening this Social Media Week you will hear about the trials, tribulations and successes behind the digital success of the games.  For 6 years he has devoted his life to making sure everything has been prefect and overseen the development of the London 2012 website, mobile apps and social media presence.

Get the inside story on delivering the digital experience for the world’s best games.  The numbers are staggering: At LOCOG, Alex’s six years of work culminated in the delivery of 77 digital channels including london2012.com, volunteering, education, online shop, mobile apps and social media presences. During the 16 days of the Olympic Games London 2012 channels recorded 431m visits, 109m unique users, 15m app downloads, 4.73bn page views and 4.7m social followers.

Prior to his work on the London Olympics, he co-founded CricInfo.com from a raw start up into a profitable business with 20 million customers and 140 staff in eight countries. He raised £25 million in four funding rounds and generated £2m of profitable turnover making CricInfo the only independent sports dotcom to survive the boom and bust of the late 90s. CricInfo was sold to ESPN in the summer of 2007.

This weekend has seen the London 2012 organisers LOCOG release the first of two mobile apps that will be available to sports fans at the Games this year.

The first one is called ‘Join In’ and is available on Android and IOS (sadly not Blackberry….which is the phone I still have).   The app is designed to allow fans to “plan, enjoy and share your Games experience”.

Seb Coe, Chair of LOCOG, said: ‘This app is a great example of how we are bringing the Games to life for a new generation – inspiring people around the world to get involved. As the Games get closer, we encourage people everywhere to share their Olympic experience with the world, whether they have tickets for a sporting event or not’.

Interestingly it is fully integrated with Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare  – enabling fans to share their experiences, plans (you could allow friends to see where you are planning to go and where to meet up).  The area called ‘My Games’ means anyone can create their own personal schedule, an interesting (and useful) feature.

Its key features include comprehensive events listings for thousands of exciting events across London and UK; and spectator information and interactive maps, news and photos.  There is so much going on both in stadia and outside with thousands of events, parties, etc going on (any spare invites feel free to send them this way!).

Other great features that will be interesting to see in action include the use of Augmented Reality.  Fans will be able to use their camera phone to view overlays showing the key venues.

Key features include:

What’s on: full and up-to-date event listings for thousands of exciting activities, including free events, across London and the UK – find out what’s happening near you, on an hour-by-hour basis.

Torch today: view the Olympic Torch Relay with street-level routes for 1000+ communities over 70 days, and details of Torchbearers. View the current Torch position in real time using the Torch Tracker function. See daily video highlights and photos as the Torch Relay unfolds.

Paralympic Torch Relay: find out about the Flame Festivals taking place across the UK in August.

See and do: full listings for London 2012 Festival cultural events, big screens (Live Sites) and hundreds of free events and celebrations taking place.

Spectator guide: get searchable maps, details of facilities, augmented reality views and information about how to get the best out of your historic day out.

Plan your journey: plan the best route to get to competition venues.

Road events: find out about free medal events such as the Marathon and Road Cycling Race, including route information and where to watch them.

Jump to: interactive, searchable maps of the Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays, the UK, London and the Olympic Park.

Detail maps: access and seating maps for the Olympic Park and 20+ venues.

Live updates: news, photos and social commentary from the Games.

My Games: create a personal schedule creation to help you plan your Olympic and Paralympic experience.

Facebook, Twitter and FourSquare integration: tweet, upload photos, post to your wall, check-in and let your friends know what you’re doing.

Augmented Reality: use your camera phone to view overlays showing the key venues.

The Official London 2012 Join in app and Official London 2012 Results app are part of a family of digital tools that will be released during the summer, including:

• The IOC’s Olympic Athlete’s Hub (http://hub.olympic.org) launched in April, a directory of verified athlete social media accounts, with rewards for active fans and exclusive content.
• The London 2012 Games-time website, http://www.london2012.com, which will be the ultimate authority on the Games with comprehensive, unbiased provision of results and Games information. The site is fully accessible, including content in British Sign Language and easyread formats.
• Enhanced London 2012 presences on Facebook and Twitter, including many new accounts, sports and image feeds and some surprises.
•  A Twitter-based competitive tweeting challenge.
•  Visualisations and infographics.
•  Official London 2012 mobile, online and social games.

The second companion app, the London 2012 Results App, will be released next month.  It will provide the information not covered by the first one including results,, latest news, schedules and live action across both Olympic and Paralympic sports.

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and enjoying the holiday period.  As I was having a look at the latest news and innovations in social media and sport I came across this from Intel.

Initially it has been launched on Android (interesting that chose this first with iPhone to come later – usually its the other way round) and it comes with many features that stato football fans from around Europe will be interested in.

The app offers to provide 2nd screen insights I imagine aimed more at the TV viewer than those at the game.  You can follow your particular team, get live match info on all key events (corners, goals, offsides, fouls, shots, yellow cards, etc), player stats which are updated throughout the game and fan chats.

This last element is interesting as it offers something more interactive.  It allows you to see up-to-the-minute comments, etc from forums, Facebook, Twitter and fan sites as the game is progressing.

This is available for teams in the top leagues of Germany, England, Spain, France, Italy, Holland, Poland, Russia, Turkey and Sweden. This covers most of the top supported nations in Europe including some we would not usually expect.

Is this going to appeal to most mainstream fans?  possibly not but it depends on how easy to use, interesting and interactive it really proves to be.  Intel is a tech company and the main aim will be to show off the tech side rather than making it a great user experience.

You can download the beta Android version now here

For more info they have provided a YouTube video to explain it some more….

Carrying on the theme of iPhone apps, after discussing athletes using them to own their own content and push themselves as brands.  This week we’ve got our sun hats on, or should that read umbrellas out, and are armed with strawberries and cream….now fully prepared for the 2 week UK tennis festival that is Wimbledon.

This year sees the third incarnation of the official Wimbledon iPhone app, put together by official technology partner IBM.  It has been slowly building each year with a view to being useful to spectator and armchair fan alike.

The app lets you keep up-to-date with the latest scores, find out news from the championship, listen to commentary through Radio Wimbledon, find out stats about players and, interestingly, see what the players and official twitter accounts are saying.

There is also plenty of video content and pictures from the event that include round-ups of the days action if you missed it on tv.  Useful stuff indeed.

For those of you visiting Wimbledon the app again comes into its own with ground maps, visitor guide, ticket info, seating plans, travel info and security on there to make sure you get to your seat in plenty of time.

There really isn’t much that is going on at the tennis that is not covered, so you can imagine there is a lot packed into that little app. One of the things that makes it most appealing is that it is FREE, so you don’t have to think about your bank balance to be kept informed.

If you’re like me and don’t have an iPhone, dont panic.  There is a mobile web version of the site where you can get all the latest info by visiting m.wimbledon.com – you dont get the video or audio but the key information is still there.

If you can’t watch the tennis on your computer at work, are out for the day with friends or travelling on a train somewhere and you’re a big tennis fan then this is a must have.  Shame there isn’t an iPad version as getting the video highlights on there would be great (though iPlayer can also manage this with the BBC coverage).

Recently I’ve had the pleasure of sitting down with the guys from Athlete Factor, finding out more about what one our adidas athletes gets up to away from the rugby field.

England International and former Stade Francais player James Haskell is someone who has taken to the new opportunities that social media and the world of apps has to offer enthusiastically.   These opportunities for athletes to take control of the exclusive content they can produce are there for those who decide to grasp the bull by the horns and could be a sound investment for the future.

He already has a very active and popular Twitter account of some 20,000 and a dedicated Facebook Group.  One thing you find out quite quickly is that he enjoys being in front of the camera (or phone in most cases) but rather than post straight to YouTube or Vimeo he has taken a different route.

Rather than have a disparate collection of online platforms he has worked with Athlete Factor to bring these all into one place, his iPhone app.  Here is James to explain what it is all about….

The company also work with golfers Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, with both having very similar looking ‘exclusive’ apps.  What this new direction does allow the athlete is control, the ownership of the content they are producing that could be distributed around new networks, and anyone else interested in the content, and thus creating an extra revenue stream.

James is the one who seems to have taken to the idea the most and produced by far the most content.  This is not only little clips of his games or him talking to camera, we are looking at training tips, dietary advice, behind the scenes and updates from just after games.  If you are a fan of rugby and interested in what a player does away from the pitch and you’re not getting your fill from Facebook or Twitter this could be for you.

MD of Athlete Factor, Adam McVicar, sums it up; “The Callisto platform enables athletes to have their own broadcast platform, uniquely branded with 100% control over the content delivered. The creation of the content is simple but most importantly a direct channel from the athlete to their fans. Twitter feeds, photos, videos, latest news and the exclusive voice and video content are all pulled together and delivered via a mobile application.”

Is this the future of professional sports people and other celebrities in digital?  What do you think….

http://itunes.apple.com/app/james-haskell-athlete-factor/id397133260?mt=8

An interesting article I saw on www.mashable.com this morning (if you don’t already use the site for the latest info then I suggest you do so) about the NBA’s new mobile check-in app.

As you know, geo-location apps have been the talk of much of 2010 with Foursquare, Yelp and Facebook Places.  Now NBA Digital have released their own app that allows fans to check-in at game venues and also when watching games on TV/online.

Since I saw the Get Glue service earlier this year, where you check-in to your favourite TV programmes, films and music, I have thought that sport would be a natural fit.  It opens up the audience hugely if you can allow fans to check in from the comfort of their own sofa.

I think it is something that football could do well to look into. Imagine the potential with the English Premier League if fans could check-in to their games from anywhere in the world?! Rather than catching a few thousand people at the ground you are then into the millions (potentially).

The app is called NBA Turnstile and they are working with the teams to develop badges.  The teams can also develop their own badges and offers to make the most of the system.

It will be interesting to see how well it works and if they are able to monetise it in the long term.