Online communities: Another battlefield for major sports apps

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‍‍The 2015/16 season Premier League is about to begin. Tencent Sport, Sina Sports and LeTV Sports that hold broadcasting rights to the EPL are competing aggressively in their services on mobile devices.

To stand out from the competition, all the three media companies have attached great importance to improving mobile device user experience. Thus making sure that users can enjoy fluent live match videos and receive timely information about matches has become their common goal. Tencent Sports however, has made bigger moves. Not only have they changed their app’s name, but also integrated the concept of an online community. 

In the history of sports events broadcasting, people of this industry have racked their brains to improve audience’s sense of immersion no matter if the platform is radio or TV. That is why we not only have commentators to comment on the live match, but also background noises on and off the pitch. In fact, at the end of this June, Fox sports even tried to use virtual reality technology while broadcasting the US open.

But for fans, expressing themselves is as important as watching and listening. They want to praise the good performance of players, discuss the decisions made by referees and boo the guest team. That is why we have fan communities in football culture. Besides, the popularization of the virtual reality technology takes time. As Mark Zach Berg, founder of Facebook said, we would have to wait another 10 years before the technology could be put into large scale commercial use. Until then, sports app developers have to explore other ways of improving users’ sense of immersion.

Allowing users to express themselves while watching games is not difficult these days. This has been realized to some extent. The most important thing is to allow them to communicate. Just as fans from different teams won’t sit together, online users also need special platforms to communicate within their circles.

Apparently Tencent Sports understands this. So they invited the Arsenal FC to their online community to improve the fans’ sense of belonging. It is revealed that they will also invite other big clubs from the Premier League such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

The popularity of Hupu and Baidu Tieba has proved the power of the online sports community. Although Sina Sports and LeTV are yet to build their online sports communities, it is safe to say this will be a very effective way to improve users’ sense of immersion and adhesiveness. In the future, online communities will be another battlefield for major sports apps.

Proofread by Elizabeth Yokwe