Sports & Digital Media Done Well

Posted by Darren on Sep 7, 2009 • (Comments)

Even if you are not a tennis fan, you should check out the official website for the US Open.  The guys behind the scenes at the USTA and their partners at IBM have put together a cross channel experience that beats any other league-developed initiative that I’ve seen (MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL).

The US Open is a 2-week [only] event that occurs each year in late August/September and takes the US tennis scene by storm.  I grew up watching Lendl, McEnroe, Agassi, and Sampras compete hard for the big purse and trophy.  Growing up, the only way that I could have watched the Open was on television or at the event (went to the event each year with my parents), but now, one could additionally watch online and keep updated through their official mobile application.

The mobile app for the Open is extremely robust and honestly, almost too robust.  From news to photos, videos, scores, and draws (and a whole lot more), the app delivers one of the most rich experiences of any app I’ve seen across the board.

Lastly, not only is the team hitting a home run with the official website (streaming video, interactive draws, video highlights, etc) and iPhone app, but it’s also one of the proactive brands using social media to it’s advantage by keeping tennis fans up to date using Facebook.  I’m a bit surprised it has only 23,000 fans on Fb, but the NBA only has 31,250 so I guess it’s correct.

Nicely done to the team over at the USTA – setting the bar for the other sports leagues…

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , + Categorized as Internet & Web X.0, Media & Entertainment
  • mjsenno
    Darren - good catch. I actually wrote on my blog that IBM may be the best integrated sports sponsor, as they do a fantastic job of building a platform that showcases their services and products, while adding tremendous media value to the various sports properties they work, in this case the USTA. The iPhone app is a great example, the stats and scoring system, and the website - all well done. They did an equally good job, though without as much depth, on the USGA digital platform and with Wimbledon.
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