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Fans of the North Carolina and N.C. State athletic programs can win prizes for predicting game and statistical outcomes through a new app offering established by Learfield and U.K.-based Low6 Ltd. Inc.
The Big Four schools are among the initial five athletics departments participants, joined by Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.
Learfield is based in Plano, Texas, with local operations in Winston-Salem. It also holds the multimedia rights to Duke, Wake Forest and the bulk of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It is known for its expertise in college media, sponsorships, fan data, event ticketing, technology and licensing.
North Carolina debuted Feb. 4 and has been offering mobile gaming for all men’s basketball games since, including the NCAA Tournament.
NC State’s app, branded as Wolfpack Predictions, debuted on Feb. 15 and has been activated for regular season games only so far.
The departments are using Low6 software technology to “implement their own customized games into existing team and/or school mobile apps, or via web-based URLs.”
Fans can not only make predictions on the halftime and full score of the game, but on rebounds, assists, touchdowns, etc. for the game.
Participants can earn points that can pay off in weekly gift cards or merchandise prizes worth up to $5,000 for certain categories. Low6 said there are plans to enable fans to acquire non-fungible tokens through the partnership.
“The questions and predictions are very much focused on specific game outcomes,” according to Learfield and Low6.
“Predominantly, it will be on the selected team’s players/performance, but every now and then we’ll throw in questions about the opponents, too, for sure.”
The groups are considering providing crossover interactions between opposing fans who have access to the apps.
“It’s very much something in the pipeline as we develop out into various colleges and sports. Keep your eyes peeled.”
The goal is helping the athletic departments drive more fan visits to their apps.
Low6 says 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 that plays your picks game each month.”
It is Low6’s first entrance into collegiate sports. Among current clients are PGA Tour, DP World Tour, UFC, NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cincinnati Bengals, and the NBA’s Detroit Pistons.
For example, with Low6’s mobile games for the PGA Tour, “fans can enter the game at nearly any point during a tournament week and make selections on competitions including overall winner, group winner and head-to-head, with the points system directly tied to live odds.”
However, there is no online gambling or sports betting elements to the gamification products, which are available via iOS and Android devices.
It is similar in nature to the esports activities that have become popular on college campuses in recent years.
Learfield said it presented the Low6 technology to select properties and athletic department partners in mid-November.
“The five schools that have gone live thus far were simply the first five to commit to the activation, though conversations remain on-going with additional properties and athletic departments about coming on board in time for football season,” Learfield said.
All five athletic departments had the mobile games featured within their Learfield’s Sidearm Sports-built mobile app from the beginning.
“We are proud to enter the college sports landscape with an established leader, and we’re delighted to already have so many reputable schools live on the Low6 platform,” Jamie Mitchell, Low6’s chief executive, said in a statement.
“Low6 technology enables rights holders to monetize their digital fanbase by leveraging our proprietary platform, increasing both the volume and value of their first-party data at a mass scale.
“We are excited to roll out our platform to more schools across the country, potentially seeing Low6 engage with millions of students, alumni, and college sports fans.”
Jeff Rubin, LEARFIELD’s chief digital officer and Sidearm Sports’ president and chief executive, said the Low6 gamification platform “gives our partner schools an elevated digital offering for their fans to enjoy on any device, wherever they are, only deepening that unmatched affinity.”
Sidearm provides the technology platform that powers the official websites, mobile apps, statistical integration, live audio and video streaming, and e-commerce platforms of collegiate athletic partners across the nation.
In an April 2020 gamification report by Leaders, the authors stressed that “knowing your fans, engaging with your fans, interacting with your fans and collecting fans data must be at the core of your digital strategy.”
“Turning data into business insights and intelligence will certainly be a key driver for rightsholders’ future growth and business-to-consumer strategies will shift.
“Gaming, linked with incentives (such as tickets or merchandise) boosts loyalty and introduces competitiveness between fans,” the authors said.
The authors said the “first objective is to create brand preference, then to attract younger audiences, as we know for a fact that gamification is very popular among generation Z.”
“Thinking digital first, focusing on data collection, incorporating gamification at the core will help the sports rightholders building their next generation of fans.”
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