Sunday, February 2, 2014

All You Need to Know about the NFL and iBeacons

Apple App Store
The NFL updated the NFL Mobile iPhone app with iBeacon functionality on Jan 24, 2014 to enable micro location based notifications & alerts at the Stadium & Times Square Midtown Manhattan where Qualcomm's Gimbal iBeacons transmitters were installed throughout. The goal is to serve up personalized notifications and alerts (e.g., nearest entry gate or promoting in-store sales) to people through their iPhone's NFL app during the Super Bowl. And in Times Square, the iBeacons can tell users where to buy a jersey for their favorite team or where to have a picture taken with the Trophy. We have also heard about this potential implementation: iBeacons will detect when user is standing in a line at the game for a long time, the user will get an alert telling him where in the stadium he can buy the same item but with shorter lines! The user needs to have the NFL app installed on their iPhone and have Bluetooth turned on; user will get pop up messages with ads, offers to buy merchandise and information about NFL exhibits.  It does not seem the NFL Mobile app on Android (which has over 10M downloads) has been iBeacons/BLE enabled.

NFL iPhone App Updates
iBeacon Transmitters in Times Square & Midtown NYC
NFL iPhone App iBeacon Message