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Tag: Super Bowl XLVI

  • Shazam Increases Super Bowl Viewer Engagement

    Thanks to Shazam’s media discovery app, viewer engagement with this year’s Super Bowl hit record levels. For this years Super Bowl Shazam partnered with numerous advertisers to drive user interaction with all aspects of the game.

    Viewers with the Shazam app installed on their smartphone or tablet could use it during ads, the halftime show, and even the game to interact in a variety of ways. Advertisers allowed viewers to use Shazam to enter sweepstakes, unlock exclusive content, and even donate to charity. During the game they could use Shazam to view real-time statistics, participate in polls, and vote for their favorite ads. For the halftime show, the app allowed users to access Madonna’s set list, participate in a music giveaway, and download music and apps from all the artists featured in the show.

    Andrew Fisher, CEO of Shazam, said that the level of fan engagement surpassed their already high expectations, as Shazam logged millions of tags during the game. Fisher said that Shazam’s “mission is to amaze and enhance people’s world by empowering them to discover, experience, and share the content they want.” He also said that Shazam is “delighted with the response to using Shazam for an enhanced experience at this year’s Big Game.” Given the success that Shazam enjoyed during the game this year, we can probably expect to see similar programs in the future, perhaps with a wide variety of television events, sporting and otherwise.

    What do you think? Did you use Shazam during the Super Bowl this year? What did you think of the experience? Let us know in the comments.

  • Super Bowl XLVI Gets An App For iPhone, Android

    The NFL has released an app created for those lucky enough to have tickets to Sunday’s Super Bowl. The app, SB XLVI Guide, includes a wide array of useful features for those going to the big game. It includes a driving map of the area around Lucas Oil Stadium, including street directions, road blocks, and closures.

    Driving Map Of Indianapolis

    The app also includes data about Lucas Oil Stadium itself, including restroom and vending locations, as well as a seating chart to help you get to where you need to go once you get in.

    Inside Lucas Oil Stadium

    For those not at the game – or for those who are and want to see what viewers at home are seeing – the app also gives you the option of watching a live stream of the game.

    The app is free in both the iOS App Store and the Android App Market. The iOS version is a universal app, compatible with both the iPad and the iPhone/iPod Touch. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments.

  • Super Bowl XLVI Gets Full-Body Scanners

    Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis looks to be the most secure yet. Security preparations have been underway for some time now, and look to be nearly ready. Some of the measure in place include a text message number provided by the NFL so game-goers can report suspicious or inappropriate activity, a network of security cameras throughout the stadium, and a much more intense screening process for people trying to get into the game.

    That last detail is causing a bit of controversy, it seems. In addition to heavily restricting what people can bring into the stadium with them, security personnel have also installed full-body scanners at entrances to the stadium. Matt Touchette, a reporter for WPRI in Indianapolis, wrote a brief blog post about his experience of some of the preparations being made in the city and the stadium for Sunday’s big game. Tucked away in that post is the fact that getting into the stadium required going “through intense security which included full body scanners.”

    These scanners have created considerable controversy over their use at airports. In addition to constitutional and privacy concerns, there have also been a concerns about the health risks posed by the devices. The scanners use backscatter x-ray technology to look through the clothes of people they scan. While potentially useful for discovering certain kinds of contraband material, x-rays are ionizing (i.e., cancer-causing) radiation. Unlike x-ray machines in medical facilities, though, those used by the TSA are not under the supervision of the FDA.

    What do you think? Would full body scanners keep you from going to the Super Bowl if you had tickets? Sound off in the comments.

  • Verizon Boosts Wi-Fi Service, 4G LTE In Indianapolis For Super Bowl Fans

    Verizon Boosts Wi-Fi Service, 4G LTE In Indianapolis For Super Bowl Fans

    Indianapolis, you are about to have the best wireless service in the world and it’s all thanks to your dubious distinction as host to Super Bowl XLVI.

    AT&T has already upped their service in anticipation of the 150,000 Super Bowl attendees that will swarm Indianapolis this Sunday. Now, Verizon has released a statement announcing that its making improvements to their 4G LTE network as well as making wi-fi available for all wireless users.

    The statement notes that this will be the first Super Bowl where 4G LTE technology is available for users of smartphones and tablets, which the wireless companies expect fans to use with near-compulsive rates while watching the game. Verizon, who is the official wireless provider of the NFL, has also enhanced its network at more than 30 venues in Indianpolis so that customers will hopefully not encounter any connectivity issues while trying to multitask with social media before, during, and after the game.

    The nice thing about the wi-fi enhancement is that it’s going to be available to everyone – not just Verizon customers (Wink, wink, AT&T subscribers and remember who took care of you at the Super Bowl). I imagine there will be so much wireless activity arising from Indianapolis this weekend that you’ll probably be able to see the city glowing from space.

    All of this effort by wireless companies to ensure that there is as little drag as possible with connecting people and/or websites produces in me a question of obsolescence: remember when people went to sporting events and… I dunno, just watched the game? How boring, y’know?

  • The Super Bowl XLVI Social Hub Wants To Help You Find Parking

    Even if it takes a mile of ethernet cable and twenty people working rotating shift fifteen hours a day, the Super Bowl command center is going to find you a parking space, by God.

    Rowdy NY Giants fans and overly confident New England Patriot fans, plus many in between, will flock to Indianapolis in the coming weeks for Super Bowl XLVI. Since the city is expecting an influx of around 150,000 people, you have to expect that there will be some problems. Can’t find my hotel, got a flat tire, where should I eat dinner – these are all problems that might be able to be solved by the Super Bowl’s first-ever Social Media command center.

    The Indianapolis Super Bowl host committee tapped marketing agency Raidous to help with the new service. Twenty people are gathering inside a 2,800 square foot hub in downtown Indianapolis to help Super Bowl attendees in whatever way they can.

    Their job is to monitor the social airwaves – that means Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. – looking for fans in need. Keywords in tweets like “parking” or “restaurant” will alert the team, and they can then offer the relevant assistance. So if someone tweets “parking in this town blows,” the team will tweet at them will any help they can provide.

    “Social media is just how people interact now,” Taulbee Jackson, CEO of Raidious told Mashable. “We felt it was critical to have some horsepower behind that aspect of the Super Bowl here, versus what you might have seen from other Super Bowls.”

    This is the first time anything involving this kind of large-scale social media monitoring has been tried at a major event, and researchers have already been tapped to study the social media center and evaluate its efficacy.

    There will be a lot of social data to mine through, so hopefully the tool and analytics are up to the task. People posting on Twitter will probably have the best chance of getting a response, due to the public nature of tweets. One thing that will help all of this is the fact that AT&T has improved its service for the Indianapolis area ahead of the big game.

    What do you think about this concept? Could it actually make the Super Bowl experience smoother for both fans and the city involved? Let us know in the comments.