PLANO, Texas – Big Ten college hoops fans nationwide get an ultimate boost on their mobile device from Learfield Sports with the introduction of “Big Ten Connect” – the first-of-its-kind mobile app for the Big Ten Conference and believed to be the first ever standalone conference tournament app.
Big Ten Connect – a Learfield Sports Digital product – designed to enhance the fan experience during the 2013 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, March 14-17 – is now available for Android and iPhone smartphones. The app features live radio broadcasts of every game during the Tournament; live game scores and stats; plus unique video including fan reactions, interviews and behind-the scenes footage.
Big Ten Connect, offered in cooperation with smartphone leader LG Electronics USA, also offers fans complete access to ongoing Tournament Twitter coverage; photo galleries of games and other related action; and updated Tournament schedule. The app is $.99, available for download on iTunes App Store and Google Play. Fans can learn more by following @BigTenConnect on Twitter.
“We have no doubt that Big Ten Connect will be a huge hit and are excited to deliver a second-screen experience that will allow fans to follow and connect with all the action of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament – right from their mobile phone anywhere in the country,” said Joe Ferreira, Learfield Sports’ chief content officer directing all digital initiatives for the company. “We’re proud to have a long-standing relationship with the Big Ten Conference and eight of its member institutions, and are thrilled to partner with them in this innovative product launch – for them and for us.”
Learfield Sports has shared an exclusive partnership with the Big Ten Conference since 2008 and is the athletics multimedia rights holder to member schools Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, PennState and Wisconsin.
Big Ten Connect marks the first product launch by Learfield Sports Digital featuring live streaming radio broadcasts from Compass Media Networks, with help from NeuLion on the application development.
“Clearly Big Ten fans are some of the most passionate and dedicated in all of college sports, and the conference is thrilled to have a tool like this specific to the tournament to add an extra layer of engagement between fans and their favorite teams,” said Big Ten Sports Properties’ General Manager Scott Bailey.
The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in student-athletes’ lives and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness. The broad-based athletic programs of the 12 Big Ten institutions sponsor 298 teams competing for championships in 25 official conference sports, 12 for men and 13 for women. Big Ten universities provide in excess of $136 million in athletic scholarship aid to more than 8,200 men and women student-athletes, the most of any conference. For more information, visit www.bigten.org.
Learfield Sports, which manages multimedia rights for more than 50 collegiate institutions and associations, also titles the prestigious Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. The company’s multimedia rights encompass numerous content distribution platforms to deliver the passion of college athletics across radio, television and digital networks to fans globally. Learfield Sports’ exclusive sports programming reaches more than 50 million television households nationally and delivers nearly 17,000 hours of radio programming on more than 1,000 radio stations. To learn more about the company, its collegiate portfolio and 40-year history, visit www.learfieldsports.com.
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