Sports Technology & Communications News from Around the World

SportStream, which develops social second-screen experiences for sports fans, has launched a new platform for teams, leagues, TV, media companies and others to create and manage tailored social media experiences in any digital environment, from Websites and apps to digital displays inside stadiums.

Dubbed SportsBase, the customizable builder enables partners to harness the social conversation around any sporting event and deliver multiple, custom "social streams" with relevant Twitter, Facebook (News - Alert), Instagram posts and other content for fans.

"Sports is a social activity, and fan behavior proves this with 83 percent of sports fans checking social media during games,” said Bob Morgan, CEO and co-founder of SportStream. “The second screen's role in sports is becoming obvious and SportsBase empowers partners to deliver an elegant, digestible fan experience that's cutting-edge and complements a broader approach to fan engagement."

He added,, "For the first time, fans can visit one location for all the relevant social content from official team accounts, plus lively game time commentary from a wide range of national sports personalities, TV and radio commentators, local beat writers, friends and other fans.”

Some customers piloted a beta of SportsBase. They included DirecTV's (News - Alert) Root Sports, Ask.com, Liverpool FC, Michigan Wolverines, Florida Gators, Nebraska Huskers, Auburn Tigers, Oregon Ducks, Georgetown Hoyas, Miami Hurricanes, Seattle Seahawks and Phoenix Coyotes.

SportsBase can be modified with a set of tools to create and manage a social media fan experience, including a managed "whitelist" of social media accounts associated with a club (e.g. major media, local media, bloggers, players and celebrities); detailed social media account profiles for every team, coach, staff member, player, media member and others in supported sports; and a constantly updated database of common hashtags and terms associated with teams, leagues and players.

Users can also customize and tune multiple social streams. Moreover, social media activity monitoring and visualizations are included to help brands understand and recap key moments of every game and identify the associated tweets and plays from those moments.

Data from SportsBase can be delivered via an API or as HTML to be embedded in partner pages and apps.