Last week, CNBC’s Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell reported on the revolutionary new iPhone app and online game tracker, GameChanger. Launched in January, GameChanger gives users the ability to follow any type of baseball or softball game live, whether its your hometown high school team or your son’s little league squad. Using the GameChanger scorekeeper app, a team representative uploads all the game statistics through a consumer-friendly interface. Those live game stats are then filtered to the GameChanger server where users can watch live via their own iPhone or a simple web browser. Ultimately, any team can set up an account for free and begin streaming their game updates immediately.
“We’ll have everything you see at the major league level, immediate calculations of batting average and on-base percentage. We’ll also have advanced post-game and full season stats,” co-founder Ken Sullivan told CNBC. “If your stuck on Wall Street and you can’t get to your kid’s game, it’s like a savior. It doesn’t replace being at the game of course, but it’s nice when you can get a text alert to your phone saying that your kid is standing on second base, having just hit a double.”
GameChanger is designed by Fungo Media, Inc. and is led by Sullivan, who played briefly in the Cleveland Indian’s minor league system and went on to receive an MBA from Harvard University. The technology has been featured in Gizmodo, PCWorld, The Los Angeles Times, Forbes, and Mediaweek, and also won the 2010 Best in Show award from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). Currently, all aspects of GameChanger are free, but Rovell reports that a premium statistics tracker will be available soon, costing between $8-$12 per month.
GameChanger exemplifies the potential of the new media industry. The increase and advancement of technology won’t just be seen on the collegiate and professional levels. Its true impact will be found in the home, on the personal laptop, and now in the dugout of the community field.
This is pretty sick. I’m curious as to how accurate the data will be for some games and the delay for reporting. I’m sure little league and high schools aren’t going to pay people to report quickly and accurately so that might be an issue.
The nice thing is that I can finally track all 14 of my illegitimate kids’ games while at school.
“If your stuck on Wall Street and you can’t get to your kid’s game, it’s like a savior.”
Yikes.