Comcast-Spectacor is changing a bunch of stuff this summer, and most of it is boring business-to-business crap that will probably make them a bunch of money but that you, the hockey fan, don’t really care about.
In a nutshell, they’re rebranding a bunch of their subsidiary companies — things like Global Spectrum (which runs venues like Wells Fargo Center all over North America), Ovations (an arena concessions company) and Paciolan (their ticketing division) — into one name, Spectra. Yes, that’s a play on the word spectrum.
One of the end results of these changes, however, is a new division that will help create mobile apps for sports teams. Their first project will stay as close to home as physically possible, focusing on the Philadelphia Flyers. Via Sports Business Journal:
Spectra Digital Services, the new technology group, is headed by executive vice president Mike Sheehey, formerly of NBC Sports. His division has 40 software engineers working on project development, starting with the Philadelphia Flyers’ new mobile app, which will make its debut this summer.
So that’s cool. The Flyers have a mobile app today, but … well, it’s pretty terrible. It doesn’t really do much besides toss philadelphiaflyers.com content in a different wrapper, and it’s kind of ugly, too.
There are about a million different things I’d like to see in a new Flyers mobile app, including…
- an interface that feels modern and intuitive, like MLB’s At Bat app
- live streaming of games, via video or audio — obviously this would be tied to NHL GameCenter
- the ability to order concessions to my seat at the arena
- maps of the arena pinpointing my current location and telling me where to find stuff near me — bathrooms, ATMs, where a particular piece of merchandise might be in spot
- the ability to purchase team merchandise inside the app
- better tie-ins with social media (or, really, any tie-ins besides just a little box showing a free recent @NHLFlyers tweets)/
There’s a lot of room for growth with this stuff, and hopefully Comcast-Spectacor delivers this summer.
