InGameNow Launches Live Scoring, Real-Time Updates

We are very excited to announce the launch of real-time scoring on InGameNow and our InGameNow iPhone Apps. On team and game pages, you will notice real-time alerts of scores. The posts come from the InGameNowAlerts user and include the game's score and timestamp.

You can see an example of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions game (showcasing because it is rather high scoring). You can see another example on a team page: New England Patriots Scores are here.

This is a big step forward for InGameNow - giving fans access to real-time scoring and fan interaction over on the web, the iPhone and instant messaging. We have several new enhancements and features in the works - and, as always, if you have feedback on the current product (specifically the live scoring) we welcome your input.

As I have posted previously, InGameNow has a Sports & Scores API. If you interested in developing against it and working with InGameNow, please contact me!

InGameNow's iPhone Soccer App (New!)

The InGameNow iPhone App is consistently one of the 15 most popular sports Apps in iTunes and on the iPhone. We've released an updated version of the core InGameNow App and based on user feedback, we have two major updates:

- Coming in a couple days: Full, automated live scores and alerts - Live with more coming: League and team specific Apps

... And while real-time scores are a couple days away - our first league specific App is now live: InGameNow's Soccer App launched early this morning for professional soccer - covering both international (Premier League) and US (Major League Soccer / MLS):

InGameNow Soccer App - Real time interaction for soccer fans - Team schedules, alerts and discussions - Ability to set favorite teams and users - App customization

If you're a soccer fan, get the InGameNow Soccer App!

beRecruited Featured on CNN.com, "Get Yourself Recruited"

This morning, beRecruited was featured on CNN.com in a segment called "Get Yourself Recruited." CEO Jeff Cravens talked about the service, our growing user base, and how the current economic environment has made beRecruited more important and relevant than ever.

View it at CNN.com: "The Web site www.beRecruited.com helps young athletes find their own ways to scholarships and college."

Other interesting beRecruited mentions: - Recruiting services help local athletes make it to next level - Mashable: 200+ Tools for Surviving the Economic Crisis - Current Economy, Fall Sports Season Combine for Recruiting Site's Record Growth:

Tough economic times and the fall sports season have collectively contributed to beRecruited's record growth numbers, company executives announced today. In September alone, more than 25,000 new athletes registered with the service, a 211% increase from last September. beRecruited also noted record-growth with newly registered college coaches and parents, as well as connections made between athletes and coaches. beRecruited is the largest free online network connecting high school athletes and collegiate coaches, facilitating thousands of scholarships annually.

"The country's financial turbulence has parents looking for alternatives while facing the high costs of education and the situation with the lending industry," said Jeff Cravens, president of beRecruited.com. "We typically see growth during late summer and fall, with athletes readying themselves for their season. But as families are examining how they are spending their hard-earned money, I believe they are finding beRecruited is by far the most effective recruiting solution available."

"As a parent you can spend thousands of dollars traveling to tournaments and camps trying to get your child noticed by college coaches, in hopes of landing a scholarship," said Liz Houser, a parent of a successfully recruited beRecruited user. "We learned about beRecruited and decided to give it a try. For a one-time investment of $40, our return was Matt's baseball scholarship, which saved us thousands in educational costs. And Matt gets to play the sport he loves. I recommend beRecruited to any parent with a serious athlete."

InGameNow App Officially Live in iTunes: Go Install!

The InGameNow App officially went live in iTunes just seconds after the Red Sox lost to the Tampa Bay Rays (so I got some joy out of the night!). I invite you to visit iTunes (or search for "ingamenow" via the App Store on your iPhone), install the app and use it. I'd also love to get any and all feedback!

Core components of the app:

- Live integration with InGameNow: seamless posting and pulling - Automatic scores / posts updates - Dashboard of games that are “InGameNow” (screen shot below) - Full schedule and browse accessibility by league and team - Ability to set and monitor favorite teams

Live screenshots:

Get the InGameNow
iPhone Sports App

Widgetbox and Yardbarker Release Yardbarker Network Widget

When Widgetbox launched its Widgetbox Blog Network, we announced Yardbarker as our partner and exclusive blog network. I've worked with Yardbarker closely with beRecruited and InGameNow - in fact, Anette joined the Yardbarker team a few months ago. Yardbarker now has over 650 blogs in their Yardbarker Network (YBN) and the new YBN Widget dynamically features content across their network. The widget is configurable based on league and team. For instance, you can choose Top Headlines (shown below) or a Red Sox specific widget (we intentionally disable the Yankees widget... joking).

Widgetbox is working with other partners to create similar widgets and networks based on their current audiences, publishers and/or websites. If you operate a series of blogs - Widgetbox can help connect them through a similar, branded widget. Likewise, if you have a network of users / publishers, we can work with you to connect their content, grow their traffic and monetize your widgets. Please contact me directly if you are interested in working with Widgetbox:

More All Sports Articles

InGameNow iPhone App Ready for Beta Testing!

We've been hard at work on the InGameNow iPhone Application and got great assistance from a collection of beta testers. We have just released the 99% complete first version of the app (a couple changes coming) and are ready for full beta testing. So if you are an avid sports fan and an iPhone user, please email me directly for beta access. The application should be available in iTunes shortly (knock on wood).

Core components of the app:

- Live integration with InGameNow: seamless posting and pulling - Automatic scores / posts updates - Dashboard of games that are "InGameNow" (screen shot below) - Full schedule and browse accessibility by league and team - Ability to set and monitor favorite teams

InGameNow Sports iPhone App Coming - Beta Testers?

We are very close to making a public launch of the InGameNow iPhone App - delivering real-time scores, news and interaction to your iPhone. If you are a sports fan and an avid iPhone user - we'd love to have you beta test the InGameNow App before it officially hits iTunes.

Please email me directly or leave a comment if you are interested in beta testing the App. Here's a screenshot to whet your appetite:

The other exciting news is InGameNow's growth - which is marching towards 200,000 monthly uniques. We believe that the iPhone App will significantly change the way that fans are able to stay connected on multiple devices: computer, mobile and chat.

InGameNow Launches New Version in Time for NFL Opening Day

Late last night, InGameNow launched a new version of the site in time for today's NFL opening day (and Tom Brady's torn ACL....). There are several exciting and prominent features:

New Sports If football isn't your passion (or you've given up since Tom Brady is no longer playing), InGameNow has launched in five new sports: Golf, MMA, Nascar, Soccer and Tennis. From Chuck Liddell to Roger Federer – we have you covered.

Upgraded InGameNow Blog The InGameNow Blog has become one of the most visited sports blogs on the web. We've released a new version that is fully integrated into the InGameNow experience and will feature the latest and best posts – showcasing your content to 100,000s of viewers.

Full API We have released an InGameNow Sports API capable of powering communities, widgets, applications, etc. If you are interested in partnering with us and using the API, please contact me.

Reply Functions You'll notice that we've added reply buttons prominently throughout the site. Pressing reply will enable you to chime in to any conversation – whether it's a rival or a fellow fan.

Team Widgets Have your own blog or website? We have over 1,000 widgets from you to choose from that deliver the latest scores and news directly to your blog. Just pick your favorite team or league, and grab the widget code – everything else happens dynamically! Learn more here

iPhone and Blackberry Integration InGameNow.com has been optimized for the iPhone and Blackberry. You can either visit the site directly to interact and get live scores – or you can set up your account to receive alerts via GTalk and AOL Instant Messanger (AIM). Both are great ways to stay atop of the sporting world while on the go.

MLB Releases At Bat v1.2 for iPhone - It's Awesome

I've said for a while now that MLB understands the web more than the NBA, NFL and NHL combined. The MLB At Bat iPhone App was announced at the iPhone's launch and it's been a hit since. Today, they released version 1.2 and it's a huge upgrade. The app used to reflect the game's score, number of outs and pitch count (with long delays) - and there was a video archive of "top plays" that arrived a few minutes after happening in the respective ballparks.

The new version now has a few more features (most shown below):

- Gameday: it's essentially ESPN's Gamecast on your phone. Full pitch details (as it happens) with location, count, mph, etc. Amazing. - Field: shows the ballpark's layout, defensive assignments and who is on base. - Boxscore: full boxscore optimized for the iPhone. - Summary: all scoring plays and a full inning-by-inning archive of every play. - Videos: now features a count on the main screen that updates when new videos are loaded. The video quality seems to be slightly better now (but I have no evidence of this being factual!).