Basketball, like any sport, is a shared experience. It isn’t just about watching and playing the game. It’s about imparting this passion to all those who also share the same love for it .
Tonight, the NBA opens a new season filled with compelling storylines abound. Will LeBron James complete a three-peat? Can Derrick Rose return to his former MVP form? When will Kobe Bryant come back from his devastating injury?
All of these stories can be followed all season-long through the surplus of digital and social media platforms available to fans at their fingertips. The accessibility and volume of content out there is unprecedented in today’s second-screen climate. It’s never been easier to be a fan.
Still, nothing beats the memories of actually attending these games in person.
“I had a bucket list of must-see basketball arenas in my head for years. Last fall, I finally put that list on paper; a Google Doc, really. Then I transferred it to a Google Map. But it was still too static and self-serving for my liking. That’s when the proverbial light bulb went off,” says Peter Robert Casey, Co-Founder and Chief Community Officer of Basketball Passport, to SportTechie.
“I canvassed a group of avid game-goers: While many had the desire to document venues they’d like to someday visit, they also expressed interested in tracking where they’ve already been. That compelled me to weave the two concepts together. On February 18 of this year, I e-mailed Kyle Whelliston–a talented web developer and database magician–about the idea, and here we are eight months later,” Casey continues.
That’s the epiphany and initial story of Basketball Passport. This web tool is a direct response to how ticket stubs have become virtually obsolete due to them being digitized. Nobody really saves these tangible documents anymore, which inherently spark fond memories. There’s a ton of sentimental value in collecting these cherished keepsakes.
Basketball Passport enables fans to find and log every NBA and college basketball game they’ve attended with simple search functionality. Through leveraging a comprehensive game database–almost akin to Draftpedia–that dates back to March 26, 1979–the historic date of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’s college showdown–the tool serves as a repository for in-game memories. Fans can share stories and ticket stubs, and upload photos to complement their respective game journeys.
Once fans log their games online, Basketball Passport’s prominent features include: personalized stats that detail number of games attended, arenas seen, best performances witnessed, and each team’s record for games personally attended. Future-oriented fans can easily create and track their arena bucket lists, plan road trips and compete in head-to-head arena challenges. All of this chronicled data can be compared to different years and to other fans.
From a technological standpoint, it was a six-month undertaking by Kyle Whelliston, Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer. In Phase I of the Alpha status, the strategy delved into branding, database build, website build, mobile site build, and social media infrastructure during this past April through June. Phase II ran from June to October, and this time frame focused on user testing, focus groups, and beta testing.
“Kyle makes it look easy, but there was a lot of heavy lifting upfront with the database builds. We’re talking about over 380 teams, 750 venues and 200,000 games, spanning 34 seasons. The challenge was creating an interface that was brutally simple to use. I think he nailed it,” noted Casey.
“His job was a lot harder than mine. He’s the D.J.; I’m the M.C. It’s easier getting people to dance when you’re playing great music.”
And fans will surely be dancing due to the gamification elements that hone everything together. Fans that complete an arena challenge or achieve game-specific accomplishments earn unique digital stamps for their Passport; a fitting validation. Combined with active leaderboards for “Most Games Logged,” Basketball Passport engenders a friendly culture of competition among avid game goers.
While gamifications facets like Mayorships and badges are still present within the Foursquare ecosystem, their Founder, Dennis Crowley, has redirected their emphasis on social discovery and local search. Facebook, in turn, have replaced check-ins with geo-tagging across all posts on its platform. Casey foresees wearable technology as that infrastructure where gamification permeates going forward, specifically those that impel movement and foster competition among their users.
“Basketball Passport was specifically built for fans that break through the TV filter and actually attend games,” Casey mentioned. “It’s what we stand for. While fans will come for the tool, they’ll stay for the community, connection and competition. After all, going to games is a shared experience.”
Basketball Passport represents the future location-based applications, literally and figuratively. This web tool is something that the entire sports marketplace hasn’t experienced since the now defunct ESPN Passport. The competition and in-game activations are boundless and caters to basketball fans everywhere.
Where will your hoops journey take you?