App Gives Diehards the Ultimate Fan Perks

Saturday, October 17, 2015

H. E. James of GoLocalPDX partner site Oregon Sports News

Have you ever wanted to sit on the bench with the Harlem Globetrotters? Or thought at the last minute that you’d like to upgrade your seats for that date night game you had planned? Now you can. Atlanta-based company Experience launched the ExpApp in 2012.

The startup has partnered with more than 250 sports, live events, and entertainment properties throughout the world. Properties, like Major League Baseball, are given a bespoke website from which fans can download an upgrade app. The apps work if you have tickets for one event or are a season ticket holder.

For the Seahawk in All of Us

Typically Pacific Northwest sports fans like you and me get the short end of the stick when it comes to perks like this, but Washington and Oregon teams were some of the first to work with Experience. In 2013, the Seattle Seahawks were the third of 13 National League Football teams to partner with ExpApp. Visiting the Seahawks’ ExpApp site gives ticketholders the opportunity to choose a game, register for the app, and sends a text message to your phone to download the Seahawks’ app.

Once you’ve made it to the Seahawks’ site, you can browse the upgrades available for your chosen gameday. Upgrades typically become available for the nearest date on the game calendar. For the October 18th game against the Carolina Panthers, upgrades included a chance to go to the postgame press conference and pregame sideline passes with a photo, which are auction opportunities. You can also purchase upgrades to kick five field goals after the game or take your group of four to midfield for a photo.

Ballpark Yourself

If you’re a baseball fan, the MLB has its own app: Ballpark. Not only can you access the Seattle Mariners, you can find fan experiences for 20 more of your favorite teams. You can purchase gameday tickets, then access gameday upgrades. When visiting Safeco next season, you just have to log in, buy tickets, then hit the upgrades button in the app.

The app also contains ballpark guides, including a map of the field, a family guide, and directions for getting to the park. There’s even a guide to the Mariners’ Fan Appreciation fireworks.

Ducks Are On It

Oregon Ducks fans have been able to take advantage of ExpApp perks since nearly the beginning of the app. In August of 2013, the football program began offering upgrades to its ticket holders. The family experience nature of the app came into play for one season ticket holder, who wrote that the upgrades made it possible for his entire family to enjoy a Ducks game. “I was given two extra tickets to a game giving us 4 tickets, but not together. We used ExpApp not only to upgrade but to get us 4 seats together,” said Ducks fan Justin KeeLand.

The Ducks basketball program just debuted a new fan experience for its season ticket holders that pays tribute to its favorite former walk-on, Nick Lucenti. The Lucenti Experience Pass, of which there are just 111 available, can be purchased in groups of up to four at $99 each. The best part of holding one of these passes is that until game day, you never know where you’ll be sitting.

Even if you don’t pick an upgrade package that includes photos, you can still make your own digital memories through photo sharing fun. In MLB Ballpark, you can super-impose frames around your photos before uploading them. Were you worried those Globetrotters bench seats were just another one of the famous team’s gags? They’re not. The team will be making stops in the Pacific Northwest in early 2016.

For More than Just Sports

If your favorite sport is more of the headbanging variety, you can use Live Nation to purchase event tickets and ExpApp to upgrade your seats. You can also refer your friends to your upgrade app and get experience credits.

Going to Vegas and want upgrades at Caesar’s Palace? ExpApp can do that, too. It’s even made its way to the Calgary Stampede.

The best way to find an ExpApp for your favorite team is to investigate your team’s website or dig through Experience’s blog. Each app is created for the team, event, or league, so just logging into your App Store or Google Play may not get you there. The L.A. Clippers have an app just like Ballpark, which also integrates with MLB At Bat. For the most part, however, fan experiences can be done through teams’ sites.

As football and basketball seasons swing into high gear, now is the time to see what’s available for the diehards out there. Or start asking your favorite team to look into if they don’t have ExpApp yet!

GoLocalPDX partner Oregon Sports News: Since 2011, Oregon Sports News has provided entertaining, hard-hitting local sports news & commentary every weekday. To read more from this author, check out Oregon Sports News by clicking here.

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