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As smartphone technology moves from luxury convenience to commonplace, sports leagues are using social networking to engage, and track where fans are going. The advent of “check-ins” via Facebook and Foursquare is being integrated directly into mobile apps such as MLB.com’s At Bat.

So, the inforgraph above (click to see in full view) from sports social media tracker Kwarter (download the app here on iTunes), is a great look at the differing metrics across the leagues.

For example, MLB has the smallest follower base, but the highest number of check-ins, a sign that baseball has a high mobile base tapping into At Bat, Apple’s highest-grossing app on iTunes. Meanwhile, the NBA smashes all-comers in terms of followers. Top followed athlete? Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal.

Other info provided from Kwarter:

• Stadiums and arenas rank as the second most checked in locations on Foursquare
• AT&T Park in San Francisco is most checked in to venue on Foursquare and FB
• 81% of fans agree that sports viewing should be more interactive
• The NBA’s 13.4M fans on FB and Twitter is more than the NFL, MLB, and NHL combined
• 68% of fans agree that they do not feel acknowledged or rewarded for their support
• 86% of mobile device users are using their device while watching television

Check the graphic for more details.

OTHER NEWS ACROSS THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK:

• NBA Cancels First Two Weeks of Regular Season, No Immediate Talks Scheduled (The Biz of Basketball)
• Why the 50-50 Split of BRI Isn’t Set in Stone in NBA Negotiations, Revenue-Sharing and More (The Biz of Basketball)
• Kobritz: Hank Williams, Jr. Contracts Hoof in Mouth Disease (The Biz of Football)
• NHL Making Great In-Roads with Games in Sweden (The Biz of Hockey)

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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This screengrab from the latest At Bat 11 upgrade shows in details the new graphics for GameDay, thus moving the old "stick man" to the pages of history.

MLB.com pulled has pulled out the stops as the 2011 Major League Baseball season hits the home stretch with a bevy of upgrades to its popular “At Bat 11” app for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. The upgrade is not yet available for Apple iPad. The upgrades – the biggest in-season adds, ever for At Bat –include new Gameday interface with realistic ballpark images, expanded Check-in from At The Ballpark section to include check-in to live games from any location and share on social media outlet, Foursquare, as well as new, complete Team and Player stats section, including league leaders and new Game Wraps which include embedded media.

The upgrade is free through Apple iTunes.

At Bat was Apple’s top-grossing application on iTunes last year, pacing ahead of apps such as Angry Birds.

Screenshots of the new additions are below:

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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At Bat, but isn't.... The new free app for iPhone allows you to track Minor League Baseball, albeit without streaming video or audio.

For baseball fans on the go, one of the coolest apps for Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad has been MLB.com's At Bat. While other platforms are serviced for the the app that allows you to track games in MLB, the Apple platform has been its most successful.

But, what about those that want to keep track of Minor League Baseball? They have been left wanting.... until today.

Minor League Baseball announced today that MiLB.com and its network of league and club web sites have set records across nearly all of its general traffic metrics, highlighted by the two single highest months in the digital network’s history during June and July. In addition, the first-ever official MiLB mobile application developed exclusively for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch, Triple-A from MiLB.com, is available beginning today. For those that have At Bat 11 for MLB, the key difference will be that the free MiLB app does not have streaming video or audio, the key drawing points for At Bat.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/milb.com-triple-a/id453236124?mt=8

“We are very encouraged by high traffic volume that our network is drawing,” said Art Matin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Baseball Internet Rights Company (BIRCO), the wholly-owned subsidiary under which Minor League Baseball centralized the digital rights of its leagues and clubs.  “It is reflective of the high degree of interest in Minor League Baseball and the content-rich nature of our various team and league sites.  Equally exciting are the results in our video highlight and live game streaming products.  Also, more and more fans are interacting with our network through a variety of mobile devices, an experience further extended by the introduction of MiLB.com’s first official mobile application for iPhone.  We’re thrilled that our fans are embracing our network and doing so through multiple interfaces.”

“Minor League Baseball is very proud of our latest numbers and the consistent growth of our digital assets,” said Pat O’Conner, President of Minor League Baseball.  “Our clubs and executives are effectively using our digital platform to reach our legions of fans.  We’re pleased with the success and progress of our network of web sites under the guidance of Major League Baseball Advanced Media.”

The Triple-A app, developed and powered by MLB Advanced Media (who developed At Bat for MLB games), features up-to-the-moment action from across the Pacific Coast and International Leagues, including the individual league postseasons and the annual Triple-A Baseball National Championship which will be played on Tuesday, September 20, 2011. The app enables fans to follow their favorite MLB club’s top Minor League affiliate and prospects with comprehensive coverage of every game, highlighted by live pitch-by-pitch tracking, league-wide scores and stats, breaking news and the option to customize the home screen for any Triple-A team. Triple-A is available free-of-charge from the App Store on iPhone or iPod touch, or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

Record Traffic Across MiLB.com Digital Network Properties

For two consecutive months, MiLB.com and its network of league and club web sites have set records across nearly all of its general traffic metrics, including the single largest month in the digital network’s history with 14.2 million visitors and 72.4 million page views during July 2011. This mark topped the records set just the previous month (June 2011) of 13.5 million visitors and 68.4 million page views.

Among the traffic records established at MiLB.com during the first four months of the season (April – July) include:

• The MiLB.com digital network averaged 12.9 million visitors per month, representing an increase of 15 percent from 2010 (11.2 million), highlighted by its two single-highest visited months ever in June and July with 27.7 million visitors combined.
• The MiLB.com digital network has averaged 65.0 million page views per month this year, 9% higher than the comparable 2010 average.
• Thanks to its two single-largest months ever (140.8 million page views in June and July combined), the MiLB.com digital network surpassed 275 million page views before August 1 for the first time ever.
• The MiLB.com digital network’s mobile-optimized web sites have totaled nearly 40 million page views across all Internet-enabled devices, a 193% increase from the 2010 season’s first four months, and surpassed 10 million mobile page views in a single month for the first time in June 2011.
• The MiLB.com digital network delivered over one million video streams, with over 20,000 subscribers signed up for its live game video streaming product, MiLB.TV, a more than 200% increase in sales over the comparable time period in 2010.

About BIRCO

Baseball Internet Rights Company (BIRCO) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL), d.b.a. as Minor League Baseball, that was formed in December 2008 to manage the digital and interactive media rights for Minor League Baseball clubs and leagues across the United States and Canada. MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, is the exclusive provider of interactive media services, including web development, online ticketing, content, and advertising and sponsorship for the official sites of Minor League Baseball (MiLB.com), 14 domestic MiLB leagues and 155 Minor League clubs per a 2008 partnership agreement with BIRCO. MLBAM has integrated an array of features to the network of MiLB sites since its initial launch in April 2005, highlighted by live full-game video streaming and on-demand highlights, up-to-the-moment scoreboards and statistics, Minor League Beat the Streak fantasy baseball game, mobile websites, and comprehensive editorial coverage of Minor League All-Star Games and Playoffs. The MiLB network of team and league sites annually attract more than 60 million baseball fans.

Source: MiLB, MLBAM

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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Verizon Wireless and the Boston Red Sox today announced the completion of a new Verizon Distributed Antenna System (DAS) designed to greatly improve the mobile device reception for fans inside Fenway Park and for residents in the surrounding Fenway neighborhood. The Verizon DAS is a network of antennas that deliver wireless service within a geographical area or large building where steel and concrete interfere with wireless signals.

The infrastructure for the new antennae system separates into 18 different sectors throughout the ballpark and was built and installed by Verizon Wireless, the official wireless provider of the Boston Red Sox. The system also incorporates other service providers onto one platform offering improved service for mobile devices using other carriers.

“Handheld technology is really changing the in-park fan experience,” said Red Sox Executive Vice President/Business Affairs Jonathan Gilula. “This new system not only enhances reception inside Fenway Park, it also helps us meet both the current demands of our fans from a mobile technology standpoint and sets us up with the proper infrastructure to meet their future needs.”

New System, Old Challenges

The nearly year-long project to install the Verizon DAS system faced some unique challenges in the 1912 ballpark. In fact, the project would not have been possible without the improvements that were made over the past decade, which included building the cable tray infrastructure that now houses the miles of cable connecting the 300 plus antennas driving the system. In addition to housing the unseen parts of the wiring system, additional attention also needed to be paid to areas where the antennas would be visible.

“Marrying Fenway Park’s old charm with modern conveniences and amenities has been an ongoing effort for the last decade, but sometimes the realities of a 99 year-old ballpark can pose some unique challenges,” said Gilula. “We worked closely with the Massachusetts Historical Commission to ensure that the antennas complied with historical standards and that from an aesthetic standpoint, they did not interfere with the look and feel of the ballpark.”

Enhanced Social Media Experience

To celebrate the upgrades, during today’s game the Red Sox will conduct a number of new social media contests as well as expand on some old favorites, including:

• Play Ball – Prior to the game, the team will host a Twitter contest where the winner will get to announce “the words we all love to hear” on the field during the pregame ceremony
• Fan Photos – Fans will be encouraged to submit photos to the Red Sox on Twitter during the game. Several photos will be selected and featured on the video board during inning breaks
• 20th Check In – Every 20th person to ‘check in’ using MLB’s At Bat app on a mobile device will win a free Red Sox At Bat t-shirt which can be collected at the Red Sox Nation booth in the Gate B concourse
• Tweet Your Seat – A special, expanded edition of the Red Sox classic ‘Tweet Your Seat’ will happen on Saturday, with fans Tweeting their seat locations using the hashtag #tweetyourseat at Fenway Park for the chance to win prizes

The Red Sox will continue for the rest of the season to conduct live Twitter Player Q&A’s, which launched on July 9 with Red Sox outfielder Darnell McDonald. Yesterday, Daniel Bard joined McDonald as the latest player to respond to fan questions during a live Twitter Q&A session with fans on @RedSox using the hashtag #AsktheSox. Bard’s live Q&A session is available for fans to read on redsox.com/askthesox.

“Engaging with our fans using multiple platforms during the second half of the 2011 season is a major focus and interacting with them via social media while they’re at the ballpark is a critical piece of that effort,” said Red Sox Director of Information Technology Steve Conley, who worked closely with Verizon on this project. “This upgraded system not only brings greater convenience to our fans, it also removes a significant barrier for those using social media in-park.”

Fans interested in learning more about the Red Sox social media initiatives can visit redsox.com/connect

Source: Boston Red Sox

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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It’s becoming a tradition for baseball fans on the go… Waiting for the release of MLB.com’s popular “At Bat” application for mobile devices.

That day has arrived.

MLB.com has announced that “At Bat 11” has been released. With the early release, it deliver a special free preview of MLB.TV live streaming video for At Bat 11 on Apple devices starting Saturday, February 26 (Android streaming to come Opening Day). At Bat 11, which is available now for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android and BlackBerry, also introduces a new favorite Club home screen customization functionality for select devices (See selected screenshots below)

With Opening Day just five weeks away, At Bat 11 will deliver additional updates prior to the regular season, including brand new features, offers and functionalities.

Spring Training 2011

MLB.com At Bat 11across each of these platforms will offer coverage of approx. 150 Grapefruit and Cactus League games, including every available radio feed and in progress statistical data. Among the At Bat 11 features available for Spring Training are:

• Customize home screen to feature a designated favorite team (iPhone, iPod touch, Android only).

• Watch live streaming of about 150 available Spring Training games with a special mobile free preview of MLB.TV (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad only).

• Listen to available radio broadcasts of Spring Training games

• Follow league-wide scoreboards and batter-by-batter action for every Spring Training game

• Enhanced video library archive, searchable by player or team

• Breaking news, schedules and interactive rosters and players stats for every team

• Full-season schedule calendars

MLB.com At Bat 11 is available to subscribers for a one-time fee of $14.99 for the entire 2011 season. For more information, visit MLB.com.

Just how popular is the mobile application? At Bat 11 launched last night at midnight. In less than 7 hours (during the middle of the night) the app has hit #1 in sports and quickly is making its way up the overall charts, #37 (iPhone) and #36 (iPad).

Images Courtesy of MLB.com

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, as well as a contributor to FanGraphs and Forbes SportsMoney. He is available for hire or freelance. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.

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