SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Southern Conference has announced a partnership with PlayUp for the upcoming men's and women's conference basketball tournaments. PlayUp is the first social network app exclusively for sports fans, socializers and gamers.
Through PlayUp, for the first time in conference tournament history, fans will be able to break down all of the action with their counterparts from around the world, who all share a common bond over basketball and their fandom of the participating teams. PlayUp provides a unique opportunity for conferences and sports properties alike to extend their reach to fans through its' distinct mobile platform. While chatting about the tournament action, fans will simultaneously partake in in-app contests where prizes will be awarded based on user participation and distinctive content.
"I am thrilled that PlayUp has been selected as the fan engagement partner during the most exciting time of the year for college basketball - and all of sports. Conference tournaments showcase high-level basketball, and we are looking forward to bringing the fan experience closer to the court," said Dennis Lee, PlayUp USA CEO. "These conferences, by partnering with PlayUp, continue to push the envelope to innovate and drive fan engagement through our mobile platform. As social media further integrates itself within the sports world, athletes, teams, conferences and brands will be pursuing opportunities to best reach fans in this capacity."
The Southern Conference tournament runs from March 2 - 5 and will be played at the Asheville Civic Center and Kimmel Arena, the home of the UNCA Bulldogs. "This is a mobile app that we think will be very popular with our fan base," said Southern Conference Commissioner John Iamarino. "PlayUp has a proven track record of success in other sports and the SoCon is pleased to be among their first clients in college basketball."
PlayUp reached its first partnership in the college space back in January, becoming the Official Fan Engagement Partner of Fordham University Athletics. This was also the first fan engagement partnership for any university. In addition to PlayUp's collegiate partnerships, it also teamed up with NFL Stars Steven Jackson of the St. Louis Rams and Stevie Johnson of the Buffalo Bills surrounding Super Bowl XLVI.
PlayUp launched in October 2011 and enables sports fans to follow their choice of more than 30,000 live games while simultaneously discussing the action with fellow fans on their mobile devices. The free app includes real-time scoring and stats, along with the option to create private rooms to discuss the action with friends or join public rooms to interact with fans from around the world - play by play and pitch by pitch for every NFL, college football and basketball, NHL, NBA, MLB, and MLS game, as well as a variety of international leagues from around the globe. A recently launched web-based version allows usage of the platform by laptop and desktop computer users.
For more information on PlayUp, please visit www.playup.com. The PlayUp app can be downloaded for free in the iTunes Store.