A new interactive smartphone app has been launched by Sky Business to help official Sky Sports licensed venues to attract customers around football matches.
The free Sky Sports Pub Challenge app works exclusively while watching live Barclays Premier League football in bars and pubs showing Sky Sports.
Curated live by a “Sky Sports Games Master”, it offers people the chance to win weekly and monthly prizes through pre-game predictions, real-time quiz questions related to the match on-screen and post-match polls.
Prizes include weekly Barclays Premier League match tickets, monthly prizes up to £2,500 and a grand end-of-season prize of £20,000.
The app is available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store from today (August 12). The first games will be played on Saturday August 17 for the start of the Barclays Premier League.
David Rey, managing director of Sky Business, said: “We’re launching our Sky Sports Pub Challenge app as part of our commitment to investing in helping licensees to get the most out of Sky Sports for their venues.
“By creating a unique point of interest and the best possible entertainment experience, it will help to drive profitable footfall to our customers’ venues ahead of the games, encourage people to stay longer after matches and to return for future games.”
Football fans can use the app’s “pub finder” function to locate their nearest Sky Sports venue. On arrival, they check in to the bar or pub to start engaging in the pre- and post-match trivia and in-play predictions to score points before, during and after the match. All questions answered correctly give players points, which accumulate during the season.
Pubs can opt in to offer in-venue prizes, such as a free pint or a meal, which can serve as another incentive and point of differentiation when people search for their local Sky Sports venue on the pub finder.
As the app can only be played while inside Sky Sports licensed venues, it will encourage customers to watch the games live in a bar or pub rather than at home.
To help Sky Sports venues promote the app, the first 500 licensees who sign up on the Sky Sports Pub Challenge page at www.previewlive.co.uk/pubchallenge receive a free point-of-sale pack, which includes an A2 poster, beer mats and table talkers.
Check-in rates will be recognised through monthly prizes for licensees, including football shirts, match tickets and retail vouchers, based on the top three venues with the highest average number of check-ins.
Venues that achieve an average of more than 10 customer check-ins per game in any month of the season will be entered into a grand prize draw at the end of the season to win a free Sky Ultimate commercial subscription.
Sky is promoting the app to consumers through advertising on pub TV screen feeds, on-air promos with Talk Sports, social media and direct emails to existing Sky Bet, Fantasy Football and Super 6 users.
