A startup in the world of second-screen sports apps—which let fans interact online while watching sports on TV—is in "soft beta" as it works on expanding its product offerings. D.C.-based
Fanamana is working on Full-Time, an app that expands second-screen sports
interactions beyond the baseball diamond to other pro sports. According to Dan Cook, who cofounded the company along with Paul Murphy and Darren Gibney, Full-Time should be ready for launch sometime in late February 2014, just in time for March Madness.
"We envision Full-Time as an app for March Madness, World Cup soccer, NASCAR and so on," explains Cook. Murphy and Gibney are big Premiership Football fans, he says, so ensuring that the app is ready for the World Cup is definitely a priority.
Fanamana Baseball, which launched in May, lets users play along with Major League Baseball games in real time, acting as coaches who manage their teams. Unlike traditional fantasy sports, which require users to set team lineups in advance of games, Fanamana Baseball lets sports fans sub players in and out on the fly, and fans are not limited to a preset drafted players list.
"There is no lineup," Cook says. "You can use any player at any time as long as they are playing." For example, Pete is playing Fanamana Baseball and picks the Nats' Bryce Harper, and Harper walks. Then Pete decides to play the Orioles' Manny Machado, who hits a home run. For Pete, Machado's home run is a two-run homer, since Harper was on base in his game.
"Fanamana Baseball brings a 'rooting' interest to every play," Cook explains. Whereas fantasy sports have made every game relevant, now, Cook says, with Fanamana's app, every play in every game becomes relevant.
Currently, Fanamana only allows for head-to-head competition between two users, but Cook says that Full-Time will allow for league-type play. Another change is that in Full-Time, users will be able to pick a team for a block of time, rather than constantly having to pick individual players.
So now that the World Series has been played out, what is a baseball fan to do? "Fans can play Fanamana Baseball off historical data," Cook says. Stats for 2012 are in the system now, and stats for 2013 are coming with the next update.