For the average South African guy (and to a growing extent – woman as well!) being up to date with sports scores is an absolute necessity. The digital and mobile revolution has brought information to our finger tips and we can now track our favorite teams’ scores, performance and news even though your stuck in some far flung place between Gat-sonder-water and Pofadder. No more waiting for tomorrow’s newspaper to find out what is happening with the Proteas down-under.
If you are anything like me, a good sports app is one of the first-to-be-downloaded and most used apps on my smartphone. Here are Bandwidth Blog’s 5 must have sports apps for any avid sports fan. If your favorite sport doesn’t feature on the list, feel free to leave a comment with a great app recommendation!
Ultimate Rugby (iOS / Android) [Free]
South Africa and rugby go hand in hand. Whether you are Stormer, Lion, Cheetah, Shark or heaven forbid a Blue Bull supporter (just kidding), rugby is part of your every day life. With the Super 15 incing closer and closer and the World Cup set to take place later this year it is essential for you to have a great rugby app.
But don’t settle for any old “what’s-the-score” app, you need an in depth application that provides scores, news, fixtures, stats, game breakdowns and a social platform! Enter, Ultimate Rubgy. This aptly named application will do all of the above and more!
iTunes description: “The world’s #1 rugby app. Full match coverage,live scores, in-game match chat, squad announcement notifications, team schedules, video highlights, player interaction,tickets and news. Get all your breaking rugby news live in one place with a personalised stream from your favorite leagues, teams and players.”
CricInfo (iOS / Android) [Free]
2015 will definitaly be a BIG year for South African sport. Next month the Proteas will try and claim their first World Cup and we definitely have a good shot at it (although we have a bit of a history when it comes to World Cups – don’t want to jinx it!). With AB and Amla firing on all cylinders you need a good cricket app to keep you in the loop.
The successful online cricket site CricInfo has been redeveloping their mobile app continuously over the past couple of years. It is now probably the best cricket app out there and will provide live ball-by-ball commentary, great cricket news articles as well as a huge vault of statistical data and insights. Doesn’t matter if you want to follow the domestic league in the Caribbean or your favorite test playing nation, CricInfo will happily oblige.
iTunes description: “The official ESPNcricinfo cricket app is all that you need to keep yourself updated with the latest scores, breaking-stories, player statistics, records, rankings, exclusive content from the best writers, audio, video and much more ““ this is just the perfect personal Cricket companion.”
FotMob (iOS / Android) [Free]
Ah the beautiful game. The most popular sport in the world deserves the best score tracking app out there right? Well there exists literally thousands of football apps out there but my favorite is FotMob. You can follow any, and I mean ANY, football club on the face of the planet. Just select your favorite teams and leagues and you will get all the information you will ever need.
FotMob provides you with fixtures, live scores (with live text or audio commentary), team line-ups, game stats, news and much more! This comprehensive football app has been my constant companion for over 3 years now and I never miss a Man Utd game!
iTunes description: * Top 20 in more than 15 countries! * More than 5 MILLION downloads * Live text commentary for Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, and much more * Audio coverage in more than different 10 languages *
PGA Tour (iOS / Android) [Free]
We are a few tournaments into the new PGA Tour season and everybody is still wondering whether 2015 will be Tiger Wood’s come back year. Rory McIlroy is still on fire since breaking up with his fiance last year and if you need to follow every tournament live then you can’t go wrong with the PGA Tour app.
The PGA Tour app provides you with shot-by-shot scoring on every PGA tour event and even more features when the majors come around. The app provides hole layouts, video highlights and push notifications for your favorite players. Simply a must have for any golf fanatic!
iTunes description: “Experience the PGA TOUR like never before on your iOS device with the official PGA TOUR App. Follow all of the action from a single app, available for free from the PGA TOUR.”
ATP / WTP Live (iOS / Android) [Free]
No wonder I never have an open weekend. If it isn’t rugby, football, cricket or golf there is sure to be an ATP tennis event on the go. The Australian open is in full swing and if you are a Djokovic/Wawrinka or Murray fan and you can’t catch the final this weekend, make sure you download the ATP/WTP Live tennis app.
This tennis app gives you live scores and match statistics. You can follow your favorite player and read up on them with the apps full bio and info section. The app also provides updated rankings and tournament fixtures in over 15 languages.
iTunes description: “Follow your favourite professional tennis players and tournaments in real-time throughout the season, including ATP Challenger Tour events.”
If I missed something or if you disagree with some of our picks please let us know with your comments below!
Follow Jaco on Twitter: @Jaco_vdWalt
