To kick off a much-anticipated UWM basketball season, with a new head coach for the men's team and the women coming off a successful 2015-16 campaign, the Milwaukee Athletic Department announced an innovative fan app that launched Thursday.
Panther Gameday is the new official mobile application for Milwaukee Athletics, in partnership with From Now On. The free app allows fans to connect with the Panthers anytime, anywhere and experience Milwaukee games and events in a different, interactive way. As of Thursday, it was available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store; search for "Panther Gameday."
Currently, the app includes men's and women's basketball, but additional sports will be added in 2017. With a sleek design and easy-to-navigate user interface, Panther Gameday provides the mobile essentials like schedules and scores, as well as improved statistics, video streaming and helpful information on experiential elements like arena parking and concessions.
"We are excited to launch the new app today," said Milwaukee Director of Athletics Amanda Braun. "This new app, and our partnership with From Now On, is another step in our continuation of brand-building efforts for Milwaukee Athletics.
"It further enhances the fan experience and student engagement, which will start with basketball games this season. The app adds new dimensions to our program and will make our information readily accessible in a format which is versatile and easy to use."
According to the app's Store description, "Panther Gameday lets you take part in the game-day experience whether you're on campus or on-the-go with access to great features."
Those features include live scores and statistics, audio and video streaming and the ability to purchase tickets; a Twitter integration so fans can follow the conversation of the games; in-depth team information, including rosters, bios and stats; an arena mapping tool for parking, seating, concessions, merchandise and other points of interest; schedules for games and events, as well as notifications customized for the user's favorite sports; and special updates and opportunities from Milwaukee Athletics, including exclusive offers from corporate partners, player and team highlights, ticket deals and more.
The app was developed by From Now On and will be supported by FanX, the mobile technology company's flagship platform for fan engagement, experience and branding. It requests the use of location services to provide attendees with additional in-game benefits and sends notifications for information about events and offers. Users can manage their settings to opt out of those features, if desired.
Panther Gameday comes two weeks after Milwaukee Athletics announced its new strategic partnership with Statzhub, a digital technology company that provides a one-stop shop for original and aggregated sports content. The "official digital partner of the Horizon League," Statzhub allows subscribers to customize the information they receive based on their favorite teams and student-athletes and has committed to sharing a portion of subscription revenues with the Panthers.
The Milwaukee men's basketball team, which hired "extremely excited" first-year coach LaVall Jordan seven months ago to replace Rob Jeter, who was fired in March, begins its season Friday at home against MSOE in the Sanford Pentagon Showcase. The men play their games Downtown at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena. The Panther women, who finished last year 19-13 and appeared in the WNIT, start their season Sunday at home against Western Illinois in the Klotsche Center.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
