c/o Cher Qin, Staff Photographer
Wesleyan Front Row, an app dedicated to Wesleyan sports updates, is now available for free on both iPhone and Android devices. The University has been promoting the app to the campus in an updated post on their News@Wesleyan blog.
The app is an extension of the University’s new sports website, athletics.wesleyan.edu, which came out only a few weeks before the app in August 2016. The website contains the same functions as the app, yet also provides an introduction for prospective student-athletes, information for current team members seeking care for injuries, and general knowledge about the University’s recreational and sports athletics programs.
The app, made by PrestoSports, provides fans with an array of metrics to stay up to date on Wesleyan sports. These include score updates, stats, game recaps, photo galleries, and even live streaming. While budget constraints limit the athletics program from live streaming every game, the vast majority will be available at the touch of a finger. In its selection of games to live stream, the program will be cognizant of gender equity and sports balance but will be partial towards the more popular intra-conference matches. Any game live-streamed through the app will also be available through the website.
According to Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Mike O’Brien, the creation of the app made logical sense after the website’s retooling.
“Deciding to launch the app was a no-brainer given the current media landscape that we are in, and the need for information instantly,” he wrote in an email to The Argus.
Although no one from administration or fan base explicitly called for it, the feedback so far has been positive.
“Those who do have it, really enjoy it,” O’Brien wrote.
The app’s ability to provide live game updates is by no means a hands-off process. Staff must attend each game to input stats as they are available. At the end of the game, they manually write a game recap or final score for those who missed out. This information is uploaded to the website and then automatically distributed through the app.
Users can choose which sports they want to receive notifications for and which ones they want to ignore. Notifications provide users a game summary or final score at the conclusion of every game. Users can choose to receive such notifications from all sports, or only the select few that they may be interested in.
“It would have been a disservice to our fans if we didn’t provide them this opportunity to follow their favorite Wes teams,” O’Brien wrote.
Mason Mandell can be reached at mjmandell@wesleyan.edu.