Five Ways Mobile has Changed the World Cup Tech geeks aren’t always the biggest sports fans, but even we can get pretty excited about an event like the World Cup. Annika Hey Design Principal Atanas Atanasov Software Development Manager – Agile Frameworks Björn Stansvik Founder & Chief Executive Officer Daniela Nazim MentorMate Alumni Dimitar Dobrev MentorMate Alumni Craig Knighton Chief Operating Officer Eleonora Georgieva Global VP, Delivery George Dormishev System Administration Manager Ivaylo Kostadinov Director, Software Engineering - .NET Jamie Bolseth MentorMate Alumni Jay Miller President Jeni Kyuchukova Director, Quality Engineering Jessica Anderson VP of Finance and Administration Liz Spolyar Global Director, Continuation Engineering Nick Curran Technical Architect Nikolay Lyubchev Global Director, Talent Acquisition, MentorMate Stefan Tsvyatkov Director, Software Engineering - Mobile Stefan Tzanev Chief Financial Officer Vesselin Dobrev General Manager (Bulgaria) Sylvia Vassileva Software Development Manager - Spok Filip Gajtanovski Software Development Manager - Storyworks Krasimir K. Nikolov VP of Technology Katherine Kelly Director of Operations (USA) Carrie Siewert Strategic Account Manager Brady Swanson Global Director, Marketing Eve Poeschl MentorMate Alumni Ryan Peña MentorMate Alumni Vassil Vassilev Software Development Manager - .NET Pavel Petrov Director, Software Engineering - LAMP&FE Ivan Peev Senior Technology Manager Bob Reuss MentorMate Alumni Vera Kasapova QA Manager Greta Yamacheva QA Manager Robert Samuelsson General Manager (Sweden) Kyle Simmons Solutions Architect Robin Thomas Solutions Architect Nataliya Naydenova MentorMate Alumni Adam Malone Alexander Dimitrov Enterprise Architect Andrea Kates CEO, LaunchPad Central Andrew Eklund CEO, Ciceron Andrew Marinov Angel Nikolov MentorMate Alumni Anurag Shukla Aron Wolde MentorMate Alumni Ashley Goodridge Office Assistant Benjamin Gramlich MentorMate Alumni Chris Black MentorMate Alumni Christa Haeg MentorMate Alumni Colin Lee MentorMate Alumni Deyan Stoynov MentorMate Alumni Dimitar Danailov MentorMate Alumni Dobrinka Tabakova Doug Leatherman Emily Genco MentorMate Alumni Fanka Vassileva Gabriela Zagarova MentorMate Alumni Gary Conkright CEO, physIQ Gary Fingerhut Executive Director, Cleveland Clinic Innovations Gavin Finden MentorMate Alumni Georgi Graham Klang Hyusein Hyuseinov Senior Automation QA Ian Good Global VP, Operations Iva Jack Cosentino James Williams John Byrne Kaloyan Stoilkov MentorMate Alumni Kosta Hristov Krasimir Gatev Senior Android Developer Lazar Petrakiev Lyubomir Dobrev Senior .NET Developer Lubomir Velkov Marin Yotovski Mark Smith MentorMate Alumni Martin Dimitrov MentorMate Alumni Martin Kalyonski Mike Hagan MentorMate Alumni Nikolay Andonov Nikolay Arhangelov Riley Panko Guest Contributor Roger Ferguson MentorMate Alumni Ryan Sysko Chairman, WellDoc Ryan Blake MentorMate Alumnus Sarah Rockholt MentorMate Alumni Sean McDevitt CEO, Sensei Siyana Slavova Stanislas Walden MentorMate Alumni Stanislav Atanasov Stanislava Bogdanova MentorMate Alumni Stefanie Trimble MentorMate Alumnus Stephen Fluin Stoyan Stoyanov MentorMate Alumnus Tessa Cacek Staffing Manager Tom Clemens MentorMate Alumnus V8 JavaScript Engine Viktor Mitev Yolanda Petkova Marketing Design Lead Pete Anderson Lead Product Owner, Target Vasil Nonchev Java Software Development Manager Dilyana Totseva QA Manager Stanimir Nikolov Software Development Lead - iOS, MentorMate Rosen Kolev Technology Principal Dimitar Mihaylov MentorMate Alumni Nikola Genov Software Architect - .NET Neli Todorova Software Development Manager - LAMP Yavor Dimitrov MentorMate Alumni Georgi Karanedyalkov Software Development Lead - Android, MentorMate Denislav Ganchev Technology Principal Stefan Shopov QA Manager Konstantin Rusev Java Developer Borislav Dimitrov Senior Android Developer, MentorMate Tsvetelina Lazarova MentorMate Alumni Dimitar Gadzhev Developer Plamen Stoev Software Development Manager - Front-end Jake Nelsen Senior Experience Designer Zlati Pehlivanov Senior Software Engineer II Kate Tolmie Senior Experience Designer Martin Angelov Director, Software Engineering - LAMP&FE, MentorMate Dimitar Zhelev Senior .NET Developer Joel Swenson Content Manager Kiril Ivanov Quality Assurance Analyst Viktor Hristoskov Software Development Lead - iOS, MentorMate Violeta Nikolcheva Database Developer Biliana Kadakevlieva Senior Quality Assurance Analyst Chris McLeod Senior Solutions Consultant Antonii Georgiev Junior .NET Developer Alexander Rusev Front-End Developer Matt Erickson MentorMate Alumni Brian Buchkosky Global Director, PMO David Tran MentorMate Alumni Kristin Krueger MentorMate Alumni Magdalena Chervenkova Business Analyst Denny Royal Chief Design Officer Joe Bodell MentorMate Alumni Viktoria Chuchumisheva HR Manager Kalina Tekelieva Senior Content Marketing Artist Daniel Rankov MentorMate Alumni Alexander Alexandrov BA Lead MentorMate Clint Rowles VP, Business Development Nikola Donev SysOps & DevOps Lead Tseko Tsolov Frontend Developer Denislav Lefterov Automation QA Analyst Dilyana Kodjamanova MentorMate Alumni Emma Jorstad Project Manager, Lead Georgi Georgiev Software Development Lead - LAMP, MentorMate Martin Panayotov Senior iOS Developer, MentorMate John Blake Senior Account Manager Tyler Compton Solutions Architect Nikola Peevski Software Developer — Lamp & Front-End Aaron Whitney Director of Client Strategy Veliko Ivanov Senior Cloud Engineer Suzanne O’Brien Senior Project Manager Svetlin Stanchev Software Development Lead - Front-end, MentorMate Todor Todorov Senior Cloud Engineer Kate Stamatova Senior QA Analyst Frank Anselmo Global Director, Project Management Gyuner Zeki Solutions Architect Galin Stanchev QA Analyst Sarah Hoops Business Development Manager Brenden Diehl Business Development Manager Anna Krivova Software Development Lead - Front-end, MentorMate Ivelina Kavalova Senior Business Analyst, MentorMate Paul Sanders MentorMate Alumni Jim Cikanek Senior Client Strategist Samuil Yanovski Software Development Manager - Android, MentorMate Krasimir Gatev Senior Android Developer, MentorMate Kristina Goryalova Talent Acquisition Manager Elena Petrova HR Specialist Jay Matre Senior Business Architect, MentorMate Lilyana Dimitrova QA Specialist Josh Marquart Chief Strategy Officer Mario Gorki Senior Mobile Developer Simeon Zhekov Cloud Engineer Hristo Stoyanov Cloud & DevOps Lead Ben Wallace Enterprise Architect Boyan Stoyanov Data & Dota Specialist Petya Ivanova Director, Software Engineering - Java Sebastian Ortiz-Chamorro VP of Engineering, Latin America Consuelo Merino Director of Operations Tech geeks aren’t always the biggest sports fans, but even we can get pretty excited about an event like the World Cup. Besides the suspense and spectacle of the games themselves, there’s something stirring about watching a truly global event, something you know the rest of the world is watching too. It’s hard to determine exact numbers for global television viewership, but the best estimates make a strong case that the final game of the 2010 World Cup was the most watched event in human history, the one time more of us watched the same thing, at the same time. But soccer means different things to different people, and that too has an appeal for mobile designers—both soccer and mobile are global frameworks that give rise to an infinite variety of local meanings. The rules of soccer are the same across the world, but are experienced differently everywhere. You can see it clearly in the goal celebrations – when Algeria scored against Belgium last week the team gathered on the sideline and together bowed towards Mecca. When Colombia scored their first goal against Greece they had their own routine, moving in unison in a joyous, samba-like dance. In the same way that soccer is a single game that mean just about anything, mobile is a way of communicating that can be used to say just about anything. This is part of why the World Cup can captivate even the least athletically inclined mobile designers: we work every day to craft mobile strategies that connect the world in new ways, and the World Cup is a truly epic display of that connectedness, in all of its complexity and all of its vibrancy. Even as we hop on the bandwagon, techies we remain. We can’t help thinking about the World Cup in terms of mobile and sharing some of the ways that new technologies have changed the game over the four World Cups that we’ve been in the businesses. We came up with five big ways that mobile has left its mark on the global game. Mobile Has Changed How We Watch This one is pretty obvious: mobile devices are now a big part of how we watch the game. A recent Harris Poll found that over a third of World Cup viewers will be looking up stats on players or teams during World Cup matches, and 12% also said they would post to social media during games, and that was higher among the younger crowd. That number was one in four for 18-24 year olds, a sign of things to come. ESPN is using this year’s World Cup to push their Watch ESPN app, which aims to make the experience of watching sports something fans can engage in from anywhere. Other global media outlets like the BBC, Telemundo, and Al Jazeera are introducing their own mobile-oriented coverage and apps for the World Cup. Mobile Has Also Changed What We Watch We haven’t just found more ways to watch soccer over the years; we’ve found more to watch. The combination of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and internet connected mobile devices has made it possible for players, coaches, and commentators to independently share news, images, and opinions about what happens on and off the field. Some of this is truly quality. The international sports press now has a whole new body of information with which to analyze the game, and new modes of communicating it—it’s common to see tweets quoted in match previews and postgame summaries, and every sports journalist gives live updates during games. Journalists have even launched their careers by making new kinds of analysis available. The journalist Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) made his name by blogging about soccer tactics – something that often gets lost on layfans like us. The new connectivity can be dangerous too. Instant access to a huge audience also gives us a glimpse of the uglier side of the game, letting us see conflicts that were previously behind the scenes. One example might be familiar to U.S. fans – when the U.S. National Team’s coach Jurgen Klinsmann decided to cut Landon Donovan, his team’s most famous and experienced player, Klinsmann’s 17-year old son sent a jeering tweet about Donovan that had his dad scrambling to apologize. Mobile Has Changed How We Understand the Game Instant access to data has had a big impact on how we watch and talk about sports. An open game like soccer is lighter on number crunching than stats-heavy, higher scoring American sports like basketball, baseball, and football, but the past few World Cups have seen the development of quality websites and apps that are bringing numbers to bear on the game in new ways. Nate Silver is using statistics to analyze the World Cup at his Five Thirty Eight blog. (Silver is currently giving Brazil a stunning 39% chance of winning it all—seems mighty high to us.) FourFourTwo Stats Zone is another favorite. The site provides real-time analysis of incredibly thorough data for every match of the World Cup. Beyond the basic indicators like time of possession and shots on goal, FourFourTwo has pass completion percentages for every player broken down into 19 categories. Be warned: this is a number nerd’s heaven, and might change how you watch the game. Mobile is Even Changing How the Game is Played. Changing the rules of the World Cup is a big deal, and this year marks the first time that any external video technology will be used to help referees make decisions. Without mobile, it’s unlikely the change would have been made. Goal line technology is being used in this World Cup to determine whether a ball has fully crossed the line of the goal. The biggest debate about the introduction of technology was disrupting the flow of the game. Reviewing video makes sense in a stop and go game like football, but in a game of constant play like soccer, long pauses to review video would change the experience. For the 2014 World Cup, the referee’s watch is digitally connected to a system of cameras that will monitor the goal line, and cause his watch to vibrate anytime the ball crosses all the way over. Frank Lampard’s goal for England in the 2010 World Cup was missed by the referee and helped bring goal line technology into the game. Mobile Has Changed How We Remember The feedback loop of mobile access has an effect on how we remember the tournament. Anyone can appreciate highlights like this stunning header or this awesome strike, and in the mobile era those moments can be replayed from anywhere. Smartphones also do their own recording, and can help us see the highlights in new ways, revealing fan footage of famous goals and big moments, like this great clip of Lionel Messi’s winner for Argentina in their match against Iran. Phone cameras have also made it possible to see incredible moments from leagues that would otherwise receive little media attention, like this crazy goal from the Finnish second division. Our Takeaway Twenty years ago watching sports meant looking at the screen. Now, the rise of mobile is turning spectatorship into an activity, letting us interact with the screen, and giving us new tools to understand, interpret, and appreciate the beautiful game. Tags MobileCultureEventsDevelopmentWeb Share Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Twitter Share Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Twitter Sign up for our monthly newsletter. Sign up for our monthly newsletter.