A new app to stay connected with Blugold athletics is out now. On Feb. 7, a new app was promoted on UW-Eau Claire social media pages. The Blugold Sports app has been in the works for eight months and has features like team rosters, streaming of sporting events, statistics, tickets and more.

The convenience of the app is that instead of having to search up the Blugold athletic website every time you want to check something, you can have the app ready to go.

Nick Hoven, the assistant athletic director of media relations at UW- Eau Claire, is one of the developers of the new app.

A feature on the app that Hoven believes will be crucial in the future is ticket purchasing. 

“Tickets come straight through the app. No more printing out tickets beforehand,” Hoven said.

Now after purchasing tickets for an event, you will receive a QR code that will be scanned before entering.

With the development of technology and apps, Hoven feels this is something that needed to be developed.

“From an accessibility standpoint, trying to keep up with the rest of the departments throughout the WIAC and the nation. We want to make sure we are giving our fans and our parents and our athletes the best and celebrating the student athletes the best way possible,” Hoven said. 

Hoven and the developers wanted the app to be reliable for fans and useful.

“Lots of research went into, OK is this something that is going to be reliable and something that we can put out to our fans that isn’t just taking up memory on their phones,” Hoven said.

Hoven said a difference between Blugold Sports and other UW-Eau Claire apps is the partners involved. In the past, apps were partnered with the websites while this time the athletic app is partnered with SIDEARM Sports.

SIDEARM Sports has over 1,500 partners and is involved with the websites and apps of some of the biggest brands in sports. Some of the brands consist of The College Football Playoffs, College World Series, and the National Association of Collegiate of Director Athletics.

Partnering with SIDEARM Sports brings new possibilities to the Blugolds athletic app.

A phrase Hoven used in describing the new athletics app was it being a “one stop shop.” The app does well in tracking events and sharing resources that fans can follow.

“Something to keep fans and parents engaged as much as they can. That way it’s easy for them especially if they don’t live in the surrounding areas and their children are competing here,” Hoven said.

Hoven also hinted at some fun engagements through the app in the future for fans. Things like trivia and prizes at certain events through the app will keep fans engaged. The hard work put in this app will ensure the possibility of tracking Blugold athletics while staying connected as a fan.

You can stay connected with Blugolds athletics by downloading the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds Sports app in the app store.

Benes can be reached at [email protected]