Fantasy Sports Coach – The Ultimate Fantasy Sports iPhone app
A new football season is upon us, and with that comes the numerous fantasy sports leagues that consumes a number of our lives. I have yet to dive into these leagues as I have been witness to how much time my brother puts into it and I doubt I could make the same commitment.
As I have been out of the sports loop for a number of years now, I’m sure I would have a million questions once I join one of these leagues. Who’s this guy? Should I trade Peyton Manning? Is Jeremy Roenick still in the league?
All my questions could be answered with one simple application….. Fantasy Sports Camp.
I recently interviewed iPhone application designer, Mike Lavia, on his new app that markets towards the fantasy sports enthusiast.
Jay – Tell me a bit about yourself. Who are you? Where do you live? What do you do?
Mike – My name is Mike Lavia and currently living in San Jose, California. I’m the Business Development Manager for a company called CETECOM Inc, a wireless test facility for mobile devices.
Jay – What is the name of your app, what does it do, and how do I use it?
Mike – The app is called ‘Fantasy Sports Coach’ and it’s a fantasy sports community app that helps users with everyday coaching advice for their fantasy teams. My business partner, Justin, and I are very adament about fantasy sports and play in multiple leagues each year. We had many discussions about the best fantasy sports tools and what’s missing. We came up with the idea to have a fantasy sports tool on your mobile device so you can ask questions wherever you are without having to remember it later when you’re at the computer.
The app itself is quite simple. There are two main sections, the question or ask section, and the response section. When you have a question about Start/Sit suggestions, Add/Drop recommendations, Trade reviews or advice, Waiver wire discussions, Prospects & Rookie discussions, and Player Rankings & News you type it into the app. The app notifies all users that there is a new question posted and users will respond. We’re currently around 50 questions per day with roughly 4 responses per question. The users are growing each day, which means the amount of responses one gets will also increase.
Jay – I have some knowledge in website design, but to design an app, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Where did your education on application design come from?
Mike – Great question. Neither me or Justin are programmers either, however, I read a book called “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss, which essentially gave me the whole idea of outsourcing. So, we looked around and interviewed a number of developers to help us with the coding portion. It worked out really well because we defined every detail of the app, while the developer handled the programming behind it.
Jay – Do you have plans to make it usable on my BlackBerry?
Mike – We have plans to roll this out on both Blackberry and Android, however, we are working hard on increasing the users and useability of the app first before we roll out to other platforms.
Jay – Why would someone want to purchase this app?
Mike – If you’re a die hard fantasy sports player, you will want every tool available at your disposal. If you’re a beginner at fantasy sports, it’s a great tool to help you learn. Our users are very curdious and no bad mouthing or swearing is allowed on the app, which helps to promote a friendly community. No question is a dumb question. Essentially, most fantasy sports leagues involve money, and winning money is important to everyone. Therefore, if you can have a tool that will help you reach that goal, then it’s a no brainer.
Jay – Where can people purchase it?
Mike – It’s currently available on the iTunes App Store for 99cents.
Jay – Finally, when you were younger, were you afraid of any monsters under your bed?
Mike – Funny, I actually was never afraid of monsters under my bed, but out in the hallway. So, I always wanted my door shut to keep them out.
If you are interested in the app, check out their website here: Fantasy Sports Coach
Direct link to iTunes app store: Purchase Here