If you are affiliated with the University of West Florida in any way, then you know just how important the newly instituted football team is to the community. Old intramural fields found new life as a brightly painted practice field, the Pensacola Bayfront Stadium is seeing some collegiate sports action in the Blue Wahoos off-season and students are ramping up for tailgating, trying to score a free ticket to the game.
One of the products of this sports fever is the arrival of the Argo Armada app, "a geo-location mobile app that rewards University of West Florida students for attending games". While probably not as adventurous as Pokemon Go, the app uses the same technology that allows you to locate and capture creatures to earn credit for watching a game. One of the intentional benefits of the app is to not only reward students and give them access to football games, but to increase attendance at all other college sports events by offering an incentive.
Quintin Payton, Department of Athletics Marketing and Sales Coordinator and operator of the application, has created something that will give UWF athletics a significant boost in popularity. Students are trying to check in to as many sporting events as they can, with a significant portion genuinely staying to watch the game. Students in Pensacola are no longer jogging across campus to catch Ponytas and Abras, but rather to be the first to check into a volleyball or soccer match on Argo Armada.
The app claims to offer promotions, prizes and discounts at local businesses, as well as communicating special events. Those on the app leaderboard are hoping their dedication to checking in will be rewarding to them in the future. It is surprising, though, that so many people are still unaware of the app's existence, though it's advertised own campus. It seems as if many downloads happened by word of mouth primarily, but then again, didn't you download Pokemon Go at the recommendation of a friend?
It's super cool to see an app for our campus that gives us tangible rewards while also benefiting our many sports teams. It'll be awesome to check out events we've all been sleeping on, like baseball games and swim meets. If there's ever been a time that Argo Spirit and Argo Pride were at their highest, it would be this moment. I can't wait to see what other surprises this semester has in store for us!
"Argo Armada" is available on both Google Play and in the Apple iTunes store, for iOS 6.0 or later and Android 2.2 and up.
