Published: November 8, 2023
11 min read
In this article, you'll learn:
1
👍 What Are the Benefits of Custom Sports Team Management Apps?
2
📌 Top Features for Sports League Management App
3
💰 How to Monetise Your Sports Team Management App?
4
💵 How Much Does It Cost to Create Software for Sports Teams?
5
💡 Takeaways
If you’re an owner of a sports club or a school, you are probably using or at least thinking of using a sports team management app. Despite the market being full of out-of-the-box solutions, they often offer quite limited functionality and can’t perfectly match the needs.
Thus, more and more leagues, sports clubs, and academies go for custom sports team management app development. This will not only simplify and automate some processes of your team or league management but also perfectly tailor the software to current business processes, specifics of your sport and tools you use.
So, if you’re looking for some tips on how to develop a sports team management app or just learn more about it –– welcome!
You will have all information about sport event: team roster, players’ positions, stats and even weather (image by Liviu Anghelina)
There are several ready-made services for sports team management. But as time goes by, you may find that off-the-shelf software no longer meets your needs in terms of performance, features, or integrations. At this point, a custom sports team app can be a solution for your organization. Here are some examples of how a custom app is better than a ready-to-use platform.
Usually, off-the-shelf software doesn’t offer wide design customization options. Normally you may be able to put your logo and pick a color palette but the layout, navigation patterns, and other UX/UI elements will remain the same.
An ultimate solution if you have several sports leagues (image by Nico)
Thus, if you need a good-looking design that fits in with your website and brand style, custom app development makes it possible.
That may be especially important if you already use some desktop software for team management. Thus, a custom mobile application can follow all the familiar navigation patterns, shortening the learning curve of your users.
Custom development gives you an opportunity to make an app for sports teams that perfectly adjusted for your needs and business goals.
Ready-made sports software offers a set of basic features that can cover most sports. Therefore, they are hard to customize if you have special requirements in terms of functionality. For such purposes, it’s better to develop your own custom sports team management app, where you can implement all the features and integrations you need. What can it be?
Custom sports team management app development means having your own Tech Partner by your side. In the case of working with an off-the-shelf system, you will have to wait for a response from the customer support team.
Moreover, you’re likely to have fewer problems with custom software as it’ll be designed for the platforms you use. Ready-made software may not be adapted that well for different screen sizes or operating systems.
As we’ve mentioned, custom solutions allow you to implement any features you need. But since the functionality can vary from project to project, here’s an overview of the most common features of sports team management software.
Scheduling is one of the tasks that can be easily automated, and you can stay focused on other things. Instead of manually adding every training session to the game schedules, a special script will update this information. Yet, you still will be in control, and your administrators will be able to edit, cancel or transfer workouts from the admin panel.
Customers can sign up for training sessions themselves on the app just by selecting a relevant date and time. The app can also manage the number of people who sign up for a training session at the same time. It helps regulate the traffic when you can only accommodate a limited group like many had to adjust for pandemic norms.
The system can automatically notify you if one of your sportspeople has time-off dates. Also, a client can contact you and update you on the reason for his absence: whether he is sick, on holiday, on a business trip. Then you can make a line-up and divide the team in advance by training level so that the workout is even more effective.
For those who have managed to get a place on a training session, the app will request the option to add events to the calendar –– the client will be notified hours in advance, they won’t forget about the appointment, and you will not have to worry about an empty hall.
If you have a professional sports club or children’s sports school, you probably pay attention to attendance and note those who are absent or maybe even late. You can simply use your mobile app to make attendance notes and not deal with a ton of paperwork –– the app will put all the data into the report itself. After training, you can send it to the athletes’ parents.
With this feature, you’ll be able to form several line-ups in the app. For example, you can inform the team who is in the main squad, who is in the second one, and which roles everybody from your team has.
If you get tired of splitting everyone into teams every training session, switch on the randomizer. It will choose who will be the forward and who will be the defender today.
Also, you can manage sports tools: different balls, racquets, hockey sticks, training bibs, etc. Divide them right into the app to ensure everyone has the equipment and takes part in the game.
The coach could position the athletes before the sport event (image by Liviu Anghelina)
The sportsman profile feature allows you to have all the information you need about your members in one place. For example, it can be age, height, weight, past injuries, and the reasons they joined the team.
Also, you can keep records from past workouts to make it easier for trainers to prescribe an individual training plan.
But this feature may be even more useful for your clients. Users will be able not only to track their activity but also to connect your app to equipment and wearable devices. Then the activity data will be updated in real-time, and people can get a more detailed report after their workout.
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To reduce the probability of team members’ potential injuries, add a risk calculation to your app. For this, you’ll have to select essential assessment criteria: acute chronic workload ratio (ACWR), muscle condition, sleep hours, etc. You will be notified when someone’s risk of injury increases.
Profiles can also help you improve the club membership experience. For example, a pass system can be improved by introducing digital membership cards. Thus, your customers will have less trouble forgetting it and you’ll be able to retarget them with new deals closer to the expiration of their membership.
Also, let your clients upload their photos directly from smartphones, so they don’t stress an unexpected photo shoot.
There may be a situation when your club or gym is unavailable, and then it will be relevant to pause gym memberships right in the client’s profile.
Team Profile in sports league management app (image by Liviu Anghelina)
To increase clients’ motivation, make it easy for them to see the results of their training. Add the option to track the monthly progress: have the customer take a photo once a month and get a collage afterward. That way, he can clearly see what has changed during that time. There you will also be able to enter the results of your athletes and, if it is a youth sports club, you can also send reports to their parents.
Another option of progress tracking is self-reporting. For example, athletes can enter how many kilometers they have run in a certain time or in what time they have swum their distance and then see their progress. To do this, you can set up a special screen with statistics. Thus, it will be easier to track their achievements and set new goals.
Online payments are worth adding because they will make it easier for you to handle your finances. You won’t have to count money and reconcile balances –– the system will do everything. You just keep track of payments. Customers will be able to pay at any convenient time.
To make sure they do not forget to add the required amount of money, you should set up payment reminders –– they are viewed more often than SMS. And by adding card binding and automatic debiting, your clients will stop worrying about payments, and you will always get your money on time.
It’s also possible to add a set of features for fans. There are two ways to do it:
Users could choose their roles, and fans could have communication with coaches or team members (image by Sergey Sivukhin)
The most obvious thing you can do is to add the possibility to buy match tickets and show them at the entrance directly from the app. If someone cannot come to the match, give them a chance to find out the score from the push notifications.
You can also create a separate “Results History” screen where users can check the previous games and tournament participation of your team — either just the score or the full video broadcast. You can also implement live broadcasting right in the app, so fans can follow the games from anywhere.
Finally, if you have your own merch, add an online shop to your software. Let your most loyal fans make a purchase from anywhere!
Now you don’t need to communicate with players or customers via messenger, social media, or mail. You will have your personal messaging platform. It will keep all conversations, documents, photos, and training-related data in one place. You can put administrator accounts in a separate screen to make it easier for sportspeople to find you and have communication.
If there are any difficulties in visiting the hall, you will be able to continue your training, but in an online format. The video broadcasting feature in web and mobile apps will be indispensable for coaches to keep track of the exercises even from home.
Admin Panel is usually a separate web application (or it can also be a separate flow in your mobile app) used to manage in-app content. You can add the following functionality to the admin panel:
How admin panel can look like (image by Dmitriy Ivanov)
The best way to implement this feature is in the desktop version –– this makes your management platform easier to use. The mobile app can have limited functionality and help not to lose access to the admin panel if you are away from your computer.
If you want your app to bring extra revenue in addition to your primary business, we have some ideas on how this can be realized. There are two ways to monetize the app: by introducing advertising or paid subscriptions.
You can advertise your own business: this will increase customer engagement and will not be taken as keenly as third-party ads. Or you can still advertise third-party services but then choose options that have a connection to sports in some way. But don’t take on many advertisers –– a high number of ads can significantly impact UX.
Another way is a paid subscription. If your professional sports club has a lot of fans, give them special benefits that appeal to them. For example, they could read exclusive interviews with team members or have a communication with their favorite players. If you know that tickets for your games sell out quickly, then open up match tickets pre-sale to fans with paid subscriptions.
With a table like this, you will exactly know when your sports halls will be free (image by Andrii Horbachov 💥)
For gym clients, subscriptions must be different. People are interested in keeping in shape, so offer them a food diary, and they won’t have to switch between apps. If possible, do periodic discounts on memberships or free training for subscriptions. It will be important for them to get priority for signing up for popular training. If you also decide to introduce ads, turn off third-party ads in paid subscriptions.
If you can rent out the sports halls, set up a reservation using the app. This will be helpful for small amateur teams without their own training hall.
It isn’t so easy to calculate an exact cost for the development of this kind of application. To do so, you shoud think about the following aspects which affect pricing:
The choice of a development company determines whether you will see the application of your dreams at the end of your work. Choose carefully and responsibly.
We hope you have gained a clearer understanding of how to create a sports team management website or app. We are ready to give you some tips, which can be helpful during sports team software development:
If you still have questions or need help with developing –– just contact us! Our team would be happy to contribute to creating your ideal sports team management app
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