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Smart Ways to Use Your Smartphone at a Sporting Event

2 November 2016

Jacey Martin

When you attend any sort of professional sporting event, you might be tempted to use your smartphone at several times throughout the event. While there's no rule per se about keeping this electronic device in your pocket, excessive use of your smartphone—especially if you're chronically holding it at arm's length to take photos of yourself—can risk annoying the other fans around you. There's no harm in snapping a few shots of yourself for your social-media pages, but you should also try to simply focus on enjoying the game in front of you. Here are some worthwhile times, however, when you'll want to use your smartphone.

To "Check In" with the Team

One of the ideal ways to use your smartphone at a sporting event is to "check in" with the team via its social-media accounts. Doing so tells your followers and friends that you're at the event, but, more importantly, it can help you be eligible for various prizes and contests that the team holds for those who visit the stadium in person. You enter simply by checking in, and you'll receive a notification via a social-media alert if you end up winning.

To Play Along with Video Board Games

Many teams feature interactive games, trivia, and other attractions on their video boards that you can play along with via your smartphone. For example, there might be a trivia question about a player on the team, an interesting statistic, or something general related to the sport. By logging on to a site on your smartphone and submitting your answer, you'll take part in the fun. Typically, the answers—and the percentages of those who voted correctly—will be displayed on the video board later in the game, and that could give you bragging rights over your friends sitting beside you.

To Contact Stadium Security

If you notice a fan in your section who is being unruly or otherwise breaking stadium policies, it's best to avoid confronting him or her. Instead, you can get in touch with the stadium security team via your smartphone. Typically, stadiums will display messages on their video boards about reporting such incidents to security; you'll be asked to text your message to a specific number and give some details about the person in question as well as to provide his or her approximate location. This is ideal because it saves you from missing the game by getting up and going to find a security staff member.

Test these tips out at a sporting event, such as one for Lincoln Saltdogs Baseball, so you can have a great time. 

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