Rooting for you: A social platform for sports fans, by a sports fan
Love a particular sport? Here’s how you can connect with other enthusiasts around the world, during a live match
You’ve plonked yourself on the couch, stocked up on food and drinks and are all set to watch your favourite football team. All you probably need now is a bunch of friends rooting, cheering and fist-bumping at every goal scored. But what if none of your pals are sporty?
That’s where Rooter comes in. The app serves as a platform for real-time interaction with enthusiasts in the vicinity as and across the globe.
Chat with supporters and rivals, try to predict the outcome of a match and you also stand to win prizes. The app also lets you take quizzes about your favourite sport to kill time before a match begins, and starts discussions about the rules of the game, if you are a novice.
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“When Tinder, based on the premise of an individual’s tastes and preferences can do well, we thought a sports app with a universal resonance would definitely succeed too,” says Delhi’s Piyush, 36, the founder and CEO of the app. Since their launch in September, Rooter has had around 45,000 downloads on Android and iOS.
Rooter, caters to football, cricket, tennis and basketball for now and looks to add Formula 1 and MotoGP to the list. “We had around 1,480 users logged into the Los Angeles Lakers vs Phoenix Suns basketball match at 9 am on a Friday, during peak work hours,” says Piyush. He says the app helps fans of niche sports like basketball connect with each other.
Football fan Naresh Dutt, 34, downloaded the app in October and the assistant vice president at an advertising agency in Gurgaon, says Rooter is a stress buster. “Predicting matches gets very addictive and there have been times when I have actually pulled over to the side of the road, while driving, to stop and select my prediction card.”
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What: Rooter App
Where: Available on Google Play Store and App Store
Cost: Free
