The University’s Athletic department launched a brand new “Bison Nation” mobile app. The app was created in partnership with Learfield IMG College, a large collegiate sports marketing company. Powered by SIDEARM Sports, which also serves as the host of the University’s official athletics website (BucknellBison.com), the app is compatible with iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

This new rendition is a replacement for the older versions of the Bison Nation apps, which primarily functioned as rewards apps. The new app still provides sponsorship opportunities for the University’s corporate partners, while providing a more robust and versatile user experience. It includes various new features: customizable notifications, full schedules of athletic events, live-streamed scores, stats and play-by-play information, behind-the-scenes videos and highlights from Bison Athletics, radio broadcasts of football and basketball games, and links to social media pages. Additionally, the app provides team-specific content such as rosters, team stores, athletic staff directories and COVID-19 updates.

“This is beneficial because much of the content that goes on the website (stories, schedules, rosters, etc.) automatically populates on the app,” Associate Director of Athletics and Athletic Communications Jon Terry’ 93 said.

Upon downloading the app, students, faculty and staff have the option to log into their University emails, while all users have the option to create an account. Next, users are prompted to select the sports teams they would like to follow and receive information about. There is also the option to “participate in location-based experiences,” which will allow users to join in on special experiences when attending games and sporting events. Terry noted that “while watching a basketball game, for example, a fan could follow along with the statistics in real time, contribute to social media posts, check player bios, and even listen to the live radio call.”

The home page houses feature articles of the most recent event for each sport in season, a link to “You HERD it Here,” the official University athletic department podcast which often highlights coaches and players, links to the “Bucknell Athletics” Twitter, general articles on the athletic department, an interview with student athletes and other special articles.

The next tab is a schedule of all sporting events for the day as well as a full-monthly calendar. The “You” tab has a list of the sports teams the user follows, along with the option to follow others. Next is “Bison Vision,” which is where live streaming of sporting events and other videos from teams can be found. The last tab is “Audio” and it features recorded broadcast from games and matches.

“One of the features that we are excited about is the ability for fans to receive alerts and notifications. Users can select their favorite sports and receive automated alerts when there is breaking news or a game goes final,” Terry said.

If an extra incentive to download the app is needed, the 100th and 200th individuals to download the app and become a registered user will receive a Bison prize pack that includes a tee shirt, hat and Dunkin’ gift card and tumbler. “It’s a great way to download team schedules so everyone knows when games are taking place, and once sports resume, we anticipate having special promotions targeted to students,” Terry said.