KlickSports, a provider of live, sports-based interactive prediction gaming, is targeting sports fans to join and compete via its multi-platform offering in time for the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.

During the Super Bowl, consumers can participate in predictive gaming for sports enthusiasts via both online and mobile formats. With KlickSports, members connect and compete with friends and other fans to make predictions, support their teams and show off their knowledge about various leagues including college football and basketball teams, pro baseball, pro football and auto racing.

"We've been trialing this for quite a while, and we had a soft launch at the end of November with college basketball and football bowl games," said Jose daVeiga, CEO of KlickSports, Los Angeles. "Brands include our message in their existing marketing efforts, word has been spreading through Twitter, Facebook and word of mouth, and now we're doing a big thing with the Super Bowl.

"We started seeding it and getting feedback, we've made lots of upgrades, and now we're ready," he said. "We're always improving, always changing and fixing things, and always adding new things.

"We have a game that is playable across many platforms."

To participate in the sports-based prediction gaming, consumers can visit the KlickSports site at http://www.klicksports.com/promo/1271.

KlickSports unveiled its offering after two years of stealth trials and beta development.

In Feb. 2008, the company secured $1.2 million in an initial round of funding and has since experienced a number of milestones, including the addition of MLB, NCAA basketball and soon soccer to the roster of games.

KlickSports debuted the SMS game in-venue at the Alamo Bowl in 2006, with AT&T and Valero, operators of Diamond Shamrock, as sponsors. The campaign included announcements via the JumboTron and the PA system with mobile calls-action.

The in-venue announcements included multiple choice questions with a three-letter keyword code for each response. Consumers were instructed to text in the correct answer to a short code.

They repeated that initiative in 2007 at five other bowl games.

In addition, KlickSports deployed the mobile component of a Fox Sports college basketball campaign and a 12-week radio and online campaign with Kentucky Fried Chicken in Hawaii.

KlickSports ran a one-week SMS promotion for Fox during the NCAA Paradise Jam basketball tournament.
Fox used the initiative to promote its cable partners.

Depending on the area code of consumers' mobile phone number, ads promoting a different cable companies were sent out to consumers living within their territory.

The promotion with KFC, called the University of Hawaii Football Challenge, included radio ads and a trivia game.

Consumers that answered a question via SMS were immediately entered into a sweepstakes to attend a sports game.

There were online banner ads which linked to a microsite supporting the campaign. Consumers could also register their mobile phone numbers online to join the promotion.

During University of Hawaii football games, KlickSports sent out KFC mobile coupons.

Every SMS message was branded for KFC. The campaign ran for 3 months.

Most recently, KlickSports enabled game play that is availability on Instant Messenger, SMS and feeds posted to Twitter.

KlickSports is supporting its growth initiatives by offering tech-savvy fans live games that are less time consuming than traditional fantasy sports methods and present active game play, in-game scoring and leader boards, micro-blogging, custom leagues, daily game schedules, socializing and interactivity.

The company is aiming to capture a portion of the $1.1 billion projected online sports ad revenues and $6.5 billion mobile ad industry by 2011, as sponsors want consumer engagement.

KlickSports' goal is to deliver meaningful and relevant mobile content that fans respond to and that brands can leverage.

KlickSports is currently offering immediate participation in the Super Bowl by visiting http://www.klicksports.com/promo/1271, followed by a March Madness Challenge, where fans play along with a single team in each region during every round through the final.

Fans predict team and player stats live during the game and play against their friends and other fans for points and prizes.

To join, consumers can visit http://www.KlickSports.com.

"SMS is probably the lowest common denominator, the friendliest way to reach target audiences while trying to provide something that is of use to sports fans," Mr. daVeiga said. "Our game works as an interactive, casual experience -- people get questions related to the event they're attending.

"We send just the right amount of messages so people get the information they care about -- the questions are based on intelligence so we know we're sending relevant messages," he said. "SMS is the least intrusive and most useful medium for sports fans."

KlickSports also has an iPhone application in the works, and the company is currently looking into Android.

"Sports fans have an emotional connection to prize they win, so they redeem it," Mr. daVeiga said. "We ran a campaign for Steve & Barry's sports apparel, and they saw a 26 percent redemption rate within a month.

"Consumers can post their predictions on Twitter, and we're preparing a Facebook app," he said. "We're using social networks as a platform for people to express their preferences and predictions related to sports, and that's been working out really well for us."