Yahoo launches men’s college basketball content for mobile

By Giselle Abramovich

March 19, 2008

Hoops of joy from Yahoo fans

Yahoo has rolled out a three-fold offering for mobile users interested in up-to-date information on men’s college basketball.

Fans can access information on the 65 teams competing for the men’s basketball national championship through the new Men’s College Hoops mobile widget, available to users of Yahoo Go 3.0.

“This is something where it’s a unique event with a lot of passion around it,” said Lucas Mast, spokesman at Yahoo, Sunnyvale, CA. “We saw this as an opportunity to bring really specific information to mobile users who really need and want this information to be kept in the loop.”

Fans can get information on the mobile tournament site at http://m.yahoo.com/ncaa.  Yahoo oneSearch also has been specially configured to bring users content to coincide with their men’s college basketball-related searches.

Mobile users can browse the mobile Web on their device and view features developed for both the Men’s College Basketball mobile widget and Yahoo oneSearch. Users will have features such as mobile alerts and content from Yahoo Sports and Rivals.com. 

“Users away from their television sets and computers will have their mobile devices with them at all times to get the best content during the tournament,” Mr. Mast said.

The Men’s College Hoops mobile widget allows users to get continuous updates and information from the scores, news, schedules and images.

Since launching the Yahoo Mobile Developer Platform earlier this year, the drive to the basket has been strong. Starting with anchor partners such as eBay, MySpace and MTV News, Yahoo Mobile Widgets are adding new players at a fast pace.

Automaker Jaguar North America is teaming up with Yahoo Mobile as a key advertiser throughout the duration of the 2008 NCAA Men's Final Four Tournament.

"Jaguar's first venture into mobile advertising with Yahoo to promote the launch of the new 2009 XF Sedan was a success," said Marti Eulberg, vice president of sales and marketing for Jaguar North America, in a statement.

Yahoo Mobile customers will be able to access the latest Jaguar advertising campaigns via their mobile devices throughout the duration of the tournament.

“At Yahoo we feel that the mobile channel is specifically situated for this type of information and situation,” Mr. Mast said.