PlayUp Named Official Fan Engagement Partner of Fordham Athletics

NEW YORK, Jan. 26, 2012  /PRNewswire/ -- PlayUp, the first social network app exclusively for sports fans, socializers and gamers, announced today its partnership with Fordham Athletics, becoming the Official Fan Engagement Partner of Fordham Athletics. This is the first of a series of initiatives in college athletics that PlayUp will be rolling out in the upcoming months.

PlayUp is promoting its innovative mobile app at four upcoming men's basketball Saturday afternoon home games at the historic Rose Hill Gymnasium that will each be televised on the Yankees Entertainment and Sports (YES) Network, a New York City-based regional cable television channel known for its broadcasts of New York Yankees and New Jersey Nets games, in addition to other various regional sporting events.

The partnership kicks off on Jan. 28th vs. George Washington University and also includes games on Feb. 4th vs. University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Feb. 11th vs. Dayton University, and Feb. 25th vs. La Salle University. As part of this sponsorship, PlayUp will have television spots appear on YES, and the company will also conduct several in-game promotions such as contests, prizes and on-site app demonstrations.

"We are very pleased to be Fordham Athletics' Official Fan Engagement Partner," said David Brody, PlayUp U.S. Head of Marketing. "This partnership will help Fordham fans, friends, family and alumni alike, connect worldwide over Fordham Athletics. Even if they're hundreds or thousands of miles away, they can hangout together in the PlayUp app. Our app breaks down geographical barriers and allows real interaction between fans all over the globe."

"PlayUp is a very unique service that allows fans who cannot attend Fordham games in person to actively chat on their mobile device while following the action," said Julio Diaz, Associate Athletic Director/Marketing and Promotions, Fordham Athletics. "We are excited to name PlayUp as our Official Fan Engagement Partner and look forward to working with them to grow interest in our exciting basketball program."

The Fordham Rams men's basketball team is a NCAA Division I program and a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. It began competing in 1902 and has participated in four NCAA tournaments. For more information, visit www.fordhamsports.com.

PlayUp launched in October and enables sports fans to follow their choice of more than 25,000 live games while simultaneously discussing the action with fellow fans on their mobile devices. The free app includes real-time scoring and stats, along with the option to create private rooms to discuss the action with friends or join public rooms to interact with fans from around the world – play by play and pitch by pitch – for every NFL, college football and basketball, NHL, NBA, MLB, and MLS game, as well as a variety of international leagues from around the globe. A recently launched web-based version allows usage of the platform by laptop and desktop computer users.

For more information on PlayUp, please visit www.playup.com. The PlayUp app can be downloaded in the iTunes Store.

About PlayUp:

PlayUp specializes in building mobile communities around sports. The company was founded by Australian entrepreneurs Luke Bunbury and George Tomeski in 2007 to develop mobile-based sports/social gaming applications. In 2010, PlayUp games were distributed in more than 20 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. In 2011, PlayUp launched the first mobile-based social network dedicated to live sports. The resulting PlayUp social network is the first real-time, mass-market social gaming platform enabling users globally to interact via their mobile devices during live games. For more information, visit http://www.playup.com

SOURCE PlayUp