Aircel Chennai Open Organizer IMG Reliance Taps CrowdOptic to Launch Focus-Based Services in India to Enhance Fans' Experience at the Aircel Chennai Open

SAN FRANCISCO and CHENNAI, India, Dec. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IMG Reliance, promoter of sporting and entertainment assets in India, and CrowdOptic, creator of crowd driven mobile solutions, announce their partnership to deploy CrowdOptic mobile technology at the Aircel Chennai Open, India's only and South Asia's premier ATP World Tour.

IMG Reliance will use CrowdOptic Technology to create an enhanced spectator experience, including the ability to receive live player statistics during the action through mobile phones. The analysis of data collected will eventually give the IMG Reliance and Aircel Chennai Open team the ability to offer fans "Focus-Based Services" to create an even more in-depth experience.

"As a global leader in sports and entertainment management, we are always looking for ways to Enhance In-Venue Experience for our fans and create value for all stakeholders. CrowdOptic's mobile technology can be used to create an immersive fan experience," said IMG Reliance's COO Ashu Jindal. "CrowdOptic is first-of-its-kind technology which tracks the crowd's focus by collecting real time data about where individuals are pointing their mobile phone."

"IMG Reliance and the Aircel Chennai Open are raising the bar on using mobile technology to enhance the live, in-venue sporting event experience, and we are extremely pleased to be their technology provider for pioneering mobile Focus-Based Services," said CrowdOptic CEO Jon Fisher.

About CrowdOptic

CrowdOptic technology, which debuted in live sports at the Bank of the West Classic tennis tournament in July 2011, allows sponsors, advertisers and event organizers to monitor shifts in crowd attention and use that information either to silently improve operations, or to roll out hyper-targeted Focus-Based Services. With Focus-Based Services, fans sitting elbow-to-elbow in a stadium may simultaneously receive completely different ads, broadcasts and offers on their mobile phones based on what attracts their interests. More information about CrowdOptic technology is available at www.crowdoptic.com.

About Aircel Chennai Open 2012

The USD 450,000 Aircel Chennai Open, operated and organised by IMG Reliance, is India's only and South Asia's premier ATP World Tour Open 250 event. Started in 1996, by IMG, a global leader in sports management and marketing,  the event has completed sixteen successful years of existence, branding Chennai and India on the global tennis map thus creating a legacy of sorts of promoting international tennis in India. Winner of the prestigious ATP's Player Services Award of Excellence (2006) for its outstanding organization and wonderful hospitality towards the participants and ATP's Best Marketing Award (2008), the tournament has acquired the status of a much sought-after tennis event for both players and fans alike in the International tennis circuit. The 17th edition of, Aircel Chennai Open 2012 will be held from 2 to 8 January 2012 at the SDAT Tennis stadium in Nungambakkam, Chennai. The tournament is conducted in Chennai under the aegis of the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and is organised with the active collaboration of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) and Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA).

About IMG Reliance

In 2010 Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India's largest and most recognized private sector company  headed by Chairman Mukesh Ambani, and IMG Worldwide (IMG), the world's leading sports marketing and management company  headed  by Chairman and CEO Michael Dolan, announced the formation of an equal joint venture to develop, market and manage sports and entertainment in India. The joint venture company, IMG Reliance Pvt. Ltd. will create and operate major sports and entertainment assets in the country.  In its first initiative, IMG Reliance entered into an agreement with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) to create a new professional basketball league and manage all aspects of the commercial rights to the game in India. IMG Reliance signed a 15-year agreement with the AIFF, to improve, popularize and promote the game of football throughout India, from the grassroots to the professional level.  IMG Reliance has also created a scholarship program to identify and train talented young Indians from sports including - basketball, soccer and tennis–at IMG's world-class sports training facilities at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Florida.

SOURCE CrowdOptic