The new apps will feature improved functionality, easier login access and smoother navigation, while club specific apps for AFL and NRL fans will tailor information and fan content to the teams users support. These club specific apps will also offer fans the ability to purchase tickets and memberships through their mobile devices, an initiative that resembles features available on globally renowned apps produced by the NBA and NFL.
 
Telstra revealed it had 3.8 million customers using its AFL and NRL apps in September 2016 alone, and is expecting over three million streams per round across both competitions in 2017. Increased consumption of live sports streaming on mobile devices is happening at breakneck speed, with Telstra reporting huge growth across its AFL and NRL products in particular.
 
Telstra saw a 134 per cent increase in the amount of minutes watched of the 2016 AFL Grand Final by its mobile customers compared to the 2015 edition. As such, as well as streaming every AFL match of the 2017 season live and data-free, the company has gone all out by offering its mobile customers full replays of every AFL premiership match since 2010 for free, along with bonus coverage of special events such as the Brownlow medal, AFL draft and Under 18 championships. Additionally, the rapid rise of the new women’s AFL league, live streams of which will also be included in the refurbished AFL app, is also likely to bolster live streaming numbers.
 
The growth of NRL streaming on iOS, Android or other mobile devices is equally impressive, with Telstra citing record-breaking numbers related to the amount of unique views and minutes consumed of an NRL fixture between the Gold Coast Titans and Cronulla Sharks in August 2015. Due to such impressive numbers, Telstra says it has made as many as 120 improvements to its NRL app, including integration with refereeing decisions made via video replay, in-game scoring highlights, extensive player stats and faster sign-in for customers wanting to access live matches on the go. Full replays of every NRL fixture since the 2013 season and other video content such as live press conference are also strong features of the app.
 
On the netball side, the Netball Live app for mobile devices will feature live vision from all four weekly fixtures of Suncorp Super Netball, Australia’s new national competition. Live scores, in-depth stats, replays and behind-the scenes video are also featured, while a netball specific Telstra TV app will broadcast two live games in full HD to TV units.
 
The new apps are available for free to Telstra post-paid mobile customers at Apple’s official app store, or at Google Play for Android users. Non-Telstra customers can also access the apps, but have to pay a subscription fee.

Through the GoodBookey mobile app, available for free on both iOS and Android mobile devices, friends challenge each other to wagers on upcoming sporting fixtures, which are selected from national competitions in the United States. These competitions include the likes of NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB and MLS, as well as college sports events such as NCAA basketball. Like other social betting apps, a user selects their team and bet type on an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or other mobile device, before challenging their friend to take the opposing side of the bet. GoodBookey’s key point of difference, however, is that after selecting their teams and bet types, both bettors hand-pick a charity from a pre-populated list. The losing bettor can then allocate their stake to the winner’s charity of choice.
 
There is no obligation for losing bettors to donate; the app simply encourages them to offer their stake to a pre-selected charity. If they agree, the charity will receive the majority of the stake, with payment processor Stripe taking a small cut, while GoodBookey claims an additional 3% for operating expenses. The losing bettor can also claim a full tax deduction for the entire donation. Partner charities, which are small to medium-sized non-profits that have applied to feature on the app, are not charged any fees. These charities earned $5000 worth of donations in GoodBookey’s first eight months of operation.
 
The impetus of this innovative mobile betting project, according to GoodBookey CEO Tony Pease, is to create a single platform through which sports fans with a philanthropic spirit can wager, socialize and earn social credit. In order to back up his point, Pease cites the United States’ fledgling sports betting market – a $450 billion annual business in the country, $300 billion of which is illegal sports gambling – along with the fact that Americans donated $373 billion to charity in 2016. Because no money is ever exchanged between users through the platform, GoodBookey is also a completely legal mode of sports betting, a fact the company is eager to stress. This is a key selling point that offers peace of mind to many sports bettors, who often opt to circumvent the country’s convoluted gambling regulations in order to place their wagers.
 
GoodBookey is being touted as a complete package, a sports betting app that the company is hoping will entice sports fans and philanthropists alike. And while the tech start-up is still in its infancy, its formula looks to be working as both the user and non-profit partner bases are growing. Another indicator of its early success is that GoodBookey claimed first prize at a competition for emerging tech companies in Paris, earning $110,000 worth of funding in the process. These early success stories signal a promising future for Pease and his team.

The Betting Gods app offers previews with a focus on sports such as soccer, horse racing, golf, and more, with American sports featured to an extent as well. These previews include relevant information on those events as well as free tips from their team. The Free Daily Tips section of the app allows users to check out the selections by the Betting Gods tipsters by date, with focus given to what the best values are for their backers. This is great for bettors, as their free tips allow users to not have to waste their funds buying picks, allowing for more money to be wagered and won instead.

Betting Gods' blog is where you can find more information on the games of interest that are coming up, as well as information on the mechanics of sports betting itself. That is something that more sports betting apps should focus on, as you can have the best picks in the world, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't have the ability to manage your bankroll and avoid straying from the course that leads to profitability.

This app is easy to navigate, with the most important sporting events listed at the top of the first screen, and a menu in the top corner of the screen to get to all of the features that matter most. The Betting Gods app is available on both iPhone and Android devices, and is free to download.

​Thanks to NFL Mobile, fans and NFL bettors can learn more about the Patriots and Falcons than they could have thought possible, and can keep up with Super Bowl LI with up to the minute scores and statistics. Before the game, though, video coverage with NFL Now will keep bettors up to date on team news and other items of interest so informed decisions are made when the time comes to lock in a wager.

NFL Mobile also offers replays of every game that the Patriots and Falcons have played so far this season to NFL Game Pass subscribers, letting bettors watch every single play that both teams have been involved in this season. This can be a major benefit to bettors, who can observe on-field trends for both teams that go beyond just the statistics that both sides carry into the game.

If you are a Verizon customer, you can also stream Super Bowl LI on NFL Mobile, allowing you to find out if it will be Tom Brady or Matt Ryan to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy when all is said and done in Houston, in a game where Roger Goodell is surely hoping that the Falcons can win to save him from the awkwardness of having to hand the trophy to a Patriots team he tried so hard to punish this season.

DOWNLOAD: WWW.NFL.COM/APPS
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Normally, Fox Sports Go users need to use a cable subscription to access the content across all of Fox Sports' properties. But for Super Bowl LI, this year's big game will be streamed for free on the app, allowing Super Bowl LI bettors and everyone else to catch the game through their mobile devices without needed to sign into a provider beforehand, something that is perfect for cord cutters and anyone hoping to catch the game away from home.

Not only will the massive matchup between the Patriots and Falcons be streamed through the Fox Sports Go app for free, it will also be streamed featuring advertising from the local markets in which users stream the game. While it isn't very likely that people streaming the Super Bowl via a mobile app care about the commercials during the game more than they care about the game itself, this is a great touch that will give people who are streaming Super Bowl LI the opportunity to get the full game experience rather than just the game with awkward silences during commercial breaks.

DOWNLOAD: WWW.FOXSPORTS.COM/MOBILE
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​When it comes to US bookmaker apps, Bovada immediately comes to mind as the best. With a wide array of prop bets and a robust number of live in-play offerings, the Bovada app makes betting on Super Bowl LI easy and a game where bettors have plenty of choices. Bovada makes it easy to take part in mobile sports betting, with a full list of features available on their mobile site, so mobile sports bettors are not taking in a lesser experience from their devices.

Bovada offers live in-play betting, props, and futures betting on mobile devices to go along with their pre-game betting options, all of which are especially important during the Super Bowl, when prop betting is more popular than ever. Their markets are the same as what you would see on Bovada's desktop site, which is a selection that has made Bovada one of the preferred online sportsbooks in the world. Users can sign up for an account through Bovada's mobile site, and can make deposits and request payouts on their mobile site as well. Without even having to download an app to use Bovada's mobile sports betting platform, there aren't many more straightforward ways to wager on sports from a mobile device than through Bovada.

DOWNLOAD: WWW.BOVADA.LV/APPS
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With betting lines being so dependent on who is betting on what as kickoff draws closer, it is imperative for sports bettors to keep an eye on those numbers constantly. Sports Insights makes it easy for Super Bowl LI bettors to know exactly what the public is betting on as wagers continue to roll in on the most wagered on game of the year, so that they can make the most informed decision possible leading up to a game that carries so much more weight than the rest of the season in terms of the amount wagered on the contest.

Sports Insights offers a number of services to mobile sports betting enthusiasts, some of which require a subscription to access. But even the free services offered on their app are extremely valuable and can help bettors gain an edge. Percentages as far as who is betting on which side of the Super Bowl are available for free at Sports Insights, and allow bettors to look at who the public is on throughout the time leading right up to kickoff. Line movement information is also available, so bettors can see how the line has changed throughout Super Bowl week and use that knowledge to their advantage.

DOWNLOAD: WWW.SPORTSINSIGHTS.COM/APPS
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​FanDuel is the best fantasy sports betting app available, and will have action available to players for Super Bowl LI, with a twist. Due to the draconian laws surrounding sports betting in the United States, daily fantasy sports sites such as FanDuel are not allowed to offer one-day fantasy contests for single games such as the Super Bowl. This means that FanDuel has to tether its Super Bowl fantasy sports betting to another game, and that is where the Pro Bowl came into play.

The deadline for FanDuel's Super Bowl fantasy sports betting contests was Sunday, January 29th, which is the date of the NFL Pro Bowl. This allowed players to put together a lineup from two different games, which helped to keep those contests legal under the current system of anti-gambling laws in the United States. Of course, it would have been foolish to select a bunch of Pro Bowl players on your FanDuel roster given how inconsistent the playing time for those players is, as well as how strong the defenses are in the Pro Bowl, as evidenced by this year's low scoring game. All in all, this was a clever workaround to get the Super Bowl involved in daily fantasy sports betting, but the tradeoff is that your lineup better have been submitted already.

DOWNLOAD:  WWW.FANDUEL.COM
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​Like a combination between Periscope and the ESPN app, Fancred takes the ability to stream from any location and puts it to good use for those looking for an alternative perspective of their favorite sporting events. With Fancred, users can either stream their opinions on the game via live video from wherever they are, or they can stream live video from the game itself, allowing fans to watch the game from outside of the confines of whatever a broadcaster wants to show you at Super Bowl LI. And yes, this does free you from having to listen to Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

In addition to Fancred's video streaming capabilities, the app also allows you to get live scores, stats, and other details on Super Bowl LI. Your activities on the app are captured into your fan profile, which gives other users an idea as to who you are and what you enjoy as a sports fan. Users with similar interests can add each other into their respective crews, where they can celebrate their similar fandom, make fun of Tom Brady, among countless other things that like-minded sports fans do.

DOWNLOAD:  WWW.FANCRED.COM
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For mobile bitcoin sports betting, Nitrogen Sports is the way to go heading into Super Bowl LI. With the convenience of using Nitrogen Sports, combined with the Super Bowl markets they are offering, there are plenty of reasons to use Nitrogen Sports as your bitcoin sports betting headquarters for this year's Super Bowl.

Nitrogen Sports offers a minimum bet of .001 BTC, with maximums on the spread and total of the game sitting at 16 BTC just a week before the game. That leaves plenty of room for recreational bettors to put a dollar on the game with a minimum bet, as well as flexibility for bettors to put over $10,000 on the Super Bowl if they feel inclined to do so.

It is incredibly easy to make deposits and withdrawals at Nitrogen Sports, with smaller deposits and withdrawals taking as little as one confirmation before being completed, allowing mobile bitcoin sports bettors to get things moving almost instantly. 

With an anonymous platform to place sports bets on, Nitrogen Sports will offer both live betting, prop bets, and alternate lines on this year's Super Bowl, which makes them a strong choice with which to place your Super Bowl LI wagers.

DOWNLOAD: WWW.NITROGENSPORTS.EU
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​Have you ever wanted to bet on sports, but preferred to bet against your less knowledgeable friends than against the genius bookmakers in Las Vegas? If so, Bait is perfect for you. A peer-to-peer betting app, Bait allows mobile sports bettors to take on their friends for bragging rights (and cash) instead of hoping to beat the house in a useful version of the social betting apps that are growing in popularity as they evolve.

Bait users can import the contacts directly from their mobile devices to take on those who already have the app immediately. If contacts don't have the Bait app, they can be invited into the app and, once they download it, can start setting up wagers against their friends. Their platform allows users to keep track of who they are owed money from and who owes them money, as well as the reputations of other users within the app, so you know whether or not someone will pay up before you engage them in a wager. With real-time score updates and instant messaging features also available in the app, Bait is a great way to keep track of Super Bowl LI and to bet on it with your friends.

DOWNLOAD:  WWW.THEBAITAPP.COM

 
AFL Live Vision Courtesy of CrownBet
Online bookmaker CrownBet is a relative newcomer to mobile betting circles Down Under, but as shown through its AFL Live Vision service the company is making a big impact.
 
Available exclusively to customers with the CrownBet iOS or Android app on their mobile device, AFL Live Vision provides a free live stream of every Australian rules football match during the regular season, along with the finals series and Grand Final.
 
The move was made possible thanks to CrowBet being the AFL’s official bookmaker, and represents a major coup for the company. In a congested sporting market in which Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union, soccer and cricket compete for audience share, AFL matches garner more TV viewers and betting activity than the other major sporting codes.
 
Offering a live stream of the country’s biggest sport, for free, straight to a customer’s iPhone or Samsung Galaxy is unparalleled globally.

Geared toward more casual bettors, Bookee takes a lot of the analysis out of iPhone and Android sports betting. Showing a series of bets on your screen one at a time based on a sport or category selected by the user, users can swipe to decide whether or not they want to take those wagers, selecting their stake via a slider. Instead of researching and line shopping, all Bookee users have to do is decide whether they agree or disagree with what is on the screen and then hope for the best. Bookee will also be able to use bettors' preferences to serve them bets that cater to those preferences. 

Parlay betting is also possible within Bookee in a couple of different ways. While users can create their own parlays by simply stacking bets that they swiped an interest in, the curated parlay feature is much more interesting as suggested parlays are presented to the user for them to simply approve or move on from.

Bookee's Splitbet feature is also an innovative one, as players can split their wager with a friend through the app, which is a much easier way of splitting a bet than having to rely on your friend to keep everything on the straight and narrow at a physical betting window.

As of now, Bookee is available for iPhone and other iOS devices, and is coming soon to Android devices.

Mr. Fixits Tips gives users a number of different sports betting tips, whether it is his Daily Double or in-play selections during matches as they are going on. Of course, in-play tips wouldn't be very useful unless they were delivered in a timely fashion, which makes the use of push notifications in this app so smart. Users can be notified of Mr. Fixits picks in real time, allowing them to go place a wager before the odds change too much or a match shifts to where an offering is taken off the board entirely.

As with any mobile sports betting environment, getting the best possible odds is essential to long-term success. That is why Mr. Fixits Tips quotes the best possible odds across a number of sportsbooks, to ensure the best payouts for those who back the picks made in the app.

Users are also able to look back at the Mr. Fixits Tips app to track the results of previous tips in a hassle-free way, allowing bettors to see what kind of form the tipster is on. This also provides a measure of accountability and lets bettors know that Mr. Fixits Tips is a trustworthy source of free sports betting tips. 

And, like you would with one of your friends who passed a winning bet along to you, Mr. Fixits Tips allows you to buy a beer for the tipster with the touch of a button, which really is the best way to thank someone for helping you to make a little extra cash.

Mr. Fixits Tips is available on iPhone in the UK.  The Android app is global and can be downloaded from the Mr Fixit Tips website. 

But the Australian government saw such initiatives as attempts to circumvent the country’s live sports betting regulations, which state that such bets can only be made by calling a bookmaker.
 
With stricter rules enforced, bettors seeking to make an in-play wager via their computer, tablet or smartphone will have to call the bookmaker, which can still be done from inside bookmakers’ mobile apps.
 
The move is a blow to online bookmakers Down Under, who have seen as much as six per cent of their Australian revenues generated by live play products.
 
It has, however, failed to deter some online betting businesses, who have already started rolling out new live betting products.
 
One such example is William Hill’s Double Down in-play feature. Launched by the Aussie sports betting site ahead of the 2016 spring racing carnival in Melbourne, Double Down allows players to match their current bets during a horse race at pre-race odds. With a single tap on their iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Windows Phone or other mobile device, bettors can double their stake during a race they feel their horse is likely to win.
 
The move is a clear indication that, in the face of stricter in-play sports betting regulations from the Australian government, online bookmakers remain determined to push boundaries through new products that appeal to live sports bettors. 

In the UK alone, the race triggered the largest amount of online Bitcoin betting activity for a non-sporting event, exceeding the online wagering hype generated by Brexit earlier in the year.
 
Whether on their iPhone/iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Windows Phone or other mobile device, new and existing customers flocked to Bitcoin sportsbooks such as BitBet, Predictous, and Fairlay to check US election odds, compare betting lines and place their wagers. Each of these companies reported a surge in online betting activity during the race, with Trump backers ending up the biggest winners and netting approximately 2000 Bitcoin overall, according to Fairlay.
 
The Bitcoin betting activity leading up to the November 8 result was by far larger than that of the US presidential election four years earlier, when the cryptocurrency had only started finding its way into online betting circles. Its impact has since expanded significantly, with an increasing amount of online sports bookmakers across the US and Europe allowing their customers to deposit, bet and withdraw with Bitcoin funds.
 
Bitcoin looks poised to continue its expansion across online gambling markets, with both bookmakers and customers sighting increased privacy, a reduction in credit card fraud and chargebacks, as well as faster transactions and customer sign-ups, as a key reason for using it when placing and accepting online bets. ​

​Puntaa is an Australian app that combines the sports betting and reporting that mobile sports betting enthusiasts are after with the old school feel of throwing down fives with buddies at school. The app offers custom wagering options in terms of odds and amounts, meaning that you can wager at even odds even if the real sportsbook odds for a game are different than that. While Puntaa does take a commission from these wagers, not necessarily having to wager on a team at -250 odds if a friend wants to wager straight up is a nice feature to have.

What is the most appealing about Puntaa, though, is its ewallet feature, which allows you to look at a record of your transactions throughout your time using the app to see where your wins came from and what mistakes you made on losses so you can avoid them going forward, much to the dismay of your friends.  Right now Puntaa is only available for social betting in Australia.

DOWNLOAD: PUNTAA iPHONE - PUNTAA ANDROID

The social aspect of social betting is fully embraced by EveryFan, whose app offers tournaments with leaderboards that look more similar to daily fantasy sports contests, only with picking winners like you would in a more traditional mobile sports betting environment. These tournaments have customizable entry fees, making the stakes vary based on what you want to risk against your friends. The better your picks perform, the higher on the leaderboard you end up, and the higher your payout at the end.

EveryFan's coolest feature, though, is its chat feature, which truly puts the social into social betting. With this chat feature, you are able to interact with the other participants in your tournaments as games are going on, providing entertaining reactions as players' picks win or lose. It is clear that EveryFan wanted to make their social betting app fun for truly every fan, and appear to have done so thanks to features like this one.

​DOWNLOAD: EVERYFAN iPHONE - EVERYFAN ANDROID

​WantMyBet is an interesting app that allows you to manage your accounts across multiple betting sites from one place, while adding a social aspect by letting users track their bets by entering them into WantMyBet and compare their results to those of others.  WantMyBet then lets users see a leaderboard where they can see which players are performing well and interact with them as well as tipsters across their platform.

They also offer weekly contests, with winners claiming cash prizes, as well as a wide pool of tipsters that users can track at their discretion within the app.  Users are encouraged to look at a tipster's bet history to track those that are performing well for tailing purposes. While not social in the same sense as EveryFan, WantMyBet is social in the sense of building a community around your sports betting picks, in a more business oriented social environment.

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