Have you ever been sitting in the stands of a football game and wished you could have your own instant replay? Now you can, thanks to FanVision, a portable device that 10 NFL teams will begin using this season to communicate directly to fans at live games.
Similar to Sprint's FanView for NASCAR races, FanVision is meant to enhance your live experience with things like replays, statistics and interactivity — sort of like the digital version of those game-program magazines. The gadget has a 4.5-inch screen on which fans can take their pick from 10 channels to keep up with other games or see different angles on the one they're watching (including, predictably, a cheerleader cam). Oh, and it costs $200.
Right away that puts FanVision only into the hands of really hardcore fans (or the people in luxury boxes who will be getting it for free, natch). If you're only going to a few games a season, the expense obviously isn't worth it.
Honestly, I think this is the wrong model to go with for this concept. A smartphone can replicate most if not all of the capabilities of the FanVision — why not just create an app? Even if it costs $10 (expensive for an app), I could see tons of casual fans downloading it right from the stands. But as a standalone device, FanVision has "niche product" written all over it.
