The NFL is unquestionably the most popular sports league in America, but it has been slow in making its presence felt on the iPhone. Major League Baseball and the NBA have both released generally well-received officially licensed iPhone apps, but outside of the iPhone game genre, we’ve seen next to nothing from the football giant.
With that in mind, the Super Bowl XLIV Official NFL Game Program iPhone app ($4.99) is an exciting effort based on the fact that it’s one of the few iPhone apps that can use the words “official” and “NFL” in the same sentence.
It’s also a rarity in that it’s a digital game program, which is something I don’t believe we’ve seen in the iTunes App Store. And because the Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event of the year, this is one of the biggest game programs you will find.
The iPhone app is truly heavy on content, with team rosters, season recaps, player photos and bios and just about everything else you would expect. It also has plenty of articles about the Saints and Colts, as well as past Super Bowls.
The Super Bowl XLIV Official NFL Game Program iPhone app even includes a program for the 2010 Pro Bowl, and while it doesn’t have as much information as the Super Bowl program does, it’s not a waste of memory either. The Pro Bowl section has this year’s rosters, as well as all-time rosters in addition to past results.
When you add everything together, the league did a nice job of putting together a detailed game program iPhone app. And if that’s all you’re looking for from this $4.99 download, then I have no doubt you will be pleased.
But it makes very little sense as an iPhone app. There are no videos or even audio files, quite a disappointment for a pricey iPhone app. The iPhone app does have a live scoring section for the game, but it’s just a link the NFL.com game center page.
Call me crazy, but if you wanted a game program to remember Super Bowl XLIV by, why not just try and get the real thing? And if that’s not an option, then surely there is another that is better than this.
If this same iPhone app were to cover an entire season and include updated scores and articles, I would think it was overpriced but interesting. As a one-time digital keepsake, I have to admit I simply don’t get it.
