Mobile app turbocharges the racing fan experience

Technology delivers a winning edge

“Given the amount of technology that goes into our highly sophisticated INDYCAR racing machines and the support of their pit operations, it’s most fitting that a world-leading technology company like NTT is both our Title and Technology Partner,” says Jay Frye, INDYCAR president. “In fact, with each race car having more than 100 sensors, a typical race will generate about 1 billion data points per hour during a 3-hour race.” He adds that more than 100 individuals in a race’s paddock area are dedicated to analyzing telemetry data coming from the cars during a race.

Frye points out that the most important stakeholders in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES are its many fans. “We have nearly 70 million INDYCAR fans worldwide, connected via broadcast TV, radio and satellite coverage,” he says. “Every year, for example, our Indianapolis 500 race in late May is available to 344 million homes worldwide. Plus, more than 300,000 people attend the race itself.”

Enhancing the fan experience

To keep growing numbers of fans engaged (whether attending races in person or watching on television), the NTT INDYCAR SERIES developed the INDYCAR Mobile App. Free and available globally on both Android and iOS devices, the app brings the races, results and team standings to fans, helping to build community among them. It also encourages them to attend races, tune into race broadcasts, and stay abreast of news about their favorite teams, drivers and their cars — during race weekends, between races and during the off-season.

“The INDYCAR Mobile App provides a two-screen viewing experience for fans watching a race at home or at the track,” says Frye. “You can tune into your favorite driver’s radio channel and listen in real time as the spotter and strategists talk to the driver. In-car cameras provide video on-demand. It’s core to our efforts to redesign the fan experience, to make it the best possible, at a race or at home. It also helps us attract younger fans, who have come to expect these kinds of apps.”

Fast app development delivers on time

Before the start of the 2019 racing season, INDYCAR management and its IT team faced many challenges including the significant challenge of migrating the entire mobile app onto a scalable, cloud-based platform. It had to not only seamlessly update all of the past features but add enhancements to features, such as real-time telemetry, track maps and a live leader board. Additionally, they wanted to boost the capacity of concurrent users to exceed 50,000 per race with an ultimate goal of doubling that to over 100,000.

“We only had six months before our first race in March, when the new INDYCAR Mobile App had to be ready, which meant fully tested and deployed on the Apple App Store and Google Play,” says Rebecca Ruselink, CIO of Penske Entertainment, owners of INDYCAR, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “So, for help, we naturally turned to our partner, NTT and their services group from NTT DATA.”

To embrace a fan-first approach, NTT DATA’s customer experience team collaborated with key members of Ruselink’s team to scope out the requirements, prioritize and marshal the proper resources both domestically and globally, and deliver the all-new INDYCAR Mobile App version in time. “It’s an incredibly complex application,” Ruselink says. “But, fortunately, NTT DATA had the breadth, depth and scale to develop, test and deliver it on time by leveraging accelerators, using proven development frameworks and libraries, and building scalable infrastructure.”

New INDYCAR Mobile App gets the checkered flag

From 2019 until today, and into the future, the INDYCAR Mobile App has proven itself a winner, delivering real-time race day data to as many as 100,000 concurrent fan. App usage is up 15% year over year, with longer on average user sessions. And the app has achieved high user ratings in both the Apple App Store and Google Play.

As Frye sees it, “With INDYCAR Mobile, we were able to provide our growing fan base with a great experience that we can scale and continue to develop even more features [for,] with NTT DATA’s expert assistance. It will help us grow our fan base even more, especially for the next generation of fans, and keep them engaged no matter where they are, all year round.”