25 Superb Sports Apps for the iPad: "
The Sports category is another full and continually growing one in the App Store these days. It can be tough wading through all the apps for the best ones, so I’ve attempted to pull out some of my favorites for you.
This category is fairly broad so I’ve included a mix of different types of sports applications and even threw in some games. I’m sure I’ve missed some great ones out there, but these are some that I’ve particularly enjoyed and found useful.
News and Scores
Sports Illustrated Magazine
SI is technically free, but you will need to actually purchase by the issue. If you’re a subscriber you’ll receive free iPad issues. This magazine on the iPad is a pretty engaging experience. Along with the already great SI magazine content you’ll get media enhancements such as slideshows and videos mixed right in. The magazine itself is great, but I will say it really is a whole different experience on the iPad.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: Time Inc.
NBC Sports Talk
NBC Sports Talk brings you tons of news, rumors, and analysis of pro football, baseball, hockey, golf, college football and inside info on the Irish. It’s easy to quickly keep up to date with the major sports with this application. The news keeps flowing in indicating how long ago each story was posted.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: NBC Universal, Inc.
MLB At Bat 11
A fairly expensive application, but almost a must have for any hardcore baseball fan. A very full featured, well thought out application that brings everything from game casts, radio broadcasts, video highlights, stats and more to your iPad. You can read an in-depth review I wrote last month here.
Price: $14.99
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later
Developer: MLB.com
NBA Game Time Courtside
This application was designed to help you follow the 2011 NBA playoffs. It is a stunningly beautiful application that will provide you with just about every bit of information you could possibly want to know about the 2011 http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=kA8hpmfqRAo&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Fapp%252Fscorecenter-xl%252Fid364269626%253Fmt%253D8%2526uo%253D4%2526partnerId%253D30playoffs.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: NBA Digital
ScoreCenter XL
Coming from ESPN you can image the plethora of well done content. A mix of news, videos, scores and the iconic bottom line will keep you well informed. Some customization features round this one out as a fantastic sports news application.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: ESPN
MLS MatchDay 2011
If you’re a soccer fan, or more specifically an MLS fan you’ll enjoy getting individual and complete game highlights along with news, scores, and the like for free from you iPad. It is also possible to watch live games, but you’ll need to be a subscriber to do that.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later
Developer: Major League Soccer
CBS Sports Pro Football
A great option for all of you NFL fans out there. This application will give you access to the CBS GameTracker along with scores and news. You’ll also have access to streaming video which includes game previews, highlights, recaps and interviews. You can also control your CBSSportsline.com fantasy teams from this application.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: CBS Interactive
Yahoo! Sportacular HD
A favorite sports application makes its way to the iPad. The interface will feel familiar if you’re an iPhone user. You are able to view news, scores and stats throughout the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and college football and basketball.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: Yahoo!
SportsTap
SportsTap is a fairly basic sports news application that gives you access to news, scores, photos and other information of many sports. This application is one of the more basic ones we’ve looked at so far, but it does have access to more sports than any other and also has a feature to search for local sports news based on your location.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later
Developer: SportsTap
NHL GameCenter 2010 Premium
This application is for all the hockey fans out there. The season is nearing and end so this one may not be completely worth it this year, but it will definitely be of some benefit for the rest of the playoffs.
Lots of great stuff going on with features like live game radion and in-game video highlights. Along with that you’ll get all the stuff you’d expect like news, scores, schedules, and standings, among other things. This is the most full featured hockey app available and I’m sure they’ll have an updated version with even more goodies for us next season.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: National Hockey League
theScore
This application will give you many of the goodies available in the ones previously mentioned. The application covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL as a default with the capability to add many other more obscure ones (at least to me). You’ll have access to scores and news as well.
A couple things that set this one apart are access to original videos on various topics along with content from six of theScore blogs.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: TheScore
Tools
Giant Scoreboard
This is a fun, simple sports related tool. You can keep score of whatever you want on your own personal scoreboard. The size of the iPad works great in this situation and shows yet another interesting use of the device. No more will you have to worry about how to keep score the next time a random game of street ball breaks out.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: Benzak
Nike Football+ Team Edition
This is a football (soccer) instructional application. It is a very cool use for the iPad and one that maybe isn’t completely evident. You’re able to view full screen videos of drills and also add videos from different sections to a customized training program.
It is also possible to choose from some professionally curated training programs. I’m not a football player, but I have to say, this app is cool.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: Nike, Inc.
Golfplan with Paul Azinger
Golfplan also lies in the instructional category. As you can guess, golf is the subject and the instructor is pro golfer Paul Azinger. The application will ask you some questions to narrow in on what you’d like to work on and create a training plan, or Golfplan, if you will. Videos are used to show the drills that are assigned each day.
Price: $0.99
Requires: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.2 or later
Developer: Shotzoom Software
Baseball Gameplan with Jason Giambi
Another instructional iPad application. As you can tell, using your iPad as an educational tool, even with sports, is a great use for it. Baseball Gameplan allows you to create a basic training plan (upgrade required for more advanced plan options) and uses videos to display the drills. You’re able to keep track of what you have completed as part of your customized training plan. A great app for someone learning the game of baseball.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1 or later
Developer: Shotzoom Software
Basketball Coach’s Clipboard
If you’ve ever played or coached basketball you’ve seen the clipboard come out to aide in teaching and displaying something on the court. Luckily an iPad is close in size to what we’re used to for a clipboard so this is a cool application for basketball coaches.
Saving plays and animating multi-step plays really add to this application. This could be immensely useful for coaches of any level.
Price: $1.99
Requires: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: J Plus Corporation Limited
ESPN iScore Baseball Scorekeeper
iScore is a very, very full featured baseball and softball scorekeeper application. Keeping a detailed scorebook at a baseball or softball game can be challenging and this app makes that process easy and quite a lot of fun. It is a bit spendy, but you won’t find a more full featured, polished scorekeeper app in the App Store.
Price: $9.99
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: ESPN
Sports Rule Books HD
With sports come rules. Sometimes some fairly complicated rules that can be especially tricky when you’re trying to learn a new sport. This application puts the rulebooks of many popular sports on you iPad. It’s not a complicated application, but it’s a handy one.
Price: Free
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: JBMJBM, LLC
Games
Madden NFL 11
The Madden franchise from EA Sports is a staple football game on about every platform, so seeing an iPad version should be no surprise. If you know and have played other versions of the Madden franchise you’ll find the touch interface a fun difference. As you would expect this is a very solid football game and arguably the best available.
Price: $6.99
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: EA Sports
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12
Another common name in the sports gaming world. If you’re a golf fan and a gamer, then you have no doubt played a Tiger Woods PGA Tour game. Many common features to the franchise are available along with some new ones such as challenging your Facebook friends.
Price: $9.99
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: EA Sports
NBA JAM HD
Perhaps one of my favorite arcade games is now available on the iPad and it is a ton of fun. Several different gameplay types along with in app purchase upgrades. If you’re a former NBA Jam player from the ’90s (like me) or are just looking for a super fun basketball game this one will not disappoint you.
It is still just as entertaining to throw down a three-sixty, backboard shattering dunk as it ever was.
Price: $9.99
Requires: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Developer: EA Sports
Curling3D HD
I don’t know a lot about curling other than what I watch every two years during the Winter Olympic Games, but it has always been something I wanted to try. This nicely designed realistic iPad game is probably as close as I’ll ever come. As an added bonus you can play a guy with plaid pants. How can that not be fun?
Price: $2.99
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: MaxNick
Real Tennis HD
Real Tennis HD is a tennis game for your iPad with a pretty decent feature set. Fairly realistic tennis strategy along with features like local Wi-Fi play will keep you entertained for hours. Play one of ten different characters, on three different surfaces, in several different stadiums around the world.
Price: $4.99
Requires: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Developer: Gameloft
PBA Bowling 2
Everyone loves bowling don’t they? PBA Bowling 2 is an all around fun, fairly realistic bowling game for your iPad. Several different gameplay options are available and you can even be your favorite PBA bowler (what do you mean you don’t have one?).
Price: $2.99
Requires: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Developer: Concrete Software, Inc.
9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2011
9 Innings is an arcade style baseball game that is a ton of fun. The gameplay is fairly addictive and it reminded me a bit of my old RBI Baseball days back on the original Nintendo console. Ok, the gameplay is better than that, but a bit of nostalgia goes a long way. This is a fun one.
Price: $2.99
Requires: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Developer: Com2uS Inc.
Final Thoughts
There is a plethora of sports related applications available in the App Store right now and that list is constantly growing. It’s a fun space to explore. There are ton of great uses for the iPad in the sporting world and lots of really fun applications available for you to try.
Hopefully I’ve kicked up a few new ones out of the rough for you. As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts – simply post a comment below!
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Posted in: iPad Apps
