Sport Signal is a live companion for sport that gives every match its own room. Fans watch together, call the game together, and rate the commentary together, in a layer that sits beside the broadcast rather than competing with it. It launches on AFL, with AFLW as the next room on the same clubs and the same commentators.
Inhouse CX developed the concept, the architecture, and the full product: a real-time, mobile-first platform spanning live match rooms, commentator ratings, momentum and win-probability signals, and system-generated prompts that keep the room moving with the game.
The thesis
Everyone talks about the call. Nobody has treated it as though it counts. Commentary shapes how a match is remembered, yet it has never been a product surface: there is no record of who called what, no way to say whether they called it well, and no home for the lines worth keeping.
Sport Signal treats commentary as the wedge. Fans can see who is on the call before the first bounce, rate them on accuracy, insight, entertainment and balance, and capture the signature calls of a season. It is a position no one else owns, and it compounds: every match room feeds the next, with more calls, more ratings, and more reason to come back.
What Inhouse CX built
Concept, architecture, and the full product:
- A WebSocket-first real-time platform where every match has its own live room, public or private, moving with the game.
- A commentator layer: who is calling, fan ratings across four dimensions, a fan-rated ladder, and signature calls captured and kept.
- Live match signals, including a momentum worm and win probability drawn as the game swings.
- Engagement mechanics: blind tipping and crew competitions, a contributor pulse and leaderboard, and system-generated prompts timed to moments in the match.
- Player, coach, and club profiles surfaced inline, so the detail arrives without leaving the room.
- Native iOS and Android apps, and the public marketing site.
Approach
- Beside the broadcast, not against it. The product extends the television rather than trying to replace it.
- A stake without a wager. Tipping, calling and rating deliver the thrill of having something on the game, with nothing at risk but pride: a deliberately healthier alternative to betting.
- Rooms that end. Each room cools and freezes read-only after the match, so the conversation moves with the game instead of going stale in one endless thread.
- A platform, not a single-code app. The architecture was shaped from day one so further codes can be added over time without a rebuild.
Where to next?
This work draws on our Venture Enablement capability.