The University of Texas at Austin (UT) is giving its American Football fans more of what they want this season, in the form of information on their favourite team,the Longhorns, via Bluetooth. The project is the result of a sponsorship agreement between the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the UT Athletics Department, and Longhorns sports network, Host Communications.
Fans with Bluetooth-enabled phones attending the Longhorns opening game last weekend at the Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, received free Longhorns mobile content and a chance to win 2007 post-season bowl game tickets wherever the Longhorns play all via Bluetooth wireless technology, powered by Bluetooth specialist Qwikker.      
Outside the confines of the stadium, UT is also Bluetooth-enabling two of its most popular athletic web sites, TexasSports.com and MackBrown-TexasFootball.com, with a web application called TransSend, which enables visitors to the sites to download content such as schedules rosters, player stats and logos wirelessly to their mobile phones and PDAs at the click of a button.   
For the opening game against Arkansas State on 1 September, five Bluetooth-enabled kiosks located throughout the stadium pushed out UT images and information to fans with Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. Also included were promotional codes to register for 2007 post-season bowl game tickets at a dedicated website. The technology will be used at each of the teams home games this season, which are attended by more than 80,000 fans.
The TexasSports and MackBrown-TexasFootball websites are the first consumer websites to offer TransSend with Bluetooth wireless technology. There are two ways for users to select images, schedules and articles and send the information wirelessly and free to their mobile phone or PDA. They can click on a TransSend icon next to content throughout both sites, or they can right-click on specific information and select the option to TransSend the data.
Either way, the computer will automatically begin searching for Bluetooth devices within range and allow the user to select the device they wish to receive the information. Within a few seconds, the transfer is complete, free of charge and without wasting text message allowance or network minutes.
Texas Football games are a perfect venue to show how Bluetooth technology can be used in different, and perhaps unexpected, ways, says Michael Foley, Executive Director of the Bluetooth SIG. Fans with Bluetooth-enabled phones instantly get images or more information about their favourite team, delivered wirelessly and free. Texas fans and students are tech savvy and loyal. We want to make it easy for them to get content they want on the wireless devices they already use and become fans of Bluetooth technology too.