Grey Cup Festival 2018 app bolsters fan engagement across Canada

A new app is helping fans and revellers experience the Grey Cup Festival like never before.

READ MORE: 5 days of festivities planned for 2018 Grey Cup in Edmonton

The Grey Cup Festival 2018 app was designed by Montreal company MySeat Media, which has also been handling the Edmonton Eskimos’ mobile app for the last four years.

“The Grey Cup Festival organization asked us if we wanted to get involved in creating an app for the first time ever at a Grey Cup,” said MySeat Media CEO Steven Shelton.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The Grey Cup Festival organization asked us if we wanted to get involved in creating an app for the first time ever at a Grey Cup," said MySeat Media CEO Steven Shelton.

“It was our pleasure to do it and bring our technology to the table. Within five weeks, we created this festival app that people, from wherever they are in the world, can actually have access to and see what’s going on in Edmonton during the festivities.”

WATCH: Eye cam captures Grey Cup Festival fun in downtown Edmonton

The app includes features that let you customize an event schedule, maps out where different activities are taking place, discuss the game and players with other fans and follow the game action through live updates.

“The app is a combination of calendars, schedules, where all the festivities are, the concerts and stuff like that but also you can even purchase merchandise — 106th anniversary of the Grey Cup merchandise — on the mobile app,” Shelton said.

“There’s a section that’s called ‘social’ that people can actually start commenting on the upcoming game.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There's a section that's called 'social' that people can actually start commenting on the upcoming game.

“The game on the app will be live…  I’m not talking TV but we call it a timeline; where users will be able to talk and discuss and I guess brag about who’s winning during the game.”

READ MORE: Road closures begin Wednesday ahead of Grey Cup Festival in Edmonton

It will also be a helpful information tool and practical guide, Shelton said.

“You can actually just press on your phone and it works like Google Maps; it’s going to bring you where you’re supposed to go depending on what festivities you want to participate in.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "You can actually just press on your phone and it works like Google Maps; it's going to bring you where you're supposed to go depending on what festivities you want to participate in."

He expects the app to attract football fans from around the world. After all, the Edmonton Eskimos’ app has participants from 12 different countries interacting on it.

The app launched on Monday and Shelton says it’s been steadily picking up steam and downloads.