AFL Live Official App - Telstra Corp

This review of AFL Live Official App was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 23 March 2017.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of AFL Live Official App contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

The reviewer played for several hours.

App description

AFL Live Official is a “News/Information” app where fans of Australian Rules Football can read news articles, watch games live (if a subscriber), view upcoming matches, view team updates and ladder positions and follow player and team statistics.

Other features include:AFL Fantasy, AFL Women’s, Social Hub and Tipping.  

The app is quite intuitive and clear, thus those with basic fine motor and computer navigation skills should find using this app easy. It would be anticipated that the app would be used mostly for viewing upcoming game times, checking game results and ladder positions, and, for those with a subscription, watching live games.

Reviewers comments

Most of the content encountered in this app did not pose concerns for children. In setting up the app, it does ask the user whether they are over 18 (with a small note stating: “We’d like to know this so we serve you relevant promotions”). It is possible that those who stated that they were under 18 would have been locked out of the “Tipping” section – in fact the reviewer could not access this by pressing the Tipping subheading. However, this was accessible through the “Women’s AFL” section. To access Tipping, users do need to sign up, but it may be possible for children using their parent’s device to sign up using their parent’s Facebook account just by pressing a single button. Due to social connectivity (including Facebook), the app is not recommended for children aged below 13. Parental guidance recommended for children aged 13 – 17 due to concerns with access to “Tipping”.

In addition to the tipping and social media aspects, parents may need to be aware that watching full games on smaller devices may extend past daily recommended screen times for most children. Those with limited data plans may also want to keep tabs on download usage and device battery life.

In App purchasing

• No “add-on” content was found that enabled users to purchase items that are common with game apps. However, there are links to each team’s official site, where items can be purchased online (e.g. T-shirts, caps, etc.

Online information

Online information or personal details required to download, play or interact with the app includes:

• Cellular data settings
• Logins
• Location
• Receives data from the Internet
• Connectivity to Social Media

Gambling

• The app has a 'tipping' subsection which uses real money.

Advertising and product placement

• The AFL sponsors: Toyota and Telstra were commonly featured in this app. It is not known whether live games viewed through the app feature the same or similar TV commercials that are normally shown with games. The normal team sponsors can be viewed via the games themselves, on side boards and team uniforms.

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

• None noted

Coarse language

• None encountered.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

• See “Tipping” above.

Other

N/A.

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