CBS Opens App Store for Sports Geeks

When CBSSports.com launches its 2012 Fantasy Baseball league platform later this month, fans will have a whole slew of new tools to give them an edge against competitors.

Starting Jan. 31, CBSSports.com is opening its own app store – CBS Sports App Central — to allow third-party developers to offer free and paid apps to fans. Six companies, including MLB.com and Bloomberg Sports, have already signed on for the launch.

“Fantasy sports players often rely on various tools, services and stats outside of their league service to stay competitive, but now all these products can be directly integrated into the platform — a win for our users and for the hundreds of businesses in the space,” a CBSSports.com spokesperson told Mashable.

From apps that let you trash-talk opponents to tools that provide in-depth player profiles and news, fantasy fans will have access to a variety of programs to help them better compete in their leagues.

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For example, MLB.com is building an app for MLB.TV subscribers to watch baseball live, see the most relevant video clips related to their fantasy team and have access to real-time stats. Meanwhile, Bloomberg Sports is developing apps around its consumer products, “Front Office” (baseball) and “Decision Maker” (football), designed for fans interested in improving their fantasy play or closely following their favorite players. Other apps include those from Advanced Sports Media, RotoWire, StatSheet and Ziguana.

CBS said that its app store will include a rotating carousel with various categories: Top Rated, Most Popular, Most Recent and Staff’s Choice. The carousel will showcase up to eight apps in each tab and will eventually include filtering and search functionality.

Fantasy sports games are a huge marketing success for various professional leagues. According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA), there are currently 29.6 million fantasy sports players in the U.S. Football is the most popular sport to participate in via a fantasy league (72%), followed by baseball (37%), auto racing (24%) and basketball (20%).

College football, hockey and soccer round out the bottom three, respectively.

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