Since "Panthers Predict" was released last week, I've had to adjust my pre-game routine.
Available through the brand-new FLA Live! App, which also features mobile ticketing, in-arena discounts, exclusive mobile wallet functionality and much more, "Panthers Predict" is a free-to-play, real-time prediction game that can be booted up anywhere from the couch to the stands.
The Game Within the Game: Having Fun with 'Panthers Predict'
The objective of the game? Assert your dominance over fellow fans with your guessing skills.
Diving headfirst into the action, I gave it a go during the first two matchups of the Panthers first-round series against the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. So far, I've yet to finish within the top-10 on the ever-growing leaderboard, but I honestly feel like I'm making some good progress.
As it stands now, the three highest-scoring players each game win a prize. After all, like Paul Walker said in The Fast and the Furious, "To some people that's more important."
To give you a quick rundown of how the game works, the first thing you have to do is download the FLA Live! App, which can be found HERE for Apple users or HERE for those of you rebels rocking Androids. After that, fire up it up and select the "Panthers Predict" button on main page.
Once you've opened up the game, you'll be asked to create an account and provide a phone number to receive updates throughout each game. In the hours leading up to puck drop for any game - both home and away -- you'll have a sizeable window to make your first round of picks.
What sort of questions will you weigh in on? To be honest, they're all over the place.
Who will win the game? Which team will win more faceoffs? How many penalty minutes will the two teams combine for? At what point in the first period will the opening goal be scored? How many points will Aleksander Barkov finish with? Which team will post the most blocked shots?
Those are just some of the questions - which usually have anywhere from two to four answers to choose from -- that you might see, and they tend to change up quite a bit from game to game.
Making things interesting, not all answers are worth an equal number of points. After all, fortune favors the bold, which means an answer that is picked the least will be worth more than the one that is picked the most.
For example, if the question is "How many goals will the Panthers score during the first period?" and 100 fans answer "1" while just five answer "4," the latter, although a much riskier pick to make, will be worth thousands of more points if it ends up coming to fruition. For this reason, I'd suggest sprinkling in a few daring predictions each game.
Once you've got the basics down, the game follows a pretty straightforward formula from there. After locking in your pre-game picks, you'll then be prompted by text to make your next round of picks during the first intermission, and then your final selections during the second intermission.
From experience, I can tell you that things can change quickly throughout the course of a game when it comes to "Panthers Predict," so keep making picks no matter what. In fact, during Game 2, I clawed way back up the standings from 123rd to 12th by the time the final buzzer sounded.
And with Game 3 coming up on Thursday in Tampa Bay, I've got my eyes on the prize.
With that in mind, I encourage everyone to join in on the fun. I'm listed as "TheOliveBranch" on the leaderboard, so do your best to try and beat my score - if you can. Also, if you want to gloat a bit, you can also share a screenshot of your score on Twitter and tag me @JamesonCoop.
Good luck and happy predicting!
Get Started with "Panthers Predict" in Six Steps
• Click HERE to download the FLA Live! App on iTunes or Google Play.
• Click the "Panthers Predict" button on the FLA Live! App home screen.
• Set up an account to gain access the player leaderboard and points data.
• When prompted, enter your mobile number to receive text alerts.
• On a game day, make predictions pre-game, during the first intermission and during the second intermission.
• Once the game is over, check the leaderboard to see if you've won!
