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LARGO (FOX 13) - This late in the NFL season, only four football teams have a shot at a Super Bowl win.
While, sadly, that doesn't include the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bay Area fans still may find themselves cheering this Sunday.
A Pinellas County man has developed an app that makes your cell phone part of the game. You can win cash, pizzas and even a car just for watching. And people in the Bay Area are getting first dibs. It's being tested here exclusively, starting this Sunday.
Let's face it, when the football game is on, most people have one hand on the remote and the other on their phones. The commercials come on. Their eyes come down from the big screen to the smaller one on their device.
"We're trying to create a way for people to want to watch advertising," said Frank Maggio, CEO/Founder of Super Squares. "So, we thought, how can we make ads an important part of looking away?
That question is what inspired Maggio to develop Super Squares, a free, live game show app. You watch the game. You watch commercials. You answer questions and earn points.
"What were the results of the opening drives of both teams?" Maggio asked, giving an example. "Did they both score? Did the Patriots score? Did the Jaguars score? Did nobody score?"
It's a total of 22 questions over 3 hours.
"Domino's pizza, we'll have an ad about a special new product coming out. We could ask you about the flavors," Maggio said.
Each quarter, you're given a square on a grid of numbers, based on a potential score. The closer it the actual score matches up, the more points you get.
"Whenever there's a score change, the square will move on your phone. The sound effects will take place," Maggio said, demonstrating the app.
Super Squares is being tested only in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Pasco, Polk And Hardee Counties, starting with Sunday's AFC Championship game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots.
1,000 people will compete for more than $500, 40 Domino's pizzas, and an entry to win a new car. The prizes and the field get larger each weekend, continuing with the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl.
"The Super Bowl, we will have up to 60,000 that can play and that's where we will give away literally a ton of pizzas. We are giving over 2,000 Domino's pizzas, over $4,000 in cash," Maggio said. "The high score gets $1,000."
Maggio said it costs nothing to play.
"All you have to pay is attention. If you can pay attention to a football game, find out what is important about a play or a drive each quarter and focus in on what's important about great commercials, you're in the game."
The first weekend, Sunday, January 21, the Super Squares app will only be available to Android users. But, by next weekend's Pro Bowl, it should be open to Apple users as well.
Maggio said the goal is to launch the app nationally by September, eventually, expanding it to other sporting events.