THE covid crisis has seen the unlikely return of one of the nation’s favourite 1970s past-times – Spot the Ball is back.
With millions of football fans pining for live sport, and with people stuck at home during lockdown, a 21st century version of the classic competition has already gained a cult following online.
Balls Out have produced a 21st century version of the classic Spot The Ball competition which has already gained a cult following online
A new generation of fans are discovering the fun of trying to guess the exact location of a football missing from a real life photograph in the hope of winning huge prizes.
In its Seventies heyday, Spot the Ball was played by around three million people a week, all chasing a jackpot of £250,000.
Interest in Spot The Ball fell after the National Lottery was launched in 1994, but the new online version of the game has found a new lease of life thanks to modern technology.
The concept is exactly the same as Spot the Ball in its heyday, however advances in technology mean the competition has had a full makeover using state of the art pixel technology.
Punters can pay between 25p and £50 to enter depending on which prize they choose, which range between £1,000 up to £25,000.
There are also a host of other jackpots including luxury watches, holidays, a flight in a Spitfire and an F-Type Jaguar.
The return of Spot the Ball is the brainchild of Kent-based Balls Out – but it is not just an exact replication of the classic back-of-the-paper game.
It has been enhanced to give players much more control than they used to have when playing the game – from choosing the prize they would like to win, to zooming in on the image to incredibly minute detail to place their shot markers, to receiving a full results email at the end of the competition that shows them exactly how close they were to the winning coordinate.
Players can play the game on a computer, tablet or mobile phone and get the same quality of experience across all three.
The platform has been built from scratch by Balls Out, working with another Kent based company – Kayo Digital, based in Sittingbourne.
It is entirely custom built and has been a success story of remote working during the coronavirus pandemic – with progress meetings and demos conducted entirely remotely via video conference for the last months of the project.
Tottenham legend Ossie Ardile will be on the panel to help decide the winnerCredit: PA:Press Association
Co-founder Ollie Simpson said: “A lot of people will remember sitting down with their grandfather and playing Spot the Ball when they were kids.
“We have launched a 2020 version of the game because modern technology and online gaming gives the classic Spot the Ball format a new lease of life.
“Since we launched we have seen a surge in players online, many of whom have been stuck at home without sport and looking for something fun to do during lockdown.
“Our prizes are real and there are guaranteed winners every competition, which run for two weeks.”
Just like the 1970s original competitions, the new Spot the Ball entries will be judged by a panel of experts to decide what the winning coordinate is.
They include Tottenham legend Ossie Ardiles and former England star Terry Butcher.
Click here to visit the Balls Out website.
Ex-England defender Terry Butcher is also amongst the panelCredit: Alamy
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
