New England Patriots fans can receive real-time updates about the latest moves and deals from the National Football League player draft without having to constantly check their smartphones via the Patriots? Apple Watch app, spotlighting Apple?s closely watched wearable during one of the year?s biggest sporting events.

The Kahuna-powered Patriots Apple Watch app will give fans access to news and in-depth reports, notifications about draft selections and trades and details on the draft order, players selected, and player bios. The app points to Apple Watch?s value in letting consumers seamlessly obtain information at a glance, especially in events driven by real-time updates.

?Millions of people will be sitting in meetings, but all they will be thinking about is who picked Marcus Mariotta?? said Adam Marchick, CEO of Kahuna, Palo Alto, CA. ?Is my team going to get better this year? What brilliant (or crazy) trade will the Patriots make this year on draft day? 

?Before, they would just sit and day-dream until they could get to a computer,? he said. ?Now their wrist will tell them the answers.?

The Patriots app comes with an impressive pedigree, given Mr. Marchick previously worked on the growth team at social-networking site Facebook.  

Kahuna is backed by the founder of the Facebook growth team, the current head of growth at Facebook, and the head of Product at Pinterest, he said.

The vendor also is working with football?s San Francisco 49ers and basketball?s Boston Celtics to bring personalized user messaging to the Apple Watch.

Sports marketers have realized that mobile is a powerful tool in satisfying sports fans? craving for real-time news, especially related to a favorite team or sport.

For instance, ESPNcricinfo teamed up with Google this spring to launch Now cards, a real-time updating feature that speeds up delivery of cricket-specific information to fans while letting them take even greater control of their consumption of the sport.

With the service, fans can receive on their handsets Google app-supported up-to-the-minute news, scores and other information about their favorite cricket teams, players and events as set in the ESPNcricinfo mobile application. The feature points to mobile?s suitability for delivering real-time content to highly engaged fans in the fast-changing world of sport.

Apple Watch augers to change the real-time landscape. While fans want updates constantly, pulling a phone out of a pocket every 30 seconds may not be the most effective way to stay connected.

The app?s use in the NFL draft points to why it is important to send only the most relevant, timely information to a personal mobile device.

?Generic communication will backfire,? Mr. Marchick said. ?There needs to be personalization in place to ensure that the app provides value without sending unwanted messages.

?In this case, the value provided is the ability for fans to stay updated and in-the-moment without having to pull out a phone every 30 seconds,? he said.

?This is a more effective way for sports fans to stay connected.?