In this build log, we dig into how OVLN (your platform name) designed and implemented its fan rewards system and matchday integrations. From technical architecture to UX decisions, this is a transparent look at what went on “under the hood.” Whether you’re building a sports platform, fan-engagement product, or loyalty system, I hope you’ll find useful insights (and maybe avoid a few pitfalls we ran into).
Goals & Requirements
Before writing any code, we scoped out what we wanted:
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Reward fans for engaging actions (attending matches, sharing content, participating in polls, etc.)
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Seamlessly integrate in-matchday experiences: real-time events, exclusive content, match stats
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Modular & scalable architecture to support numerous clubs, leagues, and fans
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Admin tools for clients (teams/clubs) to customize rewards, monitor usage, tweak rules
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Low latency on matchday so fan interactions feel real-time
With these goals, we sketched out flows, modules, and data relationships before coding.
System Architecture Overview
Below is a high-level architecture outline:
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Frontend (Web & Mobile App)
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React / React Native (or your stack)
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Real-time Pub/Sub for match events
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UI components for dashboards, reward catalog, match overlays
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Backend / API Layer
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REST + WebSockets / GraphQL Subscriptions
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Microservices structure:
• Reward Engine
• Matchday Event Service
• User Profile & Wallet
• Admin / Rules Engine
• Analytics / Metrics
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Data & Storage
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Relational DB (PostgreSQL / MySQL) for core data
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NoSQL / caching (Redis) for fast lookups, leaderboards
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Event Sourcing / Change Data Capture for match events
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Data warehouse for analytics
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Third-party Integrations
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Sports data APIs (live match stats, event triggers)
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Push notification / messaging providers
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Payment / redemption gateways (if rewards include purchases)
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Authentication / identity services
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Admin / Dashboard Interface
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Rule builders, reward catalog editors
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Analytics dashboards: redemption rates, engagements, latency
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Capability to toggle matchday activations, seasonal campaigns
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Feature Implementation: Fan Rewards
Reward Types & Rules
We defined multiple reward types:
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Event-based rewards: e.g. “Attend a match” → reward X points
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Action-based rewards: e.g. share a post, vote in polls, answer quizzes
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Tiered badges: Bronze, Silver, Gold for milestones
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Bonus multipliers on matchdays or special campaigns
Rules engine is key: allow clients to define if this then that without code changes. For example:
“If fan attends more than 5 matches in a season, upgrade to Gold badge.”
Wallet & Redemption
Fans hold “points” or “credits” in their wallet/profile. They can redeem them for:
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Exclusive digital content
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Merchandise vouchers
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Matchday upgrades (if applicable)
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Experiences (e.g. meet & greet)
Redemption is transactional — atomic operations to avoid double spending or race conditions.
Security, Fairness & Anti-Abuse
We built mitigations:
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Rate limiting on reward actions
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Verification steps (e.g. verifying attendance via scan or check-in)
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Logging and audit trails
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Manual review flags for suspicious behavior
Feature Implementation: Matchday Integrations
Matchday is the “moment of truth” — fans expect real-time, exciting features. We integrated:
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Live events / triggers (goals, red cards, substitutions) → these trigger UI changes or mini-rewards
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Quizzes / Polls during match (e.g. what will be next substitution?)
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Overlay content synchronized with match clock
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Leaderboard updates in real-time
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Push / in-app notifications for match highlights
To support low latency, we used streaming / Pub/Sub, caching, and prioritized message routing.
Challenges & Lessons Learned
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Latency & synchronization: Keeping all clients in sync (mobile, web) during fast events was tricky. We used time-sync protocols, clock drift calibration, and fallback polling.
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Rule complexity: Some clients requested extremely complex reward rules. We had to balance flexibility with maintainability.
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Scalability under load: On big match days, traffic spikes huge. We stress-tested, used autoscaling, sharding, and read replicas.
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Edge cases: e.g. fan losing connection mid-match, switching devices mid-session, redemption conflicts.
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Data consistency: Ensuring match events, user actions, and reward state stayed consistent under concurrency.
Metrics & Early Results
So far, from beta launches:
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↑ 40 % higher engagement on matchdays
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↑ 25 % redemption rate on rewards
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↓ Manual overhead for clubs (admin tools helped)
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Real-time latency is under 200ms on average for match triggers
These are early, but encouraging.
Future Roadmap
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AI / personalization: Suggesting rewards or interactions based on fan behavior
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Augmented reality features on matchday
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Social / community features (fan hubs, chats, shared challenges)
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Cross-club / cross-league campaigns
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More redemption types & partner integrations
