• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, January 31, 2012

Subway is among the latest brands to jump into app advertising around the Super Bowl. The restaurant chain is the national sponsor of an app from Pre Play Sports that lets fans earn points for successfully predicting the outcome of each play during the playoffs and the Super Bowl.

Before each play, a user has 10 seconds to decide whether the team on offense will run for more or less than five yards, pass for more or less than 10 yards, get a touchdown, or throw an incomplete pass. Players can even try to guess how far a punt will travel.

The free PrePlay app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod aims to capitalize on the two-screen viewing trend by encouraging people to interact constantly via mobile device while watching the big game.

“PrePlay makes watching football on TV more social and more exciting,” says PrePlay founder Andrew Daines. “Users’ knowledge of the game will help them compete in the playoffs with their friends." The app also offers features like a chat room, in-game stats, tip sheets and a video feed for game previews.

Subway, likewise, wants to get in on the two-screen action. The company’s brand is imbedded in the features of the app and gaming experience, with everything from branded graphics to banners to transitional ads and videos at key game moments. Subway considers the PrePlay sponsorship a pilot program in mobile app marketing.

The sandwich seller is one of several advertisers sponsoring or rolling out their own Super Bowl-related apps this year. Others include the Chevy Game Time app, offering quizzes, polls and prizes linked to the game, and Pepsi’s deal with social entertainment app GetGlue. Shazam says viewers will be able to use its app while watching the game to unlock special content in nearly one-third of Super Bowl ads this year.

Daines notes that the company has also signed deals with other brands, including notorious Super Bowl advertiser GoDaddy.com. When the company’s $4 million ad airs this Sunday, PrePlay users will see a companion GoDaddy on the app that helps them engage with what they're seeing on TV, he said.

Since launching in September, PrePlay has attracted a user base in the low hundreds of thousands, with more than 100,000 installs in December alone, according to Daines. How much is the developer making from its ad deals?

Daines won't "speak specifically to the Subway deal" but says that as new platform sponsors have participated at what he calls "test and see rates" for this playoffs and Super Bowl period, "we're looking to sell the value of second-screen engagement and TV-synced ads at the premium rates they deserve going forward.”

Separately, Boston.com and Mullen Tuesday announced launching the annual Brand Bowl site, featuring an up-to-the-minute stream of Tweets about Super Bowl commercials to determine the most popular and disastrous TV spots. Last year, Chrysler finished atop the rankings and Cars.com at the bottom.