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| Photo via www.thepitch.com. |
We’ve all seen them before. The fans that camp out at their team’s parking lot 36 hours
before the big game. The fans that
paint their entire faces--no, their entire bodies--the color of their favorite
team. The fans that could sit at a
bar stool for hours and argue that they are the best fan on Earth. And although they’re dedicated,
passionate, knowledgeable and downright obsessed, there is no way to tell who
the best fan is. Until now.
Enter Fannect, a Kansas
City-grown sports app that determines which teams have the best sports fans and
where those fans rank within their team’s group of fans. Founded by Hunter Browning and Will
Coatney in 2012, Fannect combines social networking
with competitive gaming that measures a team’s best fans and which team has the
best group of fans. But Fannect isn’t just booming into a sports fan’s ideal
social media network...it is also becoming a team researcher’s dream
database.
A Former Athlete’s
Idea
Hunter Browning was an athlete not all that long ago. After playing competitive soccer for a
majority of his life, the 19-year old decided to put up the cleats and pursue a
degree in physics. Soccer went out
the window and science became his number one focus. But a few months into his life as a former athlete, Hunter
experienced a pang of boredom--he no longer had the competitive drive he once
had when playing soccer.
“I had a withdrawal from not competing,” he explains. “I then realized that many people, not
just former athletes, live vicariously through their favorite sports
teams. I wanted to do something
with that and get that competitive feeling back in my system. That’s when I started working on
Fannect.”
More Than a Fan-based
App
The direct goal of Fannect is to eliminate the bar stool
argument of “who is the best fan”.
Fannect literally quantifies a fan’s knowledge and dedication to a team
using a series of games and
tests. But Fannect is not just
a fan-based app. The app is also a
strategic tool for researchers who want to learn more about the audience of
particular sports teams.
According to Hunter, there is a major gap in the databases
of sports. We know plenty about
the “diehard” fans, but not nearly enough about casual sports fans. How can we gain information about
people who simply buy a baseball hat of their favorite team and watch the games
from home? How can we learn more
about them, their habits, their demographics?
“People do not know how valuable the database we are
creating can be,” explains Hunter.
“Researchers needs and want data on all ticket owners, fans, and casual
watchers. Fannect can help with
that.”
This Isn’t His First
Rodeo...
As one of the youngest entrepreneurs operating out of Think Big Coworking (he’s just 19!),
Hunter utilizes the KC coworking space as more than just an office. He makes sure to connect with more
established companies and entrepreneurs in the coworking space to gain advice,
new ideas and mentorship.
“At first, we were doing our own
thing and running beta,” he explains. “But then we needed help and
guidance. The mentorship from
Tyler, Herb [of Think Big
Partners] and the other companies at Think Big
Coworking has been one of the best parts.
We’re the youngest company in the space and everyone is so helpful. It’s
really motivating to be surrounded by such great startups.”
But just because Hunter relies heavily on the advice of
others doesn’t mean that this is his first rodeo.
As a matter of fact, Hunter has done quite a bit with his
knowledge in physics. As a student
of the CAPS program in the Blue Valley
School District, Hunter studied a car’s ability to run off of water by breaking
hydrogen out of H2O. After being
given a research grant, Hunter began developing out his theory. As a matter of fact, Fannect is just a
side project for Hunter. He refers
to the hydrogen project as “his baby”.
In addition, Hunter is opening a rapid prototyping lab. The goal of the lab is to prototype and
produce new inventions quickly, no matter what stage of development they may be
in. Currently, Hunter is in the
fundraising stage for this project.
Are You Really a #1
Fan?
Ready to see if you’re really a #1 fan? It’s time to download Fannect. Fannect is currently in open beta right
now. Not all of the bells and
whistles have been added quite yet, but from what Hunter and his team can tell,
users of the beta version are enjoying the app.
“Forty-five percent of our active users come back to Fannect
every single day,” says Hunter.
“People love it--especially the picture games--even though we are in
rough beta right now. The full app
will be roll out a week or two into football season. We can’t wait.”
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