What do Joe Montana, Gary Payton, Lawyer Milloy, Snoop Dogg, and E-40 all have in common?
Yes, they are well-known celebrities and sports stars. But they also all happen to be investors in GameOn.
The Bay Area-based startup last month raised another $2 million for its app that gives sports fans a way to chat with each other and catch up on the latest news, all in one place.
The “content-based messaging platform,” as GameOn CPO and co-founder Kalin Stanojev told GeekWire, is also a hub that gives content producers and celebrities a channel to engage their audience around sports.
GameOn users can chat with each other in “huddles” with friends or public groups around a specific topic or event, all while receiving news, scores, highlights, and other updates about their favorite teams and athletes.
The idea is to create a central place for people to discuss sports, versus the bevy of other platforms where that is currently happening — from huge sites like Facebook and Twitter to numerous smaller apps like Overtime, Slyce, and Sqor. Instead of checking your tweets to see the latest scores, sending a text to your friend about that awesome play, or penning a Facebook post to support your squad, GameOn hopes you do it all on its app.
Stanojev said GameOn takes a new approach to “socializing around content and real-time events.”
“Most of our ‘competitors’ operate on either a broadcast model, where content is pushed outwards and communication is typically one-way and impersonal, or a purely social model like chat where communication exists between users but content is sourced elsewhere and entirely dependent on the user to deliver,” he explained. “Simply stated, we’ve woven these features together into unified experience that leverages the best of both and is a win for users, influencers, and content providers alike.”
The company also works closely with athletes, some of whom are not only investing but also using the app. Milloy, the former University of Washington and 15-year NFL star safety, told GeekWire that investing in GameOn “made a lot of sense for me.” He’s a self-described “gadget guy” who loves technology — he owns both Android and iPhone devices, and says he “downloads hundreds of apps to see if I like them.”
“I was sick of needing five apps to keep up with all of my teams, and I have too much on my phone as it is,” Milloy said. “The fact that I kept using GameOn says it all. I’ve gotten to watch the app from super early to where it is now and it’s been awesome to see that evolution. It’s my favorite way to trash talk. The game watching experience on GameOn is so great, it’s hard to go back to just watching an entire game on TV. I just really believe in the platform.”
Milloy said that he’s fascinated by the intersection of sports and technology. GameOn is the only sports tech company he’s currently invested in.
“The best part about GameOn is that I don’t need a bunch of apps to open up to figure out what LeBron just did,” he noted. “I can follow the Cavs, and also chat with my boys about how their kids are doing at the same time, sending photos, etc.”
Stanojev said that GameOn plans to expand its network of partnerships with everyone from large publishers to more athletes. It also recently rolled out new Bots that can be connected to third party ecosystems like Slack and Facebook Messenger.
There are plans to go beyond traditional sports into eSports, lifestyle, and more.
“Longer term we see entertainment, politics, and business events as potential verticals for expansion,” Stanojev said. “As mobile phones continue to transition from being a second screen experience to a primary one, we plan to position ourselves as a leader in the space.”
As far as a revenue model, GameOn CEO Alex Beckman told Bloomberg last month that the startup is making money off custom-made emojis — Milloy is using one for his Twitter avatar. The company is also starting to work with sponsors, who can supply branded content within the GameOn platform.
Stanojev and Beckman, who founded GameOn in 2014 with Nate Simmons, previously sold concert streaming startup EVNTLIVE to Yahoo in 2013. GameOn employs 10 people and has raised $3.5 million to date from athletes and firms like Quest Venture Partners, Sky Star Ventures and XG Ventures.
One key to GameOn’s growth will be convincing sports fans why they should download and use yet another app to catch up on scores and chat with fellow aficionados. Having pro athletes on the platform should help, and the idea of an all-in-one hub that Milloy touts is attractive, but it remains to be seen if the company can compete with other apps and sites vying for the same audience.
It certainly won’t be easy. Fancred, a similar startup that had the backing of stars like Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz, raised $4.5 million since 2013 but laid off its 14-person staff this past March after it couldn’t reel in more funding despite racking up 100,000 users. Football Nation acquired its assets last month.
Then you have tech giants like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and others that are all developing new technology and inking partnerships to draw sports fans to their respective platforms. For example, Twitter paid the NFL a reported $10 million to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games this season, hoping to create a place where fans can watch the game and also see tweets from others in the same space.
“We know that during a 3-hour Thursday Night Football telecast, we have millions of users looking at tweets about that game and creating tens of millions of impressions that we know are very valuable to them, and very valuable to our partners — both the NFL, and of course our advertisers,” Twitter CFO Anthony Noto said in April. “Being able to bring the live streaming game into the product with those live conversations and commentary is a complete solution.”
Another advantage the large companies have is their ability to partner with the big leagues, as Twitter is doing for the live streaming, and as Snapchat is doing with its “Discover” platform. Their giant user bases combined with that leverage makes it difficult for smaller apps to compete, but perhaps GameOn will find a way to stand out.
