If you think the seconds before a field goal can be nerve-wracking, it’s nothing compared to the tension in the room when the founders of six startups faced off with representatives from the New York Jets.
The event was New York Jets Pitch Night, held at WeWork Bryant Park in New York City. The young companies—EventsTag, Loop & Tie, RallyBus, SeatServe, VINU, and Stattleship—all had seven minutes or less to pitch their ideas on how their business will add a new revenue stream and enhance fan experience and engagement.
“We continue to be very interested and active in working with entrepreneurs and innovators to enhance our fan experiences and uncover new opportunities,” said NY Jets President Neil Glat.
There were five judges: Jeff Fernandez (Jets Sponsorship and New Business Ventures), Rosina Lanson (Jets Strategy), Seth Rabinowitz (Jets Marketing and Fan Engagement), Scott Soshnick (Bloomberg Sports), and Vasu Kulkarni (Courtside Ventures). All of them sat in a row with shoulders squared, facing each contestant Shark Tank style.
The judges fired off questions at the founders, closely examining the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal.
“How are you selling an experience, instead of just stuff?” asked Bloomberg News sports reporter Scott Soshnick. The founders were quick on their feet, eager to answer.
“Gifts are an icebreaker to a bigger conversation where you can build relationships,” said Dimitri Roche, software engineer at Loop & Tie. The WeWork Chelsea-based company is a digital platform for sending gifts.
Sara Rodell, CEO of Loop & Tie, added that her company provides a quick and easy way to communicate with fans in the off-season by sending them sports paraphernalia and other customized gifts.
EventsTag countered with an entirely different idea: using software to monitor what fans Instagram, tweet, and tag on social media. That content is used to create customized slideshows broadcast on the big screens at the stadium. A.J. Veleta, executive director of EventsTag, said the slideshows increase social reach and live interaction.
“We are grabbing hashtag and geotag content every five seconds,” said the WeWork Fulton Center member. “Fans are actively contributing to the game instead of just attending it, and it builds home field advantage.”
RallyBus is all about getting fans to share an experience of traveling to and from the stadium together. The startup partners with bus services to offer perks such as group discounts, swag on the bus, and an AV system to stream on demand. Its services are a great fit, the company said.
WeWork Commons member Stattleship isn’t focused on game day at all. Josh Walker, the company’s co-founder, told the judges that his company wants to keep fans engaged during the off-season.
“You have an interested and demanding social media audience, and they want to hear from you all the time,” Walker said. “We take your assets, your photos, your IP and add our spin of real-time stats to it, and we make sure it’s targeted at the right audience.”
VINU, a WeWork Soho West member, pitched the idea of increasing wine sales by targeting guests who will pay premium prices for a bottle.
“You’re brought an iPad, and you can engage in the wine list, ask a wine guru, or click on quick picks,” said Craig Saper, VINU’s chief innovation officer. “Everything you see are real bottles. If you tap on a wine, you get information—things from tasting notes, flavor tags, breakdown of the origins of the wine.”
The judges seemed impressed by the idea, wondering aloud whether the app could even save a customer’s personal wine selections for the next time they attended a game.
SeatServe, a stadium food delivery, gave the final pitch. The WeWork Gramercy member proved just how quickly orders could be placed and delivered. The company placed an order for five beers—one for each of the judges—and five Bud Lights promptly arrived on the scene.
“With this app, we keep track of every status change,” said Shay Dadush, the company’s co-founder. “And we can track how long the order has been open for.”
The judges raised an eyebrow, however, when they were told that fans sitting in middle seats of certain sections at some stadiums might not be able to use SeatServe’s app. The logic was that delivery people pushing into tightly spaced rows might interfere with the game day experience.
When a judge suggested that a startup could easily crowd out SeatServe by building drones to deliver to every single seat in the stadium, Dadush was gracious in his reply.
“No one is going to let anyone fly drones into an occupied stadium,” Dadush said.
The night culminated with a team huddle among the judges, followed by the announcement of the winner. Loop & Tie took home the title that evening.
“The thing that’s most exciting about pitching to a sports team that’s unlike pitching to any other company is the energy that comes from the fans,” Rodell said. “It was really important for us to build something that was truly unique to the Jets, and I think we did that really well.”