No Live Sports--No Problem

Fan Engagement Startup, CrowdPlay, Goes Virtual to Support Social Distancing

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Apr 13, 2020, 17:23 ET

BOSTON, April 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In order to support sports fans during social distancing measures put in place to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Boston-based start-up CrowdPlay, a free-to-play fan engagement platform for live sporting events, announced it is now streaming CrowdPlay enabled simulated virtual games—all with cash prizes.

Established earlier this year as a fan engagement solution with a new medium for in-venue sponsorship at live sports venues, CrowdPlay -- which had just closed a $1.3 million Series Seed funding round -- decided to pivot from an in-venue platform to a 'from your couch' model to support social distancing and the impact of COVID-19.

"One day we had all this momentum and excitement and then, literally, the next day—it was all shut down," said CrowdPlay Co-Founder and CEO, Andrew Pizzi. "At that point, we were as worried as everyone else about the human toll and economic impact of the pandemic. Everything we do at CrowdPlay is focused on the fan experience, so we just kept asking ourselves what we could do for the fans."

"We realized that we could stream CrowdPlay enabled virtual game simulations and offer fans an opportunity to compete with each other for cash prizes during breaks in game play—just like we do at live sporting events, but in their own homes," said Pizzi. "So far we've streamed seven Madden simulated games and we've had an ecstatic response from fans—with more signing up to play every game and a 75% retention rate game to game."

How It Works
Live simulated games are broadcast via CrowdPlay's website where fans will tune in at specific times (https://www.crowdplayapp.com/sportsathome).

Typically, at a live sporting event, the CrowdPlay app engages fans with event speciﬁc questions throughout a live game's lifecycle—pre-game (before the game begins) and in-game (during breaks in play). Every question is contextual and relevant to the action in the game as fans compete against each other in that venue. Meanwhile, as users accrue points, they climb the leaderboard. Those who ﬁnish inside the prize pool rankings are rewarded a cash prize, but regardless, all players can use their accumulated points for redemption of exclusive sponsor rewards.

"With sports completely cancelled, and fans stuck at home with nothing to do and no sports to watch, we started by bringing football back and rewinded to the 2019-2020 NFL divisional round playoffs - offering old games, but completely new outcomes," said Harold Topper, Executive Vice President of Partnerships at CrowdPlay.

What's Next
For the next series, CrowdPlay will be streaming a seven-game NHL single elimination tournament. Additionally, Madden games will be separately streamed for a total of 13 more games. Starting on April 16th, the games will be running every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night for the next month. Over $10,000 in cash prizes will be awarded throughout the tournament along with major brand gift cards redeemable with accumulated points. Simulations kick-off at 8:00 pm ET with CrowdPlay pre-game questions starting at 7:00 pm ET.

"This year has been a wild ride," said Michael Cusano, CrowdPlay Co-Founder and COO. "We couldn't have predicted any of this and there's no way to know how any of it will play out. While we were working on this initiative, simulated events had started to gradually receive attention -- NASCAR ran a simulated race which yielded great publicity. So for now, we're just focused on bringing a little bit of fun into the lives of all the sports fans out there and anyone who's looking for an escape from all of the uncertainty in our lives right now."

About CrowdPlay
CrowdPlay is the #1 fan engagement platform for live sporting events—revolutionizing the way fans enjoy and interact with games they're attending while providing a unique and exclusive forum for sponsors, teams and sports venues. For more information about CrowdPlay or how to participate in their virtual simulated games visit: crowdplayapp.com.