Unlock monetization opportunities for college athletes by creating a fan engagement platform for college football fans in the US.
Developed a robust platform containing interactive spaces, a gamified reward system, and a scalable architecture that could support more advanced features planned for the future.
- Launched the Go-to-Market MVP in 2 months.
- Raised $2.5M in funding till date.
- 4 colleges signed up till date.
College football is more than a sport in the United States—it's a cultural phenomenon with massive viewership and fervent fan engagement. However, college athletes previously had no way to monetize their fame due to restrictive regulations on their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
The Players' Lounge (TPL) was founded by an NFL athlete who intimately understood the challenges faced by student-athletes. He saw an opportunity when NIL rules changed, envisioning a platform that gamified the fan experience, offering sports news, fan interactions, and exclusive rewards like athlete meet-and-greets.
Stuart Bush, TPL's CPTO, also knew that fan engagement was key to helping athletes build personal brands. He partnered with Tintash for our expertise in creating interactive, gamified experiences.
Tintash has been the best dev partner I have hired in my two-decade plus career.
Tintash is a critical partner for our startup as we build our platform. In addition of bringing our vision to life, the team’s deep knowledge is evident in their innovative solutions and modernization suggestions - from system architecture to UI/UX improvements. We would not have achieved our time to market and growth without Tintash.
Stuart Bush
Chief Product Officer - The Players’ Lounge
Right at the outset, we faced two key challenges. First, building a scalable platform that could launch with a single college team and expand seamlessly to multiple teams. Second, we had to move quickly and launch before the upcoming football season to capture peak fan interest.
Phase 1: Rapid Beta Development for the University of Georgia
The target for Phase 1 was to build a simple blog site exclusively for the University of Georgia. This would help attract TPL's existing customers, who were all affiliated with the University of Georgia, and familiarize them with the upcoming platform, gradually introducing them to the more advanced features planned for later phases.
Our team collaborated closely with the CPTO to align the platform's features with the needs and preferences of their existing customers. We worked towards focused content delivery, creating a user-friendly blog platform that delivered the latest news and updates about Georgia sports.
The beta site was launched within the ambitious one-month deadline. It enabled TPL’s existing core user base, University of Georgia folks, to start engaging with the platform early, building anticipation for future feature releases. It also provided a live environment to gather user data and feedback, helping validate TPL’s core proposition.
Early user feedback helped refine our product roadmap for subsequent phases. We had established a scalable codebase and architecture. Learnings from the beta launch prepared us for the challenges of expanding to other college teams and supporting the more complex features next in line.
Phase 2: Feature Expansion and Scalability
Following the successful launch of the beta site in Phase 1, our main objectives in Phase 2 were expanding the platform and increasing user engagement.
a. Expansion to Four Colleges
We expanded the platform to include three more colleges, adding localized news and community spaces tailored to each fan base.
b. Reddit-Style Message Board
We introduced community forums to facilitate discussions and banter among rival fans. Users could create posts, comment, and upvote or downvote content. This boosted user engagement and time spent on the platform, fostering greater interaction and a vibrant online community.
c. Gamified Points System
We implemented a gamified reward system to encourage greater user activity on the platform. Users could earn points for different engagements (posting and sharing content, commenting on posts) which could then be redeemed for exclusive perks such as player jerseys and VIP tickets to events. To make the system fair and cheat-proof, we developed algorithms to accurately track user activity and implemented security measures to prevent exploitation. This points system helped ensure consistent user engagement and loyalty to the platform.
d. Scalable Architecture
As mentioned above, one of our key objectives was to build a scalable platform, one that could handle growth (increased user load) and support advanced features TPL had envisioned for the future, such as athlete profiles and live streaming. Towards this end, we implemented microservices and micro-frontends that together provided a robust platform foundation.
The microservices architecture enabled a scalable and maintainable backend that allowed independent deployment of services. This entailed breaking down the backend into modular services, each handling a specific functionality such as user authentication, user-generated content management, or the gamification system.
Similarly, implementing micro-frontends enabled the different frontend teams to work on various features simultaneously without having to deal with code conflicts. We divided the frontend into separate modules that could be developed, tested, and deployed independently.
A key challenge for our team working on this project was adaptability, necessitated by the frequently changing scope and priorities. In order to deliver on the client’s evolving vision for the platform, we employed flexible agile development methodologies.
Another challenge was the ambitious timeline of this project. With an increased team size, optimized workflows, and the occasional overtime work, we managed to successfully launch the enhanced platform in time for the new football season. The client was satisfied with the new platform’s capabilities and highly rated our team’s ability to deliver under pressure.
The final platform was a dynamic, interactive hub for college sports fans, featuring:
- Real-Time News Updates: comprehensive coverage of college sports events.
- Community Forums: spaces for fans to interact and discuss their favorite teams.
- Gamification Elements: point systems and rewards to incentivize engagement
- Scalable Design: ready infrastructure for adding new features and expanding to more teams.
The platform’s timely market entry with four college teams right before the new football season helped TPL with its user acquisition strategy. With its tailored news content and community spaces, the platform saw increased user engagement. The message boards were highly active, the gamified experience resulting in increased participation rates as the users were motivated to earn and redeem points.
Despite the increase in platform traffic, it maintained fast load times and a smooth user experience. This initial success positioned our client as an innovative leader in fan engagement platforms. The scalable architecture also allows TPL to grow the platform by introducing more advanced features without any major technical overhaul as it aims to unlock future monetization opportunities for college athletes.
