Tony Hsieh is trying to get sports fans out of the stands and into the action.
The Zappos founder has joined forces with several other Zappos alumni for a sporty new Las Vegas start-up, Fandeavor.
The new site, co-founded by ex-Zappos employees Tom Ellingson and Dean Curtis, launched Wednesday; it has raised $525,000 in seed funding from Hsieh's VegasTechFund and from Erik Moore, an early Zappos investor, reports TechCrunch.
Branding itself as the “gameday experience company,” Fandeavor claims it will “turn bleacher bums into ballers by providing access that used to only be reserved for the rich.”
The company plans to sell such experiences as VIP tent access, stadium tours and locker-room access, with packages offered both auction-style, to high bidders, and at preset prices, according to TechCrunch:
The startup currently has partnerships with college football, basketball or baseball teams at TCU, Arizona State, UNLV, USC, Wisconsin and a few more, and will be using its funding to not only go after more college sports teams but branch out into professional sports.
"There is no stronger loyalty than the rabid sports fan," Zach Ware, a partner at VegasTechFund, told TechCrunch. “Building an experience-based business by turning fans’ dreams into reality is a win-win—both for franchises and fans."
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