- GreenPark Sports recently announced that it raised $8.5 million in funding from SignalFire, Sapphire Sport, Founders Fund, and several others
GreenPark Sports announced recently that it raised $8.5 million in funding from SignalFire with participation from Sapphire Sport, Founders Fund, and several others. GreenPark was founded by a team of renowned serial entrepreneurs, including YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, Zappos founder Nick Swinmurn, and Blitz co-founder Ken Martin.
Sports is a $1 trillion industry and there are 5 billion sports fans around the world. Of those fans, 2 billion participate on social media — which represents the largest and most lucrative segment of the population.
GreenPark Sports knows that these fans are behaving differently than the previous generations. And in order to unlock their potential, the sports industry must engage with them through social and interactive experiences that take place across a diverse array of digital touchpoints.
“Our entire team is passionate about helping the next generation of fans reconnect with the sports they love,” explained Chad Hurley, co-founder and chairman at GreenPark Sports. “We want to breathe new life into what made people fall in love with sports and competition in the first place. Whether you enjoy traditional, eSports, or like most of us are a fan of both, GreenPark Sports is the place to connect and compete with other fans like you.”
It is rare that fans watch single games for uninterrupted hours at a time anymore. Now fans are looking for interactive experiences that allow them to participate in the action. And the fans are sharing their experiences on online discussions or by competing with other fans for predicting the outcomes of the games and players.
And social fans switch contexts frequently and their attention is fragmented between devices, content categories, and engagement platforms. Plus half of these fans prefer eSports to traditional sports and the large majority are fans of both categories.
“GreenPark Sports is developing fan-forward, digital experiences and mobile games for this new generation of sports and eSports fans,” said Martin. “Providing a single, interactive, consistent experience across a variety of fragmented contexts is the key to retaining these fans’ attention.”
With this round of funding, GreenPark Sports will continue hiring more team members in a wide variety of roles, including creative arts professionals, engineering, and development talent as well as go-to-market and gaming industry strategists.
“GreenPark Sports is a perfect combination of market opportunity, industry experience and tectonic shifts in customer behavior. With this team’s impeccable track record and vision for the future of fandom, this was an investment we had to make,” added Chris Farmer, founder and CEO of SignalFire.
