Many years ago, the Madden NFL video game franchise presented a new type of gameplay to users. It allowed them to act as the general manager of a team; you could sign players, scout opponents, change your playbook, along with other things. That was the closest many would get to handling their own real-life football team — until now.
Months ago, Project FANchise revealed its plan to allow fans a chance to call plays, among other things, for an Indoor Football League (IFL) team. Now it’s unveiling something called the Virtual Front Office (VFO), offering fans a first-hand look and experience into what it’s like to be a part of a front office. And each of the 10 teams in the IFL will have its own VFO experience, customized for their fans and franchise to provide different levels of fan access.
“The idea was to pull back the curtain on sports franchises and sports teams to let fans see how the sausage is made,” said Sohrob Farudi, the CEO & co-founder of Project FANchise.
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Farudi even warned that this isn’t for your everyday football fan. “What we learned was the 80/20 rule,” he said. “Twenty percent of fans out there are diehards. They want to understand and learn, and a lot of these guys and girls want to have a sports career but never got a chance because it’s hard to break into the industry.”
The Salt Lake Screaming Eagles will be the first team to offer three distinct levels of their VFO. The “Virtual Scout” package ($9.99/month) focuses solely on scouting, the “Virtual Coach” package ($24.99/month) takes into account the playbook along with advanced scouting and the “Virtual General Manager” package ($39.99/month) includes all features of the first two as well as bi-weekly calls with the team president.
“We’ve got calls set up with guys that have done scouting at the highest level,” Farudi said. “They’re teaching people to break down film, score players and grade positions.”
Involving the fans is worth much more than just the money it brings in. Farudi explained that resources are usually an issue with semi-pro or minor league sports teams, saying, “Nobody has enough people. Staffs are never big enough, and coaches and front office personnel are always looking for ways to get additional resources, whether that’s through interns or what-have-you.”
The Screaming Eagles have found those resources, and the beauty is that they’re within the already-installed fanbase. Farudi said that almost 200 people are currently signed up through the different VFO levels. They aren’t just existing within the framework of the team, either.
“They give us great work product,” Farudi said. “I think there’s six guys on our current (Screaming Eagles) 40-man roster that we signed, and our coach had no idea who they were until our fans in the VFO introduced them into the forum.”
Farudi says that they’re currently putting all their energy into getting it right with the Screaming Eagles and also making it available to all the other teams in the league as well. “Our short-term goal would be to rebrand the IFL as the Interactive Football League.”
The attempted rebranding would shift the IFL more towards the NFL’s model where fans are engaging with the league and teams within it 365 days per year.
“What we’re trying to do is create this digital environment which has an app, website and media rights,” Farudi explained. “Now instead of just engaging with the team during eight home games, you’re also engaging during the eight away games and offseason, just like the NFL.”
The IFL season will kick off Feb. 16 with the Screaming Eagles hosting the Nebraska Danger. The IFL has also recently announced that all of its 80 regular season and three postseason games will be streamed for free on YouTube. Along with this, the first Screaming Eagles game will be live streamed on SI.com.
If you think you have what it takes to be part of the front office of a sports franchise, Project FANchise is now giving you the chance to prove it.
“This is the next step in the evolution of how our fans will consume the IFL product,” Indoor Football League Commissioner Michael Allshouse said in a statement. “The level of access and interaction that fans will have to their favorite teams is unprecedented in the professional sports industry. We are very excited about this initiative and the prospects for further fan engagement in the future.”