When thinking of global sports technology innovation hubs, certain cities come to mind. San Francisco is an obvious epicenter, as it is with all things tech. New York and LA are also leaders. Tel Aviv certainly is as well. Addtionally, St. Louis has Stadia Ventures, Boulder has Black Lab Sports and now Minneapolis is throwing its hat into the proverbial sports technology ring with The Pitch.
“I was immensely flattered and a little bit flabbergasted. I joined on immediately and didn’t have to think about it for a minute,” said Teke O’Reilly, Executive Director of The Pitch, when Carson Kipfer, Co-Founder of SportsEngine, approached him with the opportunity to run The Pitch, a new co-working space in Minneapolis that wants to fuel sports startups and innovation.
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The Pitch was co-launched by SportsEngine, who was just acquired by NBC Sports, and Rally Ventures, an early stage technology business investment firm. Both companies are based in Minnesota and turned to Teke because he had significant success with previously starting coworking space in Minneapolis and Chicago.
So far The Pitch is off to a strong start as it has recently signed Taylor Corp., the owners of the Minnesota Lynx and Minnesota Timberwolves, as a major sponsor. Additionally, the new sports tech coworking space plans to keep the momentum going by throwing a Grand Opening Paty this Thursday, which SportTechie is proud to be helping organize through our Twin Cities Sports Tech Meetup. The party will host some Minnesota athletes as well as Minnesota sports executives.
Really a treat to be living in such a well-designed, hip, and electric setting. https://t.co/HOhulnHs6A
— The Pitch (@ThePitchUSA) August 12, 2016
“The idea (with The Pitch) is to make Minneapolis synonymous with sports tech and sports business enterprise in the same way that it’s already synonymous with healthcare devices and retail. …Sports tech is really exploding in a lot of different directions, and we just want to try and capitalize on SportsEngine’s famed dominance in an effort to attract and retain top tech talent in Minnesota,” explained Teke.
Ultimately, The Pitch will try to foster sports tech startups through its membership services, resources from Rally Ventures and SportsEngine and its ties to the Minnesota sports industry. Additionally, even an individual with an interest in sports technology can find value in The Pitch’s environment. “If you’re just a single individual, working on a project in town and it’s sports related, you’re welcome to come in and co-work. We want your energy, we want to know what you’re about, and we want to support you in your endeavors. The vetting really ends there, we really just want you to be committed to growing the sports business ecosystem of the region,” said Teke.
Signage is hung – we are somebody! Come get your game on @ThePitchUSAhttps://t.co/17l7nSUfoO pic.twitter.com/ML43wo7yn0
— The Pitch (@ThePitchUSA) July 27, 2016
Teke’s ultimate goal for The Pitch is to focus on community. “The culture that I’ve tried to build in these spaces that I’ve worked in has been a very honest and forthright culture where people are direct and very transparent about what they need. And of course very respectful when it comes to privacy and security and watching each other’s backs. I really take a lot of effort when I onboard somebody to let them know that they are sharing this community, which means there is no boss except them. I say that to everyone so that we all feel like we have ownership in this community.”