New technology from startup ventures is transforming the sports industry. The mission of this series will be to introduce startup companies in the sports technology space to a broader audience and allow CEO’s of promising new ventures to tell their story.
Company: Sport:80
CEO: Gary Hargraves
Headquarters: Sheffield, United Kingdom
1. What is your elevator pitch?
The Sport:80 Platform is cloud-based software specifically designed for managing sport at international, national, club and grassroots levels.
It enables sports organizations and event organizers of all sizes to manage, connect and automate key areas such as memberships, events, logistics, communications and finance.
2. Problem & Solution
The workload associated with managing sport at any level is huge, and is often complicated by outdated processes, a lack of resource and a reliance on labor intensive or disparate management systems.
This is something we are all too familiar with at Sport:80, having worked in the sports industry for many years. We originally set up the company to deliver major sporting events, logistics solutions and consultancy projects. However, in 2011 our involvement in the ISSF Shooting World Cup (the biggest test event for the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games) set us on a slightly different path.
Our role during that project was to deliver and manage all personnel logistics – a real challenge when factoring in 2000 athletes and coaches from more than 90 countries jetting in to London for a 3 week event. We knew we’d have to take a different approach to deliver the desired results, so we turned to technology but quickly found there was nothing which would deliver the sport-specific functionality we required. This is when the concept of the Sport:80 Platform was born!
Utilizing our experience of the sports industry and strong relationships with leading software developers, we built the prototype of the platform. The end-result was a fully automated means of managing everything from invitations, entries, fees, accommodation and travel to visa invitation letters, transport schedules, accreditations and firearm licenses. Furthermore, it would deliver this information in real-time to all key stakeholders, venues and staff simultaneously. Needless to say The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games was delighted with the results:
“The unqualified success of the Shooting Pre–Olympic Test event in London was in large part due to the excellent administrative service provided by Sport:80. Their platform was an invaluable asset, providing the cornerstone upon which the whole administrative and support infrastructure was built.” – Peter Underhill, Competition Manager, London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games
The success of the project spurred us on to develop a wider reaching technology platform that would encompass all the tools required to manage sport at international, national, club and grassroots levels.
Today the Sport:80 platform provides sports organizations with a secure, user-friendly and intuitive means of managing their sport. It is proven to significantly reduce admin workload and delivers a wealth of data, available from any device at any time. Additional benefits also include a secure payment system, paperless operations, greater control and visibility of finances, opportunities to grow revenue streams, the ability to pre-book and manage travel/accommodation, the list goes on…
3. Market – your target market and the overall market
The beauty of the Sport:80 Platform is its modular design and flexibility. Essentially we are able to easily customize the technology to lend itself to any sport and any size of organization.
This then presents a huge market opportunity. We are currently targeting international and national federations for Olympic and Paralympic sports. Based on our business model these organizations equal to a market worth in excess of $1bn.
We have already established a solid footprint on home soil in the UK and work with the likes of British Fencing, Archery GB and Disability Shooting GB among others. We have also started to use our contacts internationally and currently World Archery, NFAA USA, Squash South Africa and BISFed are using Sport:80 technology.
The practical functionality of the Platform rings true with the sports industry and on a monthly basis more organizations are partnering with us. We are yet to walk away from a meeting where the other party has failed to be blown away by what it can do.
In November we will be heading to the TEAMS conference at Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. This is where we plan to debut the Sport:80 Platform in North America and are looking forward to creating stronger ties with sport in the US.
4. Business Model – how do you make money?
Our business model reflects our experience of the sports industry. We know the challenges of working in the industry, particularly those linked to finance and commercial opportunities. This is why we have created a business model that eliminates almost all barriers to entry.
Our clients have the opportunity to adopt the Platform with no-upfront costs via our fee per transaction model. Essentially we take a small fee for every transaction made through the platform. We also recognize that this approach doesn’t always work for all sports organizations, so we also offer an annual license fee option.
As mentioned, the flexibility of our pricing options removes almost all barriers to entry and allows any size of sports organization to take advantage of the Platform.
5. Management Team – with titles
Gary Hargraves, Chief Executive Officer
Jonny Turner, Head of Operations
Harry Bunting, Head of Software and Development
Jack Waddingham, Marketing and Communications Manager
Alison Burchell, Head of Business Development
Rich Mallon, Head of Research
6. What else do you want the audience to know about your venture?
We take a philanthropic approach to sport. The whole team has worked in the industry for many years and we see our technology as a solution to overcome a common set of challenges.
We will continue to innovate by developing the Sport:80 Platform for the operational and financial benefit of sport. By recognizing the power of sport and the positive impact it maintains on people, communities and nations, we believe we have the ability to create new opportunities for our partners. These are opportunities that result in significant economies which can be used to aid the development and positive global impact of sport.
Bonus Questions:
If you were stuck on a desert island with any three athletes, who would they be and why?
Number one has to be Michael Phelps – apparently he’s a keen fisherman and is faster in water than he is on land. Plus he seems like a good laugh, so I’m sure he would keep spirits ‘high’.
Second up is one of our sporting heroes in the office – Daley Thompson. Built like a titan, multi-skilled and a born winner – the ideal person to be stranded on a desert island with!
Finally Sharon Davies. I don’t think this one needs much explaining. After all, what’s a Desert Island without your very own mermaid?!
If you were to invite any CEO to dinner who would it be and why?
This is a tough one. The honor would have definitely gone to Steve Jobs, who has been a huge inspiration, particularly in the tech world. In his absence, Mark Zuckerberg is probably top of the list, he’s a strong personality and a true visionary… reminds me of myself. I’m sure we’d talk about Sport:80 becoming the sport industry’s social network, only with a specific purpose.
If you could go to any sporting event, what would it be and why?
It would have to be [using my crystal ball] the British Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone when Louis Hamilton wins his 8th world title with Mercedes, breaking Michael Schumacher’s record. Although this hasn’t actually happened yet I am confident it will and hope to be there when it does. It would be great to see a British racing driver from such a humble background achieve great things.