Have you ever wanted to pick the brain of NBA Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins during dinner or learn how to throw a perfect spiral during a private lesson by former NFL Quarterback, Daunte Culpepper? With the help of a company called Thuzio, these types of experiences and much more have now become a very real possibility for many die-hard sports fans.
Thuzio is an online platform that connects fans with current and former professional athletes and well known people from the Entertainment, Lifestyle and Business world. It’s Co-Founders Mark Gerson and Tiki Barber (yes, that Tiki Barber) created Thuzio with the idea of connecting fans with the players that they love to root for.
The Thuzio talent provides a wide variety of experiences that include private and team coaching, social dinners, game watch and analysis, corporate speaking, fantasy sports draft, client entertainment, family celebrations, flag football, golf outings, charity event hosting and more.
Thuzio has over 1,000 professional athletes for fans to choose an experience with. According to John Zhang, the Thuzio Director of Marketing, some of the more popular experiences that fans want Thuzio athletes for are playing flag football with Tiki Barber, watching an NFL game with Daunte Culpepper, playing pickup basketball with Dominique Wilkins, and having lunches or dinners with Jose Canseco.
Thuzio recently came out with a new Video Message option for fans to get personalized messages from their favorite Thuzio athletes. Anyone who wants a two-minute video message from a pro creates an account on the Thuzio site, writes a short script, pays $99, and clicks submit. The Thuzio talent has a special mobile app that notifies them of the fan’s request and turns their phone into a teleprompter that displays the fan’s script. Upon receiving the script the talent then reviews and records the message that the fan sent them. Once the talent completes the message he or she sends it back (usually after no more than a day) and the fan can save and share the message with friends and family.
The new video message from Thuzio uses simple video sharing technology to improve upon the typical greeting card and create a truly unique and memorable experience for fans. The ease of use and customization of a Thuzio video message is appealing for the fan and the athlete. It may seem simple to video message your favorite athlete but according to Zhang it has never been done before on this scale and with such a quick turnaround.
Other than creating great personal memories for fans, Thuzio is also becoming a more popular choice for businesses who look to use Thuzio for promotions and sales tools. Additionally, Thuzio is looking outside of sports as they are beginning to grow their talent base in Broadway and other industries such as arts, food and music.
Zhang explains that the name Thuzio came from the co-founders, Mark and Tiki. “It’s a play on ‘enthusiastic,’ because everyone is enthusiastic for something or someone.” In the case of sports fans, they have always been enthusiastic to interact with the athletes that they admire. Fortunately for them, Thuzio is making these interactions easier than ever before.
For a great example of what a personal message from a Thuzio athlete is like, check out this video from Tiki Barber himself!
