Two recent college graduates, who met while attending high school in Needham, have launched a social media app for athletes and their fans.
FanZone was created by Sonny Huang and Weston Brach to allow college and professional athletes to monetize their own behind-the-scenes content through monthly subscriptions from their fans.
“The comparison would be to what Patreon has done for artists and musicians, providing them a subscription-based platform so they can monetize musical and artistic content,” Brach said.
Athletes will be able to engage with their fans through tools like live and pre-recorded video content, messaging and discussion threads. Users will have access to workouts, discussion threads and fun vlogs through their subscription. Athletes can also offer direct messaging, video calls and live streams to fans for an additional cost. Fans can also donate money to athletes or causes they support on the app.
One of their main selling points for FanZone is its ability to be a more reliable source of revenue for athletes. Unlike other social media platforms, athletes are not reliant on brand deals and sponsors or a certain number of views to get paid.
“It comes down to ownership. We’re providing a tech infrastructure for the athlete to not have to rely on these external factors,” Brach said. “It’s very entrepreneurial.”
One of the platform's first users is Kendrick Bourne, a wide receiver with the New England Patriots. In a statement, Bourne said he plans to start off by sharing his workouts and meals with fans. After that, he said, “I’m going to ask my fans what they want to see and I’ll try my best to deliver.”
“I think it’s more personal. It’s a better platform for me to communicate with fans that are interested in all aspects of my life,” Bourne added.
Brach said other athletes who have signed up to use the platform include Rex Burkhead, a running back for the Houston Texans, and a few players from the MLS team D.C. United.
FanZone is also partnering with The Icon Collective, a group that helps HBCU student athletes with name, image and likeness deals. The group wants to use the app to collect HBCU alumni subscriptions and onboard current athletes.
The beta version of FanZone launched in September. Since then, Huang and Brach have been focused on recruiting athletes and getting them onto the platform.
Fans can download FanZone for free and then pay a monthly fee for access to each athlete’s content. Huang said athletes can set the price for their fans, but they recommend starting at around $2.99/month. FanZone will provide athletes with analytics on pricing and customer retention.
Brach said athletes keep 90% of their revenue and FanZone takes 10%.
For fans, Huang said the app allows them to have a more personal experience with their favorite athletes — albeit for a price.
“On Instagram, you see a picture of your favorite athlete. You don’t really get to see their personality, their stories,” Huang said. “We’re a platform for the athletes. A better way for them to in-depth showcase their journeys.”
Huang said he began developing FanZone full-time last March. He graduated from Princeton University in 2020 and studied operations research. Brach attended Middlebury College in Vermont and teamed up with Huang to work on the finance and sales side of the company last fall.
Huang and Brach are FanZone’s only full-time employees, and they’ve bootstrapped the company thus far. The pair are based in Dover. Brach said their next stage of growth would include hiring for another engineer and someone in business development and marketing.
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