Thursday at noon, thousands of people will be tuning in to watch the first tip-off of the NCAA March Madness tournament. Alas, not every business is kind enough to declare March Madness an office holiday. But while some folks might be satisfied sneakily live streaming the game on their computers, the majority probably would prefer some company from their same fanbase. The question, then, is: Where do you go to watch your favorite sports teams duke it out?
Fanatic has the answer to your lonely game day plight. The Android and iOS app, based out of New York City and developed in Boston, aims to connect sports fans and popular venues all over the world so people can watch their teams compete among like-minded crowds.
Fanatic founders Babak Poushanchi and Jon Keselica met at Northwestern. When they left the Windy City, the entrepreneurial pair woefully searched for a bar to watch their alma mater’s games and those of Chicago pro teams – and came up empty handed.
“I was traveling a lot for work, and was looking for a bar that would play the [Chicago] Bears,” Keselica told BostInno in a conversation. “But you go down that wormhole of just searching through Yahoo! groups and old Yelp answers.” Those answers, however, are often unreliable at best. “ The bar may not exist anymore, and you have no idea if it is accurate,” Keselica pointed out.
Fanatic brings up a list of all the teams you follow, as well as different news from respected sites and bloggers. From there, you can skip through top venues, which show a list of the best bars to watch a particular team at, based on your location. What’s more, users can stay in touch with other fans they meet or friends they want to talk smack with during the game via a built in chat function.
In addition to the Fanatic team’s own in-depth local research, venues can make it to the number one spot by Fanatic users checking into the app while at a given bar. Say, for example, you check into Game On to watch the Ohio State versus Dayton game Thursday afternoon. Ohio State basketball would get a point for the bar, and the bar would get a point towards hosting Ohio State basketball fans.
Keep in mind, too, that the app knows no bounds. Fanatic has around 15,000 users from around the world. Keselica told me that he was even able to discover a Pittsburg Steelers bar while in Sochi at the Winter Olympics.
But as far as Boston’s concerned, this app stands to make a big difference in the lives of sports fans rooting for teams not based in New England. “For the sports scene, Boston likes to show their own professional sports,” shared Jon Drew, Fanatic’s head developer who is based in the Boston area.
Fanatic is also handy for those who aren’t the biggest fans. “It’s the perfect tool for someone who doesn’t have a team, but just wants to get out of work and play a little hooky, but at the same time wants to be around other big fans and have the best game watching experience,” noted Keselica.
So, want to get in on the action and watch March Madness games with fellow fervent – and displaced – fans? Download the app here for iOS, and here for Android.
