ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen has always put his fellow sports fans first with his entrepreneurial ventures. This week, he and his partner, award-winning technologist Hutton Pulitzer, have launched FEVR Tech, a new company with proprietary technology which significantly improves and enhances the fan experience at live sports events in venues of all sizes.
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ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen, shown here on the ESPN Sports Center set in Bristol, Connecticut in July 2014, has launched his newest venture, FEVR Tech. (Photo courtesy of ESPN.)
“FEVR Tech might be the most powerful social communication tool ever created specifically for fans in live sports venues. We talk WITH fans, not AT fans -- our mantra is simple – Fans Rule,” said Rasmussen, the legendary entrepreneur and innovator who changed how the world watches television and how we all watch sports today.
“With FEVR Tech, we have created a new way to enhance the fan experience at the event, and enhance the way teams, venues, leagues and conferences, and partners can communicate directly with the fans at any live sports event,” Rasmussen said.
This week, the world’s leading sports business periodical, The Sports Business Journal, featured the launch of FEVR Tech in an article by journalist John Ourand.
FEVR Tech (the name derives from an acronym for Fans Engage Vote Respond) combines the entrepreneurial vision, business acumen and sports enthusiasm of Rasmussen, the man who created a new industry of 24-hour cable television with the launch of his brainchild, ESPN, on September 7, 1979, with the technology and patent prowess of Pulitzer, who has created previous intellectual property and a patent portfolio that is present in over 11.9 billion mobile devices (smart phones, cell phones, tablets, etc.) around the world.
Pulitzer is one of the world’s leading technology innovators, with patents on applications and systems for Internet communications, Internet commerce, broadcasting and communications.
With a history of creating new technology and applications, Pulitzer began working with Rasmussen, and when Rasmussen recognized a new use for key Pulitzer innovations, an estimated 200 patents created a legal “fortress” for the new company, and the idea for FEVR Tech was born.
“The story behind the scenes of our new company, FEVR Tech, began when a new media/new tech visionary connected with the legendary sports and television entrepreneur and innovator, a lifelong sports fan, a man who always looks to enhance the fans' experience, and together they launched a new company that will take the sports and technology sectors by storm in 2016,” Pulitzer said. “FEVR Tech combines my patent strategies and methods with Bill’s extensive knowledge of sports and his dedication to serving sports fans of all ages, as well as his creative ingenuity utilizing new technologies in new ways.”
Rasmussen's vision for a 24-hour sports network turned into an idea that became a $50 billion company. Pulitzer took a vision to an idea that is part of every mobile device in the world.
“I created the technology, but I didn’t fully understand how to use it to its utmost effect until I met Bill,” said Pulitzer. “In our first conversation, Bill understood immediately this technology is something sports fans want, which sports fans need, and is one which sports fans will quickly embrace.”
Pulitzer noted that Rasmussen “was told ‘no’ by everyone who thought they understood the world of sports and TV in 1978, but his vision for ESPN has grown into not only one of the most powerful brands in the world, but a worldwide phenomenon that impacts every fan, every sport, and every television viewer. He created an industry, using cable television. No one ever thought ESPN would work, and Bill proved that it could and it did. His vision for FEVR Tech will create another revolution in the way sports connects with fans, and both of us believe it will happen very quickly.”
“FEVR Tech is significantly different than anything else in use today, because fans do not have to text or email their responses, eliminating the need for Wi-Fi systems,” said Rasmussen. “There’s no texting involved, and there’s no streaming involved -- it’s a one-click response.”
Pulitzer added, “Simply put, FEVR Tech is a drop-in module that’s basically invisible. With each partnership, FEVR Tech’s features are instantly available for the fans to use, and we know that fans love in-venue engagement.”
FEVR Tech plans to partner with college and professional sports leagues, teams and TV networks to provide its engagement system in venues around the globe. Sports teams and league partners will use FEVR Tech to make fans happy, make sponsors happy and improve the overall live event experience.
“It’s really whatever the team wants to do with it,” Rasmussen said. “FEVR Tech engagement creates multiple revenue streams where there have never been opportunities to monetize before, and will make fans appreciate more than ever that live events are the best events. It magnifies the excitement of the live event experience many times over.
“With the announcement of FEVR Tech this week, we are changing the passive impression techniques of the past into verified views which no other company in the world can deliver,” said Rasmussen. “We talk with fans, not at fans. This is an absolute game changer.”
Additional information about FEVR Tech is available at http://www.FEVRTech.org.
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