The Profluence Pod 🌐

With many years of experience in sportainment, Craig Winning is now taking on BatBox as they expand from Mexico to the United States. 

BatBox is an innovative experiential concept that caters to the underserved baseball fan market, offering a playful way for fans to engage with baseball and each other and offer corporate and private simulator sales to clients.

Craig was previously at TOCA Social, Shorty’s, Punch Bowl Social, and has spent most of his career at the intersection of hospitality and entertainment. 

Chapters:

(01:30) Hospitality background 

(05:50) BatBox concept 

(10:10) GTM from Mexico to the US

(11:55) Challenges with new concept 

(13:55) Food/Beverage vs. Gameplay 

(16:10) Blueprint to success

(19:00) Trends in eatertainment 

(21:40) Importance of technology 

(23:00) Concepts that could work 

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Craig Winning:

BatBox: https://www.batboxusa.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thecraigwinning/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

An experienced veteran in sportainment, Ollie’s newest project is at the intersection of racing, socializing, and eating with F1 Arcade. 

F1 Arcade is a new simulation racing experience in the US, offering all the excitement, drama, and glamor of Formula 1.

Ollie Raison has provided creative input to social entertainment businesses for many years including Bounce Ping Pong, Puttshack Mini Golf, Hijingo, AceBounce, Wonderball, Games Gurus, and more. 

Chapters:

(01:15) From comedy to social entertainment 

(05:30) Bounce Ping Pong 

(07:45) Flight Club and Puttshack

(12:45) F1 Arcade Inception

(17:20) Mistakes made in social entertainment 

(20:35) Go-To-Market strategy 

(23:10) Investors they targeted 

(25:25) Future of social entertainment 

(29:45) New location F1 Arcade 

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Ollie Raison:

F1 Arcade: https://f1arcade.com/us/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-raison-b3207235/?originalSubdomain=uk

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

Before launching his own agency, Jared was Head of Sports at Twitter/Vine helping establish deep ties within the social media world.  

Changing the way credit works for social content with Gondola and making creative content for sports leagues, teams, brands, and media companies with Fresh Tape Media.

Jared shares valuable insights into content creation, trends in social media, sports, highlighting the evolution of content, the impact of technology, and the future of content creation tools.

Chapters:

(01:20) Jared’s sports background 

(05:35) Vine walked so TikTok could run

(07:15) Gondola and Fresh Tape Media

(14:30) Trends in social media 

(17:30) Thoughts on AR/VR & content

(22:45) Future ideas 

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Jared Kleinstein:

Gondola: https://gondola.cc/

Fresh Tape Media: https://www.freshtapemedia.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-kleinstein/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

After the acquisition of The Athletic, Evan Parker joined Alexis Ohanian and Brett Montgomery to build Mantel. 

Mantel is a community for collectors (starting in sports). 

Before joining Mantel as the CEO, Evan Parker was the General Manager at The Athletic and Head of Content at NASCAR. 

Chapters:

(01:50) Career in Sports

(03:00) Importance of Building Relationships 

(05:05) How Leagues vs Media Brands View Content

(07:30) Collectibles and Mantel 

(12:30) Starting in Niches

(14:20) From Corporate to Entrepreneurship 

(17:50) Learnings from The Athletic acquisition 

(20:10) Fundraising Insights 

(21:50) Mantel Roadmap 

(35:35) Trends to Watch 

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Evan Parker:

Mantel: https://www.onmantel.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evaneparker/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

Recently raising their Series A round, we discuss the changing dynamic of digital sports activations and how they’ve been able to help organizations get closer to their fans. 

Vaidhy Murti has over a decade of experience developing production applications for high-growth, venture-backed startups, and Fortune 1000 companies

WIT Sports is a digital activation platform that helps professional sports teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS elevate their marketing efforts while providing innovative, turnkey solutions designed to enhance brand partnerships.

Chapters:

(01:25) WIT overview + case studies 

(05:35) Entrance into sports 

(11:35) Leagues engaging fans 

(14:15) Metrics to measure success

(16:55) Series A round growth plans 

(19:15) Macro trends to watch 

(21:15) Learnings building companies 

(24:20) Dealing with rejection 

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Vaidhy Murti:

Website: https://www.witcontests.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaidhy-murti/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

“The Real Moneyball Guy”, the popular movie was partly based on Ari’s analytical and scouting experiences innovating Major League Baseball.

Ari Kaplan created and led the Chicago Cubs analytics department, head of evangelism at DataBricks, Caltech Alumni of the Decade, and Intel’s AI Board of Advisors. 

DataBricks is one of the largest private companies in the world with over $1.6 billion in 2023 revenue. 

Chapters:

(04:10) Exciting new sports tech

(07:35) Background in sports

(10:20) Evolution of analytics 

(15:00) Machine vs human decision making 

(20:00) Traditional AI vs Gen AI

(27:45) AGI 

(29:00) Advice for building in sports

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Ari Kaplan:

Website: https://www.databricks.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arikaplan/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts.

We dive deep into fan engagement, creating immersive experiences, and MVP Interactive + James Giglio’s new book Beyond the Jumbotron. 

MVP Interactive is a creative technology company specializing in designing and producing immersive consumer experiences for the world’s largest brands.

Chapters:

(02:45) MVP Interactive background

(07:15) Defining a “fan”  

(11:05) Future of fan engagement/AI

(15:05) Immersive tech examples 

(21:30) Leveraging brand equity 

(25:10) Insights on building in sports

(27:50) Changing marketing trends

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James Giglio:

Website: https://mvp-interactive.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8E%A4-james-giglio-16a8715/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

Perfect Game is the world’s largest youth baseball/softball platform and scouting service, producing over 8,600+ events, 300,000+ games, and showcases annually across the United States. 

Rob Ponger became CEO in 2022, previously serving as a Senior Vice President at IMG. 

To date, more than 1,650 players who have played in a Perfect Game event have made it to Major League Baseball. 

Chapters:

(01:50) From IMG to Perfect Game

(04:15) Creating a flywheel of brands 

(09:30) Downstream professionalization 

(12:30) MLB players 

(13:50) Baseball innovation for GenZ

(16:30) Women’s sports and softball 

(18:00) Going younger & company size

(21:00) Future for Perfect Game

(23:35) NIL/Other trends

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Rob Ponger:

Website: https://www.perfectgame.org/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-ponger-1534735/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

Pro Skills Basketball is now in 20 cities across the United States with their innovative basketball training, coaching, and team membership model. 

Brendan Winters grew up the son of an NBA coach. He played college basketball at Davidson and then went on to play professionally overseas for 5 years before founding Pro Skills Basketball. 

PSB has since grown into a nationwide club team organization with the mission to change the culture of youth basketball in the US.

Chapters:

(02:40) Davidson and Steph Curry

(03:30) Pro Skills Basketball inspiration 

(08:40) Adding new markets

(10:45) From sports to entrepreneurship

(12:35) Building European-style clubs

(16:40) Pro Skills Basketball model

(18:20) Differences in markets

(22:10) Future initiatives

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Brendan Winters:

Website: https://proskillsbasketball.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanwinters/

.

Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay updated on new podcasts. 

Futsal is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and Senda Athletics is at the forefront of it. 

Senda Athletics is a head-to-toe soccer product line, including footwear, Fair Trade Certified balls, and custom team uniforms, focused on the rapidly growing 5-a-side and indoor soccer market. 

The initial 5-a-side market is an estimated $5B with the opportunity to expand into the $14B broader soccer market. Popular soccer stars like Lionel Messi have been known to enjoy futsal. 

Chapters:

(01:30) Senda Athletics overview

(04:15) Argentina & World Cup 

(06:15) Engaging athletes as owners

(08:30) From 1 product to many 

(12:30) Becoming Fair Trade Certified 

(14:40) Distribution channels 

(20:10) Soccer 3.0

(24:10) Trends to watch

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Santiago Halty:

Website: https://sendaathletics.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/santiago-halty-9a764214/

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Andrew Petcash:

🏠 Website: https://profluence.com

🐣 Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewpetcash

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpetcash/

Thanks for listening! Hit the “follow” button to stay up to date on new podcasts.