VRTL: Scaling in person fan experiences to a global audience

Courtney Jeffries is CEO of virtual events platform, VRTL. She describes herself as a “recovering Sports Exec” having worked at the Raiders, Pac-12, MSG and then moving into startup life at Satisfi Labs. VRTL is used by the likes of Atlanta Falcons, ESPN, NY Rangers, Tottenham Hotspurs and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In this episode with VRTL’s CEO:

The revenue opportunity from driving engagement with non-match attending fans

• Are fan engagement strategies too focused on in-venue and matchday?
• Have teams already saturated their local market?
• How much more do engaged fans spend than non-engaged fans?
• Why the playbook for engaging fans in-venue should be extended to fans globally?

Creative uses of the platform in both the UK and US

• How are Premier League teams using the platform to engage with their global fans?
• How are the Minnesota Vikings using VRTL to give extra value to season ticket holders?
• How is an F1 team looking to connect hardcore fans in discussion with car engineers?
• How did ESPN use the platform to drive conversations around a new 30 for 30 documentary?
• Are sponsors leveraging a team’s virtual events or are they putting events on themselves?

Combining versatility with the ability to scale

• Why does “one size fits all” not work in the sports industry?
• How have fan’s expectations changed post pandemic from a generic zoom call to a “special” experience?
• Why are the virtual autographs so popular?
• How will CRM integration enable events to be more targeted?
• Why making the experiences scalable is so important to teams?
• How much “handholding” of customers is currently required and at what point will the platform be viewed as “self serve”?

Early adopters, pilots and opportunities in music

• Why is it important to work with teams who want to be early adopters?
• Why are UK teams more likely to try things in-season than their US counterparts?
• Why is sports a “copycat” industry and why is this a benefit to tech companies?
• How important have pilots been in helping conver teams into customers?
• Can sports be a beach-head to expand into other industries?
• What is the opportunity in music and film?