As detailed in my essay, "My Time w/ TBL: 2018-2023," I was a cofounder of a company that developed a sports technology platform we called SportsCastr, later rebranded as PANDA Interactive. While we were still called SportsCastr, a platform that we designed as an open, social network for sports fans, we entered into a partnership with The Basketball League, a professional basketball league headquartered out of Indianapolis entering its first season. The initial incarnation of our partnership included broadcasting TBL games using a unique platform feature we had built that we called "Remote Commentary." The feature enabled anyone watching a game to click a button and become the commentator. Our tech team developed a mechanism that automatically mixed the commentator's audio in with the game audio, and layered a video feed from the commentator's webcam on top of the game feed in PIP fashion. When there were multiple commentators, viewers were able to choose from whom they received their commentator, with the ability to jump from one commentator to another with the click of a button, and could interact with the commentators in a live chat.
The mutual belief, among executives at SportsCastr and TBL, was that "TBL on SportsCastr" would benefit from the commentators inviting their followers to watch the games. The technology itself, which was objectively groundbreaking, was a compelling story. Ultimately, though, the feature was retired after one complete season because the TBL-viewing public seemed to be ambivalent about it. Perhaps the feature's success required some critical mass. Perhaps it required just the right personalities to play commentator. Maybe it needed both... and maybe it needed both and more. Whatever theories one might derive from conjecture, customer feedback dictated that we offer them something more traditional. And herein lies a marvelously useful lesson, one which I elucidate in my essay on Derek Thompson's Hit Makers: How Things Become Popular: A product which mystifies its audience is bound to be rejected.
One could also glean another lesson, one which isn't as pithy or profound, but is nonetheless vital, which is that a person who is committing to watch two hours of basketball isn't seeking out simultaneous entertainment. He just wants to watch a game. And sports fans have become accustomed to watching games, be it pro basketball, MMA, ping pong, or Olympic decathlon, that are presented in nearly identical fashion. Upsetting the anticipated viewing experience isn't likely to make a customer happy.
There's also a third lesson that I take away from season one of TBL on SportsCastr. TBL was a new league. SportsCastr was a new product. We on the inside had an expectation that viewers would accept two new products simultaneously. Though we didn't undertake any thorough exit polling, I was in the weeds enough to deduce that viewers were likely confused by what in the world TBL on SportsCastr was. They had never heard of SportsCastr. SportsCastr wasn't something familiar, like a TV channel ("Tune into SportsCastr, channel 712 on Dish, or 74 on Spectrum!") and so any connection between a TBL fan and SportsCastr was weak. For SportsCastr, that didn't present a viable marketing opportunity.
But there's still one final lesson to be gleaned! And this is a terrifically positive lesson, one to which I owe full credit to my friend and partner, the CEO of SportsCastr, Kevin April. While SportsCastr had an impressive pedigree, having attracted investment from and/or collaboration with the likes of David Stern, the NFL Players Association, the WNBA, USA Today Sports Media Group, we were far from a household name. Securing a relationship with TBL was a study in confidence. During out first in-person meeting with David and Evelyn Magley, the league's founders and primary operators, we were exploring the idea of a package of games appearing on SportsCastr when Kevin asked "Why don't we put them all on SportsCastr?" Sounds simple enough, no? But so often it is difficult to see the forest for the trees and so we were all, the Magleys and even myself, rather startled at hearing it. But once the notion set in for a moment it was clear that it was the best option for both parties.
And thus a long-tenured, successful partnership was born. Following the learning lessons of season one, we embarked on season two, three, and onward to the present where PANDA Interactive (fka SportsCastr) and The Basketball League will be collaborating on "TBLTV" for the 2024 season.
Building a social network is challenging. Doing so while simultaneously regularly raising money to fund the business is doubly so.
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