Sports culture. I’ve missed it! Once again, I’m in the land of 24-hour sports during the holidays and I’m looking forward to bowl games, in-state rivalry matches, and the sports news cycle. I’m a busy guy, (especially during the holidays), and I’m not always in front of a TV to get the latest. While away from the TV, I’m keen on looking for ways to get the latest sports news online and I’ve found that SportzHype is a good way to get my fix. It’s like Pinterest for sports fans!
Not only does SportzHype function as a way to get the latest sporting news, but more importantly, it’s an online community where members are able to post sports news with a link, by starting a discussion topic, posting a photo, or by posting a video. Users can see the latest posts as well as host their own user page of sports headlines and content.
Each post can then be commented on, “liked,” or added to a list of your favorite pieces of news. The different kinds of “Hype” are broken down into “Hot Hype,” “New Hype,” and “Top Hype” along the top of the page for easy viewing. The layout is straightforward and makes for easy reading for sporting fans of any kind.
Sports covered on SportzHype include basketball, football, golf, soccer, gymnastics, hockey, Nascar, volleyball, and boxing among others!
We had a chance to speak to the SportzHype founder about his startup, and here’s what he shared with us:
What’s your vision for SportzHype?
Our vision is to bring sports to individuals through the eyes of others in a very simple way. Also allowing sports teams at all levels (high school, college, semi-pro, pro) to build a profile and promote their athletics and products through our site. We allow individuals to post on our site and also it can go onto their Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, [and] Google+ accounts. So it always redirects back to them.
How do you see SportzHype evolving in 2013?
As Pinterest became popular due to their simple way of viewing news and photos, we feel we will grow pretty steadily within the sports world community, as our full focus is sports.
I can certainly see how SportzHype is like Pinterest for sports fans. What’s it like running a startup from your perspective?
Not as hard as I thought it would be to be honest, just a lot of small things to take into account to get your name out there. Concept is easy, executing a plan is the hardest part.
What’s the worst piece of advice you’ve received business-wise?
You need tons of money to have a vision and to be successful, (not true).
Why do you think organized (professional, college, high school) sports are so popular in the U.S.?
I think it’s just in our competitive nature to be honest. We all grew up watching one sport or another with family and friends. But I think it’s big worldwide.
What advice would you offer someone interested in launching his or her own startup?
Be able to multi-task, and be very passionate about your vision and where you want to go with it even though it might seem impossible.
That’s certainly sound advice from a startup looking to give passionate sports fans what they want and believe me, SportzHype delivers. Not only does the community feel show visitors the sports news that matters most to other sports fans, but by allowing members to contribute content, the strength of SportzHype lies in giving fans a chance to highlight the sports content they like the most and to even influence what sports news other users see.
SportzHype truly is a powerful user curation tool for the most passionate sports fans. Do yourself a favor and give it a spin now.
