The Southeast’s Next Big SportsTech Play: Wunderfan Turns Fan Energy into Real Rewards

* this story has been updated with more context on Wunderfan's work with JLAB Birmingham Bowl

Fall is primetime for sports fans across the United States.

The autumn months means that NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL seasons are in full swing, while college campuses are abuzz each weekend with big football rivalry games.

But what if a stadium full of fans could get paid for showing their support?

Blake Patterson, a Birmingham, Alabama-based entrepreneur, has created something that allows fans to cash in. His consumer app, Wunderfan, is a platform that rewards fans for showing up, tuning in, and engaging with their favorite team.

Points can be earned by attending, watching, picking bets, and watching news surrounding sports teams inside the app. Users cash in points earned on the app in exchange for gift cards, merchandise, and other exclusive experiences from participating brands.

For the brands on the platform, which currently includes names like Adidas, The North Face, Sephora, and Doordash, it is an opportunity to engage directly with their target customers and strong fan groups.

“We’re building something that brings fans closer to the teams and events they love—and gives them real rewards for doing it,” Patterson added.

Patterson is building Wunderfan alongside Michael Testa  (Co-Founder/COO) and Geran de Klerk (Co-Founder/CTO).

Building Apps In Our Attention Economy

Now, the average American only uses a handful of apps on their phone each day. So Patterson knows it is an uphill battle to get people to use Wunderfan on a regular basis.

“It’s simple,” he told Hypepotamus. “You have to create something people understand that they are going to get instant gratification from.”

Bootstrapped to date, Wunderfan currently boasts a strong user retention rate, highlighting the stickiness of their product.

After launching last year, Patterson said he realized the team was onto something when the Wunderfan app went viral on the campus of the University of Oregon during football season. The team was soon approached by an NBA team who wanted to build out a team-specific app for them. Patterson said no, saying that there is a wider opportunity to build an all-inclusive sports loyalty rewards and fan engagement app.

Patterson, a self-described “serial entrepreneur,” built his career across the tech and insurance industries. He most recently built and exited the Birmingham-based PEO (professional employer organization) company Simpeo.

But as a “sports fanatic,” Patterson told Hypepotamus that he “wanted to create something that is advantageous to sports fans.”

The startup initially launched Wunderpar, an international platform that actually paid users to go and golf. That caught the attention of major brands like Callaway, Titleist, who saw it as a way to lower their CAC (customer acquisition cost).

Bowl Games & Birmingham Opportunities

Now, Southeast sports groups are taking note. The platform has teamed up with the JLAB Birmingham Bowl and the Southern Professional Hockey League’s Birmingham Bulls.

The JLAB Birmingham Bowl, owned and operated by ESPN Events, along with the Birmingham CVB, recently named Wunderfan its Official Fan Rewards App. This will allow fans to cash in on the upcoming December Bowl Game and their time in the host city.

Wunderfan is being built inside Innovation Depot, a hub for Birmingham, Alabama’s startup and innovation ecosystem.

“We're very proud to say that we're from Birmingham. We think that we can create something and can continue to grow [something] that the city can be proud of,” Patterson told Hypepotamus. “I feel like we have barely scratched the surface.”

The Southeast’s SportsTech World

Wunderfan is one of a number of companies that are rethinking how fans engage with their favorite sports. The largest are certainly Atlanta-based fantasy sports app PrizePicks and Atlanta-based sports media company PlayOn!.

While both are long beyond the startup phase, here are a few startups across the Southeast to note:

• Nashville’s Project Admission, a startup that helps big ticketing platforms improve the buying, selling, and distribution process.
• North Carolina-based Teamworks, which helps athletic organizations do recruiting, compliance, athlete development, and branding all under one roof.
• Atlanta-based The Player’s Lounge, a platform to elevate collegiate athletes.