"Baseball Boyfriend" and CBS Fantasy Sports

Yesterday, something called "Baseball Boyfriend" was released. A lot of people got kind of mad about it.

Essentially a fantasy baseball game designed for females who don't really like baseball that much, Baseball Boyfriend allows contestants to choose one player - their "BBBF" as they refer to it - and earn points based on how well they do, as opposed to having to draft an entire team. The chosen player can be switched - errr, "dumped" and replaced - throughout the year.

This generated some controversy, as Twitter filled up with snarky complaints about the game treating all women like teenage girls and assuming that none of them knew anything about baseball. I didn't quite understand all of the outrage, though I admit to laughing at some of it. Interested baseball fans - male and female - have many full fantasy sports options to choose from. If anything, my biggest concern is how limited a market Baseball Boyfriend may have, but that's the analytic side of me speaking.

If you haven't guessed, Baseball Boyfriend as a game doesn't particularly interest me. It did capture my attention, though, as one of the first releases to come from CBS Fantasy Sports' new open platform, which  allows independent developers to create apps based off of the popular game and sell it through CBS' new "Fantasy Games and Apps" online store.

There's two intriguing angles to this. The first is the possibilities it opens up for entrepreneurs. Fantasy sports is  kind of massive. It's been the driving force behind other industries, creating increased interest in advanced sports analysis for public consumption (like FanGraphs) and on prospect research. Much of that has been caused by the need fans have to get an edge in their own fantasy leagues. CBS' new platform could provide further opportunities for some of these businesses to integrate with and profit from fantasy sports. There's also an opportunity for entrepreneurs to innovate and provide products and services that simply help improve the gaming experience. The nature of fantasy sports - with annual signups, and many players being involved in multiple leagues - also creates a strong opportunity to generate recurring revenues, as opposed to the one-time purchases found with many apps.

The other side of the coin is the potential this move has for CBS. By crowdsourcing innovations for its own service, CBS Fantasy Sports could breakthrough from the tough rivalry it finds itself in with Yahoo and ESPN. It's a model that has been proven successful in many other digital industries, and as a fan of entrepreneurship, innovation, and fantasy sports, it's one I'm very excited to see take flight.

Technology entrepreneurs that are, literally, changing the game

The first few posts at Sport-Ups have discussed sports-related entrepreneurship with an eye on the fans. That's likely to be the subject of the majority of posts here, mostly because of information availability. The other side of new ventures in sports - that target the teams and leagues themselves - are obviously less public. Often, because of teams' preferences to keep their competitive advantages secret, many of these businesses fly completely under the radar.

A set of articles at ESPN.com today discussed the incredible innovation some of these companies are working on and implementing. Focused on baseball, these articles - by columnist Jayson Stark and former Washington Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden (ESPN Insider only, sorry) - discussed how innovative technology had aided in and revolutionized the ability to evaluate players. No longer is scouting a pitch or a fielder's range up to only the human eye, but computerized systems are now able to objectively provide data to assist.

The leader in this industry probably can't be referred to as a start-up anymore, after providing award winning technology for over ten years. SportsVision works with every sports league you could name, has three US offices, and there's a very good chance that any sports fan has interacted with some of their solutions, whether they know it or not. The company holds an annual conference, called the Pitch F/x Summit, which brings to light the results of new research and solutions on the horizon.

SportsVision does, though, provide an excellent model for any aspiring sports-related entrepreneur or innovator. There is clearly genius in their ranks, as evidenced by some of their mind-blowing solutions, but there are incredible technologists, mathematicians and statisticians, engineers and business minds throughout the demographic of "sports fans." While the work to develop such technology is undoubtedly quite difficult, there are sure to be countless intelligent sports fans interested in doing so, even if it were to begin as a hobby. With the development of great technology, SportsVision demonstrates the multitude of applications available - such as selling directly to the teams or leagues, to television networks for broadcast improvements, or simply offering consulting services with the data the technologies can gather.

That's not to say any of it is easy. These solutions are likely to be expensive, and the number of businesses comprising the group of professional sports teams and leagues is small. That means that one of two things is necessary for great success: 1) an excellent sales strategy and effectiveness, to make the most of the limited customer base, or 2) strong internal efficiency to keep costs low enough that others can be brought into the potential market, such as less profitable college or international teams.

All of that said, with the emphasis on gaining advantages by sports team, and the gigantic market of end-users that broadcasters and leagues need to appeal to, developing incredible technology for these customers is clearly an appealing, and potentially highly lucrative, goal for any sports entrepreneur. It doesn't hurt that a gifted technologist could have a ton of fun along the way, even if the goal begins as a simple hobby.

Welcome to Sport-Ups!

As you might expect from someone who just started a blog, I sort of like words. I'm a fan of them, you could even say. Like anything else, I even have my favourites. Here's two of them: sports and innovation.

Nothing too shocking. I mean, sports - how could you not like them? (Oh, I also like hyphens, as you may learn if you read this blog frequently.) Sports are pretty great. For the most part, they're completely insignificant. 20-or-so random men from around the world get grouped together to represent certain cities or states against groups representing others. They play, we cheer, we cry, we study, we obsess, we rant, we applaud, and we dream. Many psychologists and sociologists could carve out careers trying to figure out what it is about sports that put them at the centre of our hearts and minds. But there they are, in one form or another, keeping us distracted from the other perils of life for hours a day. How could anyone not like that?

And how would any of that be without innovation? If someone hadn't decided to throw a ball in a hoop, or invented the radio or the TV...  it's sort of scary even to think about.

Of course, innovation has given us a lot more than better ways to enjoy sports. We've seen medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, easier access to seeing the world, and simpler ways to live our every day lives.

The word "innovation" strikes me so much that I even decided to pursue an education in it. After finishing my Bachelors of Business Administration, I completed a Masters of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology program from the University of Waterloo - easily one of Canada's most innovative institutions. The program offered me a chance to gain some expertise in the way these innovations come to life.Whether it's established companies remaining on the cutting edge or start-up ventures seeking there chance to change the world, there are few things I find more captivating than the entrepreneurial spirit.

Sport-Ups is the intersection of these worlds.

I plan to discuss a bunch of things in this space, from new product launches by the major sports players to new ventures from those hoping to wind up competing with them. Once in a while, I may even use this blog to rant about something else that's stuck on my mind in the sports or business world.

I also hope to get to know others with the same passions that I have and those hoping to become a part of this world. The easiest way to get in touch is probably through Twitter, and you can find me through the side bar on the right.

For now though, I'm going to pull-up Rogers on Demand Online for a live HD stream of today's Toronto Blue Jays game. Thank you, innovation!