YourSports™ Launches Sports Media Platform Devoted To Recognizing
Amateur Athletes That Play ‘For the Love of the Game’
Site launches with National Online TV Programming and Web Applications on Facebook® Platform
SEATTLE, October 24, 2007 – YourSports™, a pioneer in sports-oriented Web 2.0 application development, today announced the launch of its amateur sports media platform – yoursports.com – featuring internet TV and web applications dedicated to evolving the way amateur sports are viewed, shared and connected. Built by athletes for athletes, YourSports recognizes the 93 million amateur sports participants (athletes, families and fans) that play for the love of the game. YourSports features the first user-generated nationally broadcasted highlight show along with Facebook Platform applications each designed to recognize and connect athletes and fans on both the national and local levels.
“We believe the world of amateur sports deserves to have its own platform similar to the NFL, MLB and NBA,” said Chris McCoy founder and fan of YourSports. “As a company we’re determined to highlight and empower the amateur sports world through our own media platform that recognizes and connects those who play for the love of the game.”
YourSports’ current feature set includes YourSports10 (YS10), the first national online broadcast top 10 highlight show solely based on user-submitted content of amateur sports. On top of YS10 the site encourages fans, players, parents and coaches to create Channels (group profiles) for their local teams and organizations, essentially giving them their own Top 5 highlight show. In addition, YourSports is providing fans with a suite of applications (High School Top 10 Sports and Brackets) built on Facebook Platform designed to put the power of team rankings into the hands of the fans and allow users to create their own brackets for any type of tournament or game.
“At the end of the day, my team is creating a platform featuring applications and products that we wanted when playing club, high school, and intramural sports. We always dreamed of being recognized on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays and definitely wanted to track our stats and compare them against our friends and opponents,” said McCoy.
News Facts:
YourSports10/Channels: A YourSports10 is a Top 10 highlight reel of the best amateur sports in the nation. YourSports Channels are customizable and interactive sites dedicated to specific teams featuring highlights from the team, all submitted by fans and players. YourSports will create a special highlight reel for each channel with the ability to upload and link to other sites. YourSports is working with VideoEgg to make video-sharing for athletes and fans as easy as ‘drag and drop’.
Facebook Platform Applications: The launch of YourSports includes two applications on Facebook Platform - Brackets and High School Top 10. The Brackets application allows users to set up tournaments, vote for their favorite teams and create their own bracket polls. Users can create and manage any kind of head-to-head tournament they can think of such as a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a Scrabble tournament or even one for your next Madden tournament. The High School Top 10 application allows users to rank their favorite High School sports teams and compare their picks to the national ranking as well as others in the community. Additional applications are scheduled to launch in the coming weeks.
Widgets: Users, including online news publications, can easily place the YourSports Media Player Widget on their web site featuring professionally produced custom highlight shows spotlighting video content of local teams submitted by athletes and fans. Each YourSports Media Player features your own Top 5 highlight show from the videos loaded directly into your site and also the newest episode of YS10.
Seed Funding: Since the company’s creation in 2006, originally based out of local Seattle coffee shops and the Phi Gamma Fraternity, the executive team has raised more than $900,000 in private funding from local angel investors. The company spent the last year working in Chris’s garage and now operates from its own office next to the University of Washington campus.
Management team: YourSports currently has a team of 18, plus numerous interns from the University of Washington and several consultants. The team includes:
- Chris McCoy, 24, former National DECA President and founder of the successful baseball instructional company PitchSmarter.com
- Sean Sweeney, former director at Media Zone, Yahoo Sports, and Youth Sports Network
- Ben Joldersma, former lead developer at Scout.com
- Perkins Coie, legal counsel
Board of Advisors: YourSports has assembled an all-star advisory board comprised of the following:
- Stu Evey, co-founder and former Chairman ESPN, Inc.
- Eddie Poplawski, former CEO of ACI., Leading merchandiser for Costco Wholesale Corp.
- Clay Loges, current CEO and co-founder of Yodio.com, a new media company
- John Castle, Entrepreneurship lecturer, University of Washington
- Nate Miles, current VP Government Relations at Eli Lilly and Company
- Bryan Brewer, president of Business Plans Northwest
Links:
Destination Site: www.yoursports.com
YourSports10: http://www.yoursports.com/index.php?q=yoursportstv
Channels: http://www.yoursports.com/index.php?q=channels
Channel Widget: http://hollywoodac.org/
Facebook Platform Application: Brackets http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=6045186299
Facebook Platform Application: High School Top 10 http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=5051463215
Facebook Platform Application: YourSports Teams http://apps.facebook.com/yoursports/
Promotional Contests & Scholarships: http://yoursports.com/index.php?q=contests
YourSports Blog: http://www.yoursports.com/index.php?q=blog/11
About YourSports:
Built for athletes by athletes, YourSports is a Web 2.0 sports media company devoted to the genuine nature of amateur sports. Founded by former National DECA President Chris McCoy, YourSports has set out to revolutionize how amateur sports are viewed, shared and connected. As a company, YourSports is determined to highlight and empower the community of amateur sports through the development of new products and services that promote and recognized those who play for the love of the game. For more information: www.yoursports.com.
Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.
