SYRACUSE, NY – SIDEARM Sports, a Learfield company providing websites to over 940 collegiate athletic programs, announced today that it is joining forces with Bleachr, a Minneapolis-based digital app developer with patented in-stadium technology.

For Bleachr, the partnership signals the company’s first foray into college sports. For SIDEARM, it marks an expanded opportunity to solidify its dominant digital position in the college space as Bleachr’s best-in-class technology integrates easily into SIDEARM’s already robust native mobile app platform.

“We strive to always have a pulse on what would benefit our partners and their fan base, and we knew that enhancing the fan engagement component to our respective apps would be ideal,” said SIDEARM Sports’ President and CEO Jeff Rubin. “This has been an important focus for us over the past year, and we vetted potential technology partners before turning to who we consider to be the most impressive. There are many points of difference that made Bleachr attractive to us like making sure everything could be integrated and housed on the same app, the school app.”

Bleachr’s patented geo-fenced technology amplifies the live gameday experience and helps teams engage the fan community, deliver fan convenience, and fuel fan loyalty. Its unique features include connecting fans in-venue through friends’ notification, messaging, and a chat stream similar to Facebook. The technology also allows fans to order from their seats, win fan challenges, earn and redeem rewards, and connect directly with the team.

Bleachr’s Rich Kinzler, Managing Director of Business Development said, “Bleachr couldn’t find a more perfect partner to enter collegiate athletics. Together with SIDEARM, we will reach the mobile-first generation and provide fans with features that enrich the gameday experience through their mobile devices, creating an experience they can’t get from TV. Teams have a new direct connection to the fans that provides the opportunity for big, real-time data and fan analytics.”

ABOUT BLEACHR
Bleachr is a Minneapolis based, high performance digital media company specializing in fan engagement, in-seat ordering, fan data and analytics. Bleachr provides an innovative suite of products that delivers an enhanced in-venue experience for fans and additional mobile revenue opportunities for teams and leagues. It is plug-and-play ready, including Bleachr’s in-seat delivery system, which avoids costly venue integration by sending fans’ orders directly to the phones of in-stadium runners.

ABOUT SIDEARM Sports
Acquired by collegiate marketer Learfield in June 2014, SIDEARM Sports is the nation’s leading digital provider serving more than 900 partners. Based in Syracuse, N.Y., SIDEARM Sports was founded in 1998 by Jeff Rubin, who continues to lead the business. Clients applaud SIDEARM for its service, reliability and customization, and its easy-to-use interface allows schools to customize their content streams and digital presence. As a leader in collegiate athletic web solutions, SIDEARM Sports provides the software and technology that powers websites, mobile applications, live stats, social presence and video streaming for its school and conference partners. Learfield is a diverse media enterprise anchored by its core collegiate business managing multimedia rights and sponsorship initiatives for more than 120 institutions, conferences and arenas nationwide.

Media Contacts:
Bleachr:
Rich Kinzler
215-990-6425
rich@bleachr.co

SIDEARM Sports/Learfield:
Jennifer Duncan
469-767-8324
jduncan@learfield.com