Changing the sports commentary game – Ben Reynolds, Spalk

As soon as a league or a team agrees to use Spalk, they're bringing in and mobilizing their digital teams and the digital folks to come and actually produce content off the back of “Hey, did you know that we've got [whoever commentating now]” sharing some of the previous portfolio work and getting the, getting the fans excited by whether it's a hometown, a broadcaster or whether it's a different language and really mobilizing just the content generation and production.

Ben Reynolds

Ben Reynolds was a Commerce, Economics and Entrepreneurship student at the University of Auckland where he was awarded as the Business School Student of the Year in 2014. After Uni, Ben worked with different business ventures before starting up his own.

His passion for sports and hate for Justin Marshall’s commentary led him to putting up his own commentary videos online which eventually gained popularity enough to make him decide to turn it into a business venture. Thus, Spalk was born.

Spalk – taken from sports talk has been changing the landscape of sports commentary in the US market. Through the years they managed to work with different leagues and major rights partners. Spalk has also been recently working with Stadia Ventures to support innovative startups in the sports industry in commercialising, scaling and growing their business.

Thanks again to Ben Reynolds from Spalk for being this week’s Sports Geek guest.

• Connect with Ben Reynolds on Twitter @benreynoldsnz and LinkedIn
• Follow Spalk on Twitter @SpalkTalk, Facebook and LinkedIn
• Some related articles you might want to read more about Spalk:
  • Stadia Ventures’ Spring 2018 Cohort Graduates
  • Talking sports commentary with Spalk co-founder Ben Reynolds
  • Spalk Lets Sports Fans Pick Their Commentator
• Some Sports Geek episodes you might be interested in:
  • Matthew Pavlich from AFL to startup world
  • Steve Sammartino on how technology is changing the live experience
• Loved this podcast episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts
• Check out the Digital to Dollars website as discussed on the podcast
• Need Sports Geek help on your digital assets? Go to SportsGeekHQ.com/work
• Join Sports Geek Nation to connect with sports business executives across the world.
• Follow the conversations in Facebook to share best practices. Join the Save Sports Geek Nation FB Group now

4:18 Ben Reynolds on how Spalk started

4:34 The genesis of Spalk

10:45 Spalk’s first major event

14:19 Ben on reworking Spalk product and targeting major rights holders and broadcasters

16:06 Spalk working with Stadia

19:39 How Spalk is changing the sports commentary landscape

25:46 Where Spalk is focused on the broadcasting landscape

26:43 How they are pitching for production budget

27:33 Growing plans for Spalk in the next 12 months

30:22 The onboarding process for Spalk commentators

32:13 How Spalk is different from traditional startups

36:47 Sports Geek Closing Five

47:21 Digital to Dollars update – Send in your case studies

Check digitaltodollars.com for more info

Cool boards in #SEATDallas

Spalk team working with Stadia to deliver awesome results

Looking forward to seeing Spalk work with MLS really

Where Ben's favourite food memory at a sports event can be found

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