Ben ReynoldsSpalk platform synchronises live sports streams with alternate commentary from fans, influencers and athletes. Sean caught up with Ben in NYC to discuss his startup story.

On this podcast you'll learn about:

  • How Ben Reynolds turned his passion for sports into a business
  • The genesis of Spalk and how it evolved through the years
  • How Spalk is changing the US sports commentary landscape
  • How they are working with major rights holders and broadcasters
  • Getting ahead in leagues and conferences with Stadia partnership
  • Where do they see Spalk going in the next 12 months
Learn more from Ben Reynolds about sportsbiz

Listen to Ben Reynolds on Sports Geek

Ben Reynolds quote

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

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About 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.

Resources from the podcast

Highlights from podcast with Ben Reynolds

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

Some tweets/posts you may have missed

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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Thanks for the review on iTunes

Informative, interesting sports.biz discussions

★★★★★ in Apple Podcasts by Mmmbop86 from UK on February 1, 2017

Good interviews with a wide range of individuals from the world of sports business providing insight into the latest trends – particularly useful to those in another hemisphere! Suggest keeping to 30-40min max for best engagement. Keep up the good work.