Michael Jordan, Naomi Osaka, and J. Cole are investing in a new live sports platform called Buzzer, closing their successful round of funding with eight figures.
The $20M Series A financing also includes athletes and influencers like Patrick Mahomes, Wayne Gretzky, Sabrina Ionescu, Connor McDavid, LaMelo Ball, Devin Booker, Renee Montgomery and Sapphire Sports.
The medium promises to deliver access to live sports like never before.
Joe Pompliano breaks it down on Twitter:
Rather than watching a full game, Buzzer uses personalized data to notify you when an important moment is about to happen.
If you want to watch, you can authenticate through an existing subscription model (cable, ESPN+, etc.) or agree to a $0.99+ micropayment.
Bo Han, founder and CEO of Buzzer, said in a statement, “With the proliferation of new distribution platforms, fans are finding it harder to know when and where live sports are happening, creating an experience that is not optimized for their expansive interests based on how they consume. We envision Buzzer becoming the discovery and curation tool that brings Gen Z fans back to live sports with simple access to ephemeral moments.”
“We’re grateful to have so many influential industry leaders as partners who have a shared vision of creating a platform and community built to close the generational gap in live sports consumption,” he continued. “We’ll continue to build Buzzer with fans’ interests in mind and with a partner-first approach that presents new opportunities for them to reach net new audiences, define new revenue streams, and offer added value to their existing subscribers.”
Founded in 2020 by Bo Han, the mobile platform already has partnerships with leading league entities like NBA League Pass, PGA TOUR and NHL.
Board member Michael Spirito from Sapphire Sport says, “We are thrilled to continue to help Buzzer bring this vision to life and to welcome so many diverse and influential investors to this round as we build on the momentum we have with the NBA, NHL and PGA deals.”
Buzzer benefits will have customized alerts for fans keeping them updated on the most exciting happenings in the sports world. Leaning on a team of experts in sports entertainment and new partnerships, they hope to curate experiences that fans will truly love.