Show Notes from Knup Sports Show

Show #199 – Rourke Struthers of GameBlazers on the Knup Sports Show

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Rourke Struthers

Rourke Struthers of GameBlazers talks about the creation and idea behind the multi-faceted fantasy sports product and more on Episode 199 of the Knup Sports Show.


RYAN KNUPPEL

Hey, what’s going on everybody? Ryan Knuppel here, Knup Sports Show Episode 199. Thanks so much for tuning in, really appreciate everyone that gives a little bit of attention to this little show. We’re nearing 200, which is gonna be awesome, I got a very special guest coming on for 200, so I’m excited for that, but we’re not gonna look too far ahead because today I got #199, I got none other than Rourke Struthers on the line here with me. Rourke, how are you today, my friend?

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Doing very well, Ryan, doing very well. How’s everything with you?

RYAN KNUPPEL

Ah, doing amazing here in Florida. Rourke, I’m excited to have you on and get to know you a little bit. You’re with GameBlazers, so we’ll talk a lot more about Game, GameBlazers, that’s a tongue twister for me, um, GameBlazers here in a bit. But first off, I wanna hear a little bit about yourself and what kind of brought you to where you are today Rourke, so why don’t you give me a little bit about yourself?

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah, for sure. Like I said, thanks Ryan, so much for having me. I think this is a great opportunity and I love this show myself, and I’m really looking forward to it.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Yeah, I’m excited to dive in here.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah, yeah, of course. So my background is pretty generic for a lot of people in finance and business. I went to Penn State, I was a double major there, I worked in private equity and consulting after that, and while I worked in consulting, myself and a couple of co-founders, we started the NFT League. The NFT League was a fantasy product that, you know, we thought had a lot of different application, and we built in some pretty cool video game mechanics into it, and from there we tried to link up with a couple of really cool projects and companies in the NFT space, and we came across MetaFans, where, you know, we ended up having a nice merger and acquisition and now I lead the new, newly-formed company called GameBlazers, um, and so we’ll be releasing our new fantasy product at the end of this year, or towards the start of the football season in the fall, and so I’m really looking forward to everything. You know, I think with something like GameBlazers, something that’s so new and something that’s so different in the space, I think that there’s a really cool opportunity, and that’s really why I’m here.

RYAN KNUPPEL

That’s awesome. Well, thank you for that background. We were talking before offline that I’m actually a part of the MetaFans community, and I invested in that NFT back, I think, at mint, so in the beginning days, and so super cool project. While I can’t say I’ve been overly engaged, I’ve been one of those, uh, kind of watching from the sidelines, but I do own a few MetaFans, so I’m excited to hear how all of this is connected in GameBlazers and all of the above. I’m sure there’s gonna be some connections made, but kind of fun when you have, like, kind of connections and you don’t even know you have connections, right?

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think, you know, when you look at the fantasy space and just, like, the world out there, today there’s so many cool things and opportunities and companies that are doing innovative stuff, and I think if you’re really looking to find something new and innovative, there’s always something out there, right? Like, I love the idea that we’re already living in the future, you know, you just have to go and find it, and I think that really kind of speaks to that.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Yeah, and the whole NFT web3 space, merging that with fantasy sports and sports and all of the above is super cutting edge and next-level thinking, and I’m really excited for all that innovation as well. I could talk for hours and days about just where that’s headed, but today we’ll try to stay a little focused, I guess.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

[Laughs].

RYAN KNUPPEL

[Laughs]. Because I”m sure, you seem like one of those guys that could talk forever about [inaudible].

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Um, I’m a real generalist and I just love, like, anything new and different. I think blockchain has a lot of really interesting applications, and I think, you know, the world that we live in, there’s always new things that are coming up and new opportunity sets, and so anytime you can take the opportunity to use technology in a better and improved way and add more value, I’m all about that. [Laughs].

RYAN KNUPPEL

So, explain to me a little bit about GameBlazers. I’m gonna pull it up here, I know you guys are coming soon, and you’re just now getting started, but I’ll pull up there landing page here regardless. Um, give me the high level pitch of what GameBlazers is for everybody listening here.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah, for sure. So, GameBlazers and what we’ve really done from a concept side is we took the idea of trading cards and we combined it with fantasy sports to create something that’s completely different in the ecosystem today. Um, I’m not sure if you’ve heard of MMOs, they’re called massive multiplayer online games. What we are really trying to do with GameBlazers is allow people to kind of have that same experience in a sports setting and in a sports game. Um, what we’ve really tried to do is innovate on our game play mechanics and our game design to ensure that there’s sustainable use year over year, um, so we have different multipliers for our players. We have season-long and weekly competition types. Um, we’ve really done a lot of things to make sure that the game itself is built for sustainability. So, some of our cards we can use year over year, some of our cards have single year use. That gives us a lot of different flexibility, and so really what we’re trying to do with GameBlazers is give players the control that they deserve, right? What we’re really trying to do is allow players to become the owner and the coach of their fantasy franchise, and I think that’s something that is really different from what’s currently out there in the fantasy space.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Yeah, that’s amazing. That’s awesome. So, where are you at in the product lifecycle. I mean, it says coming soon here, and I’m assuming you guys are working diligently, but what’s the, I guess, what’s the status of where you guys are at from a developmental cycle.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah, of course. So, we’re actually much further along than our landing page would indicate. Um, for us, one of the things that I think is really important to GameBlazers is making sure we talk about it and give pieces of information in breadcrumbs, but we don’t want to spoil the surprise, right? We think there’s a lot of really cool features and functionality that we’ve built in, and we have a really interesting value proposition for people, and you know, I think some of that touches on what I mentioned before around our game play mechanics and our game design and the asset ownership of owning these players, and so with something like that that’s so different and that’s so innovative, there can be a lot of intricacies and details, so we’re very far along in the development process, we’re actually just making more of our finishing touches and we’re looking for a soft launch and a hard launch in the month of June. So, very, very excited for that, and be sure for everybody to look out for it on our social pages and our Discord for those announcements.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Yeah, of course. Gotta make sure you get it out before football, right?

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Of course, of course. [Laughs].

RYAN KNUPPEL

I just, I always, this is a little side note, but I always love how the US sports cycle, of just sports interest, right, and all the companies that, you know, it’s like April, May hits, and everybody’s like “Ah, take a breather for a few months”, but we have to have everything by July or August, right? When football comes, so it’s just funny. But it makes sense, right? It makes sense.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah, yeah. And I think that’s one of the actually the really cool things about being in sports gaming and just sports development, is that you do have those off season times where you can really kind of flip and turn the product and I think something like that, and for our product especially, I think it actually gets us a lot of opportunity, right? Because you take in the feedback that happens throughout the year, and then you can release something new for the next season where people are like “Oh wow, I can see the change just visibly”, and I think that helps a lot.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Yeah, there’s so many choices now in gaming and fantasy sports and all of the above. One of my questions for you, and you kinda touched on it, but I want you to expand a little more, is, you know, as you guys get closer to launch date, why would somebody choose GameBlazers over the dozens of other products that are out there, really what are the unique selling points that somebody would really be interested in jumping on with the GameBlazers crew.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah, totally. Great question, I really appreciate it, Ryan. I think for us, you know, it really revolves around those three key points I mentioned before. It’s our game play mechanics, out game play design, and our asset ownership. When you take a look at out gameplay mechanics, um, what we did is we allowed for all of our players and our cards to have multipliers attached to them. And that might sound like a little odd, like why would you want to have a multiplier attached in fantasy, but when you think about the concept, I think it makes a lot of sense, right? You have a bunch of different levels of these players, and it allows you to have a lot of variety in terms of point scoring, right? Traditional fantasy is only played with one player, and once that player is off the board, you can’t get them anymore, and I think that lends itself to a confined space where you can only play with your 10 or 12 friends, right? How do you kind of open that up and provide more variation in a line up setting and how people are designing their teams and their franchises, and so that’s what I think multipliers really allows us to do. Um, it allows us to also expand the player pool because some of those players that might be lower on the top 100 board but are still really useful, or can be useful, with a multiplier become useful. So that’s one aspect of it, and we also have different features, like different boosts and things like that. We also built in a battle pass player mechanic progression path where players can earn over time, and you’re actually benefitting from playing in the ecosystem and being part of the ecosystem, which we think is really compelling, and we’ve done a lot from a video game side. We’ve looked at video game mechanics and video game design to help inform what we’re doing from a product side. So that really encompasses a lot of our game play mechanics, and then when you look at our game design, what we’ve done is we’ve really brought on people that know what they’re doing. We’ve brought on consultants to help us, uh, with the actual card distribution, how players are entering and exiting the ecosystem, and, you know, former game designers for FIFA Ultimate Team, so we’re really taking all the steps to make sure this is a real bust, and sustainable mechanism, and there’s not just very little thinking going in, right? And like I said, when you look at a lot of the different competition that’s out there, a lot of the products are just one variation or another all from the same, similar concept. What we really wanted to do was kind of switch it up and take some of these different things and make sure that we can expand on them and develop them further. And then, from an asset ownership side, you know, you own your players so you can buy and sell players on our marketplace. You have the ability to actually design your fantasy franchise. Your decision making and skillful decision making is really what dictates how you perform, and that’s something I think is really, really compelling for people. Because over time, you accrue value, your franchise accrues value, you pick up more players, you pick up more boosts, things that like that that allows you to really navigate the environment in ways that don’t really exist with any other product out there.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Yeah, I want you to expand a little bit on the asset ownership side, because that’s really intriguing to me. Are you referring to, you mentioned cards, right? Are you referring to physical cards, or are you…everything in the blockchain, is there blockchain in any of this, or…are we, expand on that piece because I’m not sure how to clearly frame my question, but I wanna hear a little bit more about the asset ownership side of things.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah, totally. So, like I mentioned, so the NFT League and what we had started out was it was an all web3 platform, and with that we learned a lot of different things and we were able to really take a lot of feedback from that and design the game further, but we decided to move away from the cards being NFTs themselves and making them just more digitized because we think that there’s, NFTs provide a lot of really good use cases, but for some of the mechanics we wanted to create, they just weren’t really useful for us, and so what we do have is we do have blockchain connect wallet functionality to the product because we want people to be able to create contests that are gated for a specific type of NFT project, right? So for example, if your product that’s out there and you want to have your own kind of football league or your own product, let me know, I’d love to talk to you about it, and that’s a way that we can kind of maybe set up something that’s specific for your product or company. So there’s that side, the technology side of it. And then from the actual design and from an asset ownership perspective, you own your cards, you as the user, your cards are able to be played in competitions, in leagues, in mini games, use it on the platform however you choose. Like I said, you can buy and sell them, so when we talk about asset ownership, it’s really just giving control back to those players and then allowing them to make those decisions off of that. And it also allows, I think, for people to kind of, to really feel like they’re making a difference, they’re benefitting from their knowledge base and what they know about sports, and again, that’s something that lacks a lot when you look at fantasy. It’s not just clicking a button on a screen and then putting a player in a lineup, it’s like “What are the decisions I actually have to make, what is the lineups that I want to set, does it make sense for me to buy some other players, sell this player to get resources,”, right? It’s really more strategy behind it.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Yep, yep. Wow. So you guys got a lot going on, you know, any entrepreneurial venture, any new start up, anything, you know, there’s always challenges, always things that go into that. I’m curious what one of the biggest challenges you guys are facing, maybe currently, that maybe this audience could potentially help with, I mean are there certain things that you guys are looking for that you guys are having troubles with, or, and don’t tell me there’s no challenges, because I know there is.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

There’s always challenges. [Laughs].

RYAN KNUPPEL

Give me something. Give me something you guys are looking for or are challenged with currently.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah, for sure. I mean, honestly, I think I could probably talk for 30 minutes just on the challenges that we face, you know. And I think, you know, that’s the part of why we do this, right? You don’t try and run a start up or run your own business, I mean, I’m sure as you yourself have done, with the show that unless you’re really confident that you can do it and you can get it done. So, I think for us, one of the biggest issues or concerns or problems that we face is just actually being able to differentiate and concisely get across what GameBlazers is. When you start building a product that has so many different layers and is so multi-faceted, it can be difficult to consume, but making sure that we can get it down and into bite-sized pieces and chunks and allowing people to kind of find what works for them or what’s the value proposition for them is something that’s been really, really important for us and something that we’re gonna continue to focus on. I think with the product, because it kind of touches, you know, fantasy, it touches video games and gaming, and it touches collectibles, and all of these other aspects, there’s so many different markets and industries that are coming together to mix here, so there’s a lot of different possibilities around value proposition. If you’re somebody who loves cards and just collecting things, there’s the fact that you have these physical assets is appealing to you. If you’re someone who plays fantasy, obviously, very much appealing to you. We look at ourselves as a fantasy game first and foremost, but we’re not naive to think that there’s other aspects of the product that would appeal to people from a bunch of different backgrounds, right?

RYAN KNUPPEL

Awesome. Well, thank you for that. So you’re on a race here to get things done by the middle of June, the end of June, whatever. Before football season. Then comes the real challenge, then comes the real challenge, and I always say this to startups and other companies that are jumping in. Just getting any sort of marketshare, and getting your name out there, and really just getting people to care, right? I mean, you can make people knowledgeable, you can have the best product, but how do you get that attention on yourself? I’d like to hear a little bit about what your guys’ plans are, I’m sure you’ve already talked a little bit about that, about the marketing side of it and how you’re gonna really try to get that attention over those 2-3 months leading up to football season.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah. So, you know, I really appreciate the question. The thing is, this is probably the other issue that we have, or another concern, like how do we actually reach our target market and get to the target audience base? I think it’s tricky because you have to really figure out what works best for your company, and I think for us, one of the things that’s super important is just partnering and just finding the right strategic people to partner with over time, right? We worked with a couple of people that have been on your show in the past, we worked with Hot Paper Lantern and Mike and his team, and so just trying to find people that actually, not just like the concept or think the concept is cool, but we feel like can be sustainable partners over time. I think, for us, we wanna also be able to meet the people where they’re at, right, so we’re going to make sure that we go and look at social media influencers and doing things that are becoming more mainstream today, but with certain strategic focuses and making sure you find the right people, it’s very important, right, because with people today and with all these different products out there, you want to make sure you’re buying something that is known, right? Isn’t just some random thing, or just popped out of nowhere and that there’s nothing behind it, right? And I think just finding people that can validate us and can work with us over time and grow into it, right? I think that that’s really important. So that’s kinda how we’re doing things. I almost like to try and take a stripe approach to it, find people that are early on in their journeys, other startups, partner with them, and then over time, we can kind of grow each others’ user bases together.

RYAN KNUPPEL

I love it, my friend. Well, you’re on a, you’re definitely on a journey here. I’m excited to see where GameBlazers goes, and I think it’s gonna be an awesome addition to this, I just say, this whole ecosystem, right? We have this ecosystem of apps and products and programs and games and all of the above, and I just love when good people are doing amazing things, and it looks like you guys have something awesome coming, so I’m excited for it. I know you’re a busy man, I know we typically try to keep these to 20 minutes or less, but I want to open this up for what did I miss? Any last words, anything that you wanted to say that maybe I didn’t touch on that is still on your mind?

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah, no. I, you know, I just think for us, like I said, we’re a fantasy product first, we’re a fantasy game first and foremost, but there’s a lot of different aspects to the product that I think can appeal to everyone. Um, and there is something for everybody. Like I said, there’s a lot of different facets to the game. There’s free to play games, there’s pay to play games, there’s progression pass and battlepasses and ways for you to earn as a player over time. So, there’s a lot of different functionality and time that we spent in developing this, and I think if you’re really somebody who’s just a sports fan generally, you want to play more, you want to engage more with the platform or just any platform that provides value consistent with the product and the price that you’d pay, definitely come and check us out. GameBlazers.com is our landing page. Sign up, and we’ll be sending out some correspondence soon to get some stuff out there. Hopefully we can get people on the platform purchasing packs relatively soon. So yeah, just really looking forward to that.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Heck yeah. GameBlazers.com. We’ll put the link in the show notes as well, but get out there, get on the email list so you don’t miss the launch date. It’s always fun getting into things right when they start, too, because you kind of can see it from the ground up and see where it leads and I love being a part of things like this when they start, so I urge everybody to head out there and do that.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

For sure. Like I said, you know, if you want to be the owner, the gym, and the coach of your fantasy franchise, come check us out. I mean, there’s no one else that allows you to do it other than GameBlazers.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Cool, Rourke. Well, if somebody wanted to get ahold of you, what would be the best of getting ahold of you personally to chat more about GameBlazers?

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Yeah, you can follow me on Twitter @__Rourke__, um, I tried to get @Rourke but somebody refuses to respond back to me, so that was my little work-around, or you can email me at Rourke@GameBlazers.com. Happy to answer and talk to anybody about the product if anything you’re interested in, partners, anybody, I’m really an open book. You know, we’re really looking forward to this opportunity and making the most of it. And like I said, if you’re interested in being the owner, the gym, and coach of your fantasy franchise, come check us out.

RYAN KNUPPEL

I love it. Rourke, I appreciate your time here today. I’m looking to catching up in a year when you guys are in the next phase of business.

ROURKE STRUTHERS

Absolutely. Really, really appreciate your time today, Ryan. Thanks for the opportunity.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Thank you, Rourke. Have a great one.

Alright, everybody. That was Rourke Struthers, Episode 199, GameBlazers.com. Go check it out. Join the next generation of fantasy sports. I’m excited to see where that leads. It should be an awesome product. Obviously, that was the first time I’d met Rourke, but seems like an awesome individual who’s doing some big things, so I encourage you to reach out to him as well and get to know him a little bit. I’m excited to connect and network a little bit more with him myself as time goes on here. Alright, that’s 199. It’s in the books. I mentioned we have a special guest for #200, it’s near and dear to my heart, so I’m excited to have #200, we’ll probably do that mid-next week, or maybe early next week, so be sure to look out for that one. Until then, oh, I’m also gonna be at SBC the conference coming up here in New Jersey. If you haven’t gotten your ticket yet, ‘KNUP23’ is the code to get a little bit of a discount I think, as long as they still have tickets available. But if you’re gonna be at that show, please ping me, I’d love to say hello to you. I always love when listeners come up and say “Hey, Ryan, I heard this show or that show”, it makes me feel good because at least I know I have one or two listeners out there, so that’s always a good thing. Alright, if you wanna follow me, I’m Ryan Knuppel, @Knup out on most of the socials. Hope you’re all doing well, take care, stay safe, enjoy the NBA Playoffs, we’re getting down to the, what, semi-finals in each conference, so should be a great time in sports to see where that leads. Alright, I’ll let you all go, take care, stay safe, talk to you soon. Bye bye.

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