In episode 227 of the Knup Sports Show, Ryan Knuppel interviews Evan Fisher, co-founder of Sparket, discussing the platform’s recent launch with Penn Entertainment and its unique approach to pool-based betting on alternative events like reality TV and smaller sports. They also explore the challenges of entrepreneurship and Sparket’s plans for future growth and industry impact.
Ryan Knuppel
Hey, what’s going on, everybody? Ryan Knuppel here. Episode 227 of the Knup Sports Show. Thanks so much for tuning in. Hope you’re all doing well. We are just, I mean, we are in preseason football mode. We are just a few weeks away from regular season. What, maybe three or four weeks away from regular season. Super excited. Football season seems to go so fast. And then we’re like, oh, it’s never going to come. And then all of a sudden, once it starts coming, it’s like here. And then we’re ready. We’re itching. Ready to go for football. All of us sports aficionados are excited for sports, for football this season.
A little housekeeping before we get started with today’s show. We have an awesome guest, by the way. I cannot wait to dive into this guest and talk a little bit about what they’re up to. But before we do a little housekeeping, if you are heading to the SBC Summit in Lisbon, use partner code New Partner VIP if you do not have a ticket. That’s September 24th to 26th. SBC puts on amazing shows, as we all know. So if you are heading to that event and don’t have a ticket, make sure to use that discount code. I think it’s one of the better ones you’ll find. It’s like 50% off or something crazy. So make sure to use that to get a little discount on your entry into that show. That would be amazing.
All right. That’s all I have for the housekeeping. Let’s dive right into our guest today. I’m super excited to learn about this gentleman. Let’s bring him on. Evan Fisher of Sparket. Evan, how are you today?
Evan Fisher
Hey, Ryan. Doing great. Great to be here.
Ryan Knuppel
Awesome, man. I am jealous of your scenery. It looks like an amazing view you have there. Tell us a little bit about where you’re at currently.
Evan Fisher
Yeah, spending a couple weeks down in Costa Rica this summer for Digital Nomad Life. You know, we’re a small company, so we don’t have an official office yet, usually based in New York or LA, but down in the tropics right now.
Ryan Knuppel
There’s nothing wrong with that, the Digital Nomad Life. I love it. I love being able to travel and work remote. I think that’s a beauty of entrepreneurial life, right, is being able to go where we want, do what we want, and work from the laptop, work from the phone. That’s pretty cool. So awesome, man. Well, I’m excited to dive in. Thank you for a few minutes of your time here today. I know the audience will be excited to learn a little bit about you as well. But why don’t you give us a little background about yourself and maybe some of your career path leading up to where you are today with Sparket?
Evan Fisher
Yeah, absolutely. So I did undergrad at USC, originally from LA. Started my career in energy, both traditional and sustainable energy, and then did a bit of a shift when I went to business school at Columbia. I ended up going to Google for eight years and there is where I learned some of the tech side of the business world, in particular in product roles, operational roles. I was there for eight years in total, learning different areas of the business. Great place to be, but then dove into the entrepreneurial world after that.
Ryan Knuppel
Hey, you went from corporate to entrepreneurial, man. Some cool experiences you’ve had though, spending time at Google. Anytime you have time at Google, I’m sure you learned a lot and saw a lot there that you’re now bringing into your own world, right?
Evan Fisher
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, going from one of the biggest companies in the world to the smallest company in the world was quite a culture shock, but I was able to bring a lot, particularly from the product and user experience perspective, that I think is applicable to our industry. And so that’s what we look at with some of the simplicity of design and things of that nature when we’re building Sparket.
Ryan Knuppel
Cool. So you’re a COO, co-founder of Sparket. So for those listening, go back and listen to episode 188. We actually had Aaron on of Sparket. We really dove deep into what Sparket does and what they’re up to. But Evan, I’m going to let you give kind of your elevator pitch of what Sparket is as a refresher to those that maybe didn’t listen to that episode. So why don’t you tell us a little bit about what Sparket does as the social network?
Evan Fisher
Yeah, so a little bit of background about how we formed. Aaron and I were friends from high school originally. Our claim to fame is being president and vice president of the math club. So that kind of illustrates the nerdy aspect that we’re looking at this from. And when PASPA was repealed, we started ideating about different things and saw some of the platforms and technology that were coming in that kind of mirrored the European angle and were really catered to more sophisticated bettors who knew what a money line or a point spread were. We’re gamers by background, enjoying the esports side, and that was kind of the initial inspiration, though it’s evolved a lot.
So we went out to Vegas, started talking to a lot of operators, asking them why they weren’t offering some of the esports, asking them why they weren’t offering alternative events like the Oscars, which is kind of legal to bet on in 12 states. And they told us there were issues with some of their data feeds coming in, like it was tough and not necessarily worth it to onboard a data feed for every new event that they wanted to offer, as well as pricing those was challenging and taking exposure on fixed odds.
So we built a platform that’s pool-based where we aggregate dozens of alternative events, alternative sports, reality TV, etc., and package them for operators where they can add that to their ecosystem, bring in casual users who are interested in those without taking any exposure. And so we’ve created the system where users can come in, place bets on reality TV, which has been big for us, some of the smaller women’s sports, things of that nature, and just gives them more exposure and demographics.
Ryan Knuppel
That’s awesome. I love what you’re doing. It’s really cool. I mean, talk to a little bit about this, just the industry as a whole. I mean, we’ve seen this industry, you know, you mentioned PASPA and the repeal of that back, gosh, I don’t know how many years ago we are now from that. But talk a little bit about just the industry as a whole and where you’ve seen it from the beginning of when you set out with Sparket to where it is now and the maturity level it’s at now. Let’s talk a little bit about that industry.
Evan Fisher
Yeah, so on the sports betting side here in the US, you know, we’re seeing the dominance of DraftKings and FanDuel, and then a couple other operators kind of in that second tier that are scrapping for market share. It’s a bit more consolidated on the B2C side than, frankly, I thought it would be. I thought there’d be a lot more entrants. And that kind of speaks to the cost and regulatory barriers that it takes for new entrants coming in. Even some well-capitalized companies we’ve seen come in on the B2C side that weren’t able to get traction or success versus the big pockets and the established nature of some of the incumbents.
So we’re focused from the B2B side, where I think there is potentially more opportunity as those other operators are looking for ways to differentiate, attract new customers, not just go after the middle-aged male football demographic, for example. We help those operators attract a broader audience that isn’t necessarily being catered to by the existing products out there today.
Ryan Knuppel
Yeah, very cool. Very cool. Like I said, I know you could talk forever about the product and about what you guys are up to, but let’s talk about I guess some of the latest happenings, right? Some things that are going on currently maybe that the audience is or isn’t aware of, but maybe some of the latest stuff that you guys are up to currently with Sparket.
Evan Fisher
Yeah, absolutely. So huge day today for us as we’ve launched with Penn Entertainment this morning. Actually, all the press isn’t out on this. So this is on this show is the first time publicly. Breaking news. Really excited about that is Penn is, you know, a national brand and a huge flagship customer for us. So that’s kind of the biggest client we’ve had and biggest launch. So we’re really excited about bringing our technology and content to that huge audience that they have. We’ll be on their Penn Play Casino product. And you can try it now, Penn Play Casino on native apps or on the web.
We also launched this week with Soboba Casino, which is a tribal casino in California. So that’s an exciting endeavor where in California where they are, sports betting isn’t
legal. So we run a free-to-play game where you can participate for free and then win prizes based on your performance on the leaderboard. And then you redeem those prizes on-premise at the casino. So it gives them a way to engage with their existing rewards base and drive more traffic to the casino and create kind of that sportsbook atmosphere on premise without necessarily having real money sports betting.
With that integration, we’re partnered with Aristocrat Digital, which, as you know, is a major B2B player. So now our technology is integrated with them, which opens up a lot of doors for Sparket and possibility for us to bring it to other clients in their portfolio.
Ryan Knuppel
Yeah. Well, congrats on all that news. That’s amazing. I love being able to break news. I know you put it out of press release this morning, but hey, first time you’re publicly talking about it right here on this show. That’s amazing. Very cool. But congrats on some of that news. That’s amazing. I’m sure there’s more great news to come. What does the future look like for Sparket? What kind of things are you guys working on? Can you give us any insight? Obviously, you can’t give us insight into proprietary things, but anything that you can shed some insight on that you guys are up to and working on heading into the future here?
Evan Fisher
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I’ll put it in kind of broad terms, which I think shouldn’t be a surprise for anyone who is familiar with the regulations in the areas around the industry. You know, we’ve kind of seen this real money sports betting evolve at legal in 30 plus states. And then there’s a couple ancillary areas where you can be involved in real money picking, for example, such as fantasy, skill-based products, and also sweepstakes.
And for many startups, those latter avenues present an opportunity to go live without some of the arduous regulation that sports betting puts into place. So we’re looking strategically at all three of those avenues, still primarily from a B2B perspective, and how we can enter the market in real money in additional states and jurisdictions in the most efficient way, of course, keeping in mind all the regulations in the industry. So there should be some exciting news on that front with us by the end of the year.
Ryan Knuppel
Very cool. Very cool. I’m excited to see some of that news. Let’s shift gears just a bit. I want to talk a little bit about just this entrepreneurial journey and what it’s been like for you and your co-founder and just what that’s looked like. I mean, is it everything when you set out to create Sparket, is this everything that you dreamed it would be? Talk a little bit about that journey currently. I know your journey is not done, but the journey to get to where you are today and what that’s looked like for you and what that’s been like for you.
Evan Fisher
Yeah, it’s great question. I mean, it’s very rewarding in that you have the opportunity to build something literally from scratch that was just an idea over beers to now being a full-fledged startup company, right? At the same time, it is extremely challenging from a mental health perspective. Again, coming from a large corporate job where you have a secure salary, you can go on vacation and kind of turn it off, so to say. Here, there’s so much that you always feel like you’re on the brink. You could be doing so much more. You have the responsibility of employees who are counting on you, investors who are entrusting you with their money. It’s a lot of pressure.
And so I encourage other entrepreneurs out there, to find their breaks and their ability to capture that mental health and mental space. Because I think if you’re able to do that, rather than being constantly engulfed in it, you’re able to approach it with a better mindset and ultimately be more efficient. So that’s been one of the things I’ve been working on personally is figuring out how I can get that space. And, you know, inevitably I’m going to be thinking about it on the weekends and nights before I’m going to bed and first things in the morning, but how do I find that space to focus on myself and life as a whole? That’s been one of the challenges.
Ryan Knuppel
Yeah, that’s a great, subtle advice just for other entrepreneurs, right? I mean, I think mental health around entrepreneurship is something that’s not really talked about. It’s not really something you want to think about when you’re jumping into entrepreneurial life. You’re like, oh, this is going to be great. I’m not going to have any issues. But man, there are issues that come about and you have to fight through those mentally and being able to balance the 24-7 mindset, like you said, that we all have as entrepreneurs is… It is a challenge. And so, yeah, you know, going on, you know, retreats to Costa Rica and things of that nature are part of that journey, I’m sure. But yeah, thank you for sharing that. That’s a just good reminder to all of us in that space to think through that.
Talk through, you know, I guess for more of a technical side, let’s talk through more of like a product slash technical challenge that maybe you guys have had, you know, you know, as you built this product, you know, so that’s a little more entrepreneurial. Let’s talk a little bit more product and maybe one of the challenges you guys have had building Sparket from more of a techie side, anything that’s, I wouldn’t say held you back, but that you guys have just found to be, you know, super challenging through this journey?
Evan Fisher
Yeah, it’s, we’re always, we always have this tension with limited dev resources on how much we focus on the backend, the infrastructure, the security features versus the front end, the sexiness of it, the flashiness, the gamification. Because in our industry, the former infrastructure is so important and that’s what we have focused on. We got our GLI certification and that includes a checklist of a bunch of those required things. And we focused a little bit less on what our ultimate vision would be for making the product flashy and that comes with the challenge of when you’re trying to sell it, you know, the flashy part and the front end is really visible to everyone. Right.
But if it’s running on a broken engine, that doesn’t really matter. So that’s been one of the technical challenges is kind of like with those limited resources. How do you ensure you’re building a solid core that’s invisible to everyone else while you’re trying to get investment and sell it? And I think we’re getting to the point as a company where we’re going to be able to now shift a little bit, particularly with this current fundraising round we’re doing to focus more on that front end piece.
That’s one thing I’ll give a second answer is the integrations into some of these legacy technologies that are prominent in the industry today. Those can be somewhat challenging as what’s built on a more modern tech stack to work with that technology and kind of scale back to do those integrations.
Ryan Knuppel
Very cool. Very good answers. Thank you for that. All right. Well, we’re going to wind up here in the next five minutes, but I got a couple follow-up questions here for you. What do you guys need? What are you looking for? What maybe somebody listening’s intrigued by what you guys are doing? I don’t know. What are you guys looking for? What do you need in the near future from people, from companies in general? What are the needs for Sparket?
Evan Fisher
Yeah, I’d say three things. Number one, we’re always just looking to connect with great people and get advice, and there’s no conversation that will turn down about anyone who’s interested in learning more or has experience and just wants to talk to us. And so we obviously do that at the conferences, but anyone who has interest in either learning more about us or is willing to spend their time sharing information, that’s great.
I mean, two, obviously, is partnerships and revenue is the most important thing for our business overall right now. And we’re really eager to prove it. So we have commercials, which are probably the best in the industry for a B2B provider. And so we come in and want everything to be based on success. And so for anyone who’s seen some of the great results that we’ve driven with our client station casinos over the past year, for example, or many of our other casino clients or sports league clients that want to try us out, just know that that’s easy for us to do and it won’t cost you a lot of money to do it.
And then third, we’re currently raising an investment round, our seed round. We’re about a fourth subscribed right now, looking for a lead investor. And so that’s definitely top of mind for us as well.
Ryan Knuppel
Very cool. Very cool. Well, I’m sure there’s somebody listening that will be reaching out. How do they reach out to you, Evan? Would they reach out to you individually or the company in general? Give us the channels that they would reach out.
Evan Fisher
Yeah, my email, fish@betsparket.com is pretty straightforward. You can learn more about our company on our website, betsparket.com. There’s a button to reach out there as well. And yeah, happy to chat with anyone. Like I said, we’re trying to learn more and grow the social bet work.
Ryan Knuppel
Absolutely. We’ll put your email and the links and all that in the show notes of this show. Any last words, anything we missed, anything you wanted to touch on that I didn’t lead you into? Let me know anything to finish this thing out.
Evan Fisher
No, not in particular. I’m just really grateful to be here. Grateful for everyone in the industry and our advisors who have kind of helped us get to the point where we are right now as a seed stage company with starting to get closer to that million-dollar revenue range. And with that, we’re excited for the growth over the next one to two years. And again, grateful for you for having us on here.
Ryan Knuppel
Anytime. I’m super excited I got to have you on. And it sounds like you got amazing things going on. I look forward to hearing more about what you have and good luck to you and everybody involved with Sparket. Excited to see where you head. So thank you, Evan, for your time today.
Evan Fisher
Thank you very much as well.
Ryan Knuppel
All right, guys, that was Evan Fisher, episode 227 with BetSparket. You guys can check that out at BetSparket.com, doing some amazing things. I got to sit down with them at one of the recent conferences and learn a bit about what they’re doing. I actually know Aaron from way back in the day as well, so kind of ironic how connections from previous things turn into connections in the future and all the above. I guess moral of that story is just connect, connect with people in your industry, talk to people, learn what they do, because even if you don’t have a reason to connect with them now, there may be in the future. So you never know.
And Evan mentioned that there as well, that they’re looking to connect with people. So feel free to reach out to Evan and learn what they’re up to with Sparket. Even if you may not have a direct line to what you know, how that connects, you just never know. All right, that’s all I got for you today. I’m Ryan Knuppel at KNUP out on all the channels. Really appreciate the support. Again, if you’re heading to Lisbon, make sure you use that new partner VIP code. We love what SBC is doing over there.
And I don’t know that I’m going to physically make that event. I really wish I was, but I’ll probably be down in Miami for their Latino America event in October. Other than that, that’s all I have for you today. Take care. We’ll see you on the next one. Have a good one. Bye-bye.
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Relevant Guest Links
- Learn more about https://www.betsparket.com/.
- You can connect with Evan Fisher on LinkedIn.
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