An eSports commentary duo, sports participation incentives and a stadium-based food delivery app were just some of the innovative ideas to secure funding in the latest edition of the popular UCFB Sports Entrepreneur Award.
Groups of students from both UCFB Wembley and UCFB Etihad Campus presented their ideas over two days to members of the UCFB board in the hope of winning up to £5,000 funding to invest in their business. In total, seven groups were awarded initial funding for their brilliant ideas to enhance their business plans.
Yoel Levy, a BA (Hons) Football Business & Finance student, won the top UCFB Wembley prize with his Amazing Achievers business, which aims to encourage youngsters to participate in sport by giving their parents and coaches the ability to present interactive trophies for achievements and participation. At UCFB Etihad Campus, BA (Hons) Multimedia Sports Journalism students Brandon Smith and Richard Buckley secured the main prize with their eSports Commentary business. The pair currently commentate for EA Sports tournaments and plan to use their internet profile to create further content for online viewers.
The competition is led by UCFB chairman Brendan Flood and provides students with an unprecedented opportunity to pitch their sports business ideas to the UCFB panel then field any questions they might have. This year’s panel included Brendan, Paul Fletcher, Paul Cassell, Sharona Friedman and John Davies.
As well as winning funding for their products, the budding entrepreneurs will also receive guidance from the panel over the next year to help with their product development.
Full of praise for all participants, Brendan said: “Congratulations to all of our project and award winners. The field of competitors across both campuses was the strongest yet and the panel had a hard job deciding which was deserving of the funding. Some of the business ideas presented to us were of the highest quality and students fielded our questions with authority and knowledge to support their ideas.
“The fact we awarded more funding than we originally intended is proof of the quality of entrants this year. We look forward to working with the winners over the coming months and encourage all students to keep on developing their business ideas for the future.”
Full list of winners
UCFB Wembley
Winner:
Yoel Levy, BA (Hons) Football Business & Finance
Company name: Amazing Achievers
A business which aims to encourage youngsters to participate in sport by giving their parents and coaches the ability to present interactive trophies for achievements and participation.
Runner’s up:
Arash Abdollahi, BA (Hons) Sport Business & Coaching
Company name – Eat in Your Seat
Taking food delivery apps to the next level, Eat in Your Seat will allow sports fan within stadiums to order food and drink straight to their seat.
Alfie Crickmar, BA (Hons) Sport Business & Coaching
Company name – VT Coach
Virtual Teaching Coach is an app that will provide knowledge to primary school teachers to teach physical education who aren’t already trained or qualified in the area. The app will provide quality and professional lesson plans.
Kieran Moss, Jake Thomas and Danny Cook, BA (Hons) Football Business & Media, and Charlie Pumfrey, BA (Hons) Football Business & Finance
Company name – Half Time Cuppa
Half Time Cuppa is a website that focuses on creating content for football fans during the half time break of a game. Podcasts and articles, as well as competitions, keep fans busy during those often long 15-minutes. The team plan to expand their reach.
UCFB Etihad Campus
Winner:
Brandon Smith and Richard Buckley, BA (Hons) Multimedia Sports Journalism
Company name – eSports Commentary
The pair currently commentate for EA Sports tournaments and plan to use their internet profile to create further content for online viewers with the latest technology and software to create the content.
Runners-up:
Daniel Jones, BA (Hons) Football Business & Marketing
Company name – Represent Soccer & Represent Media
Running alongside his representation of players on scholarships in America, Daniel will use his contacts to set up a media and marketing company to create content for clubs who don’t have the capacity or funds to run a full-time content team. This will include YouTube videos, social media channels and running competitions to increase fan engagement.
Samuel Girven, BA (Hons) Football Business & Media
Company name – The Fan Chain
An events organisation that plans to promote local business to sports fans by hiring out space in and around a stadium. Local businesses hire the space to sell and promote their goods.
