Visiting concession stands at sports venues and concerts can be a frustrating experience. Not only do you often have to face long lines but you miss parts of the event you are watching. And the task of carrying back the foods to your seat can also be challenging in a crowded venue. Startup FanGo, which was incubated in Chicago’s Excelerate Labs, aims to make the concession experience a positive one for sports fans and concert-goers alike.
The startup partners directly with the companies that run the concession stands at sports stadiums and teams and concert venues to offer consumers a free branded mobile app that lets you order food dirctly to your seat. The app’s interface is simple-the user can simply click to purchase food and drinks within the app, indicate their seat number, and pay for the items within the app as well. On the concession side, food providers at the stadium receive the orders through their systems and deliver the food to the consumer.
Currently, FanGo is partnering with three facilities in the Kentucky area, including University of Kentucky, Louisville Slugger Field and KFC Yum Arena. FanGo’s co-founder Collin Wallace says that the amount of food ordered has gone up as much as 50 percent for these facilities since incorporating FanGo’s system. And partners can also serve advertising on the consumer iPhone app to generate additional revenue.
Wallace says that the use case for FanGo extends beyond just sports and entertainment facilities. For example, FanGo is in talks with a major hotel chain to allow guests to use a branded iPhone app to order room service and other amenities. Another deal involves the ability for a traveler to order food from the app while at the airport, allowing travelers to avoid waiting in lines for food.
While FanGo isn’t the first startup to try to do this (Mangia also provides a similar service for stadiums and venues), this could be a market with room for a number of competitors.