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Imagine if baseball fans in 1947 could DM Jackie Robinson, leave hate comments on his Instagram or find and harass his family online.
Social media has opened up opportunities for athletes that once sounded impossible, but with those opportunities comes a level of access that not everyone is comfortable with. This is a two-way street.
Fans can interact with their favorite players, but to experience a game, they have to sift through dozens of platforms and accounts, many of which are already oversaturated with non-sports content. Where most people saw a problem, BZZR founder Jeff Bookout and CEO Brett Weitz recognized an opportunity. BZZR positions itself as a sports-only social media platform that gives verified athletes, creators, broadcasters and sports personalities tools to own their audience, content and revenue streams.
“Jeff wanted to build something that took all of that work away and created a single destination where consumers can come for everything they need, while giving brands a more focused and valuable place to exist,” says Weitz, formerly Global Head of Content, Talent and Brand Sales at X.
“A sports-only platform can offer a more premium experience and a healthier environment for fans, athletes and creators. If you’re a field goal kicker and you miss a kick, you should be able to talk about it online without waking up to death threats the next day,” he says.
A Noise-Canceling Network
The impetus for BZZR was a conversation between Bookout and an unnamed “major league athlete” who told him he avoided social media because of its toxicity.
“Now, you lose the connection between teams and fans, players and fans, and fans and the broader community,” Weitz explains.
To address that problem, BZZR gives athletes and creators more control over their online presence. Users can enable comments, hide them entirely, or make them visible only to themselves.
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