Philadelphia native Jeff Phillips has been passionate about Philly sports for multiple decades. He has been longing for a platform in which fans can express their thoughts about a team’s games, players and even coaches. Soon enough, he came up with the idea of having an app that would allow him and all other sports-fanatics to voice their athletic opinions.
Phillips founded the app, called SportsVenting, in the summer of 2015. Coming from Philadelphia himself, Phillips knew that many Philly sports fans have been losing hope for their beloved teams. From the losses, trades and constant staff changes, it has seemed like the fans can never catch a break. But, with the formation of the SportsVenting app, fans from around the world can discuss sports-related politics over this app and other forums of social media. Currently, users’ vents from the app can be shared on Facebook and Twitter.
Along with the app’s name, Phillips developed the tagline “blow off some steam” to accurately describe what die-hard fans need. In addition to this, Phillips designed a character logo of a man clenching his fists and blowing steam out of his ears. The character was then named Frustrated Phil to adhere to the roots of longtime-disappointed Philadelphia sports fans. The design work and preliminary startup for the app began in July of 2016.
This idea of venting about athletic teams has been done before, but not in this specific manner that Phillips has developed. For instance, anyone can post about the Philadelphia Eagles on any social media platform. However, the perk of having the SportsVenting app is that users are placed in an atmosphere of major sport lovers. The users of the app typically have their preferences and are not afraid to engage in a back-and-forth conversation about two opposing teams. Even Phillips and SportsVenting’s Director of Promotions, Dan Bagelle, have had their fair share of arguments, given Phillips’ love for the Philadelphia Eagles and Bagelle’s devotion to the Dallas Cowboys–the Eagles’ divisional rival. Despite their differences, the two have worked together with their friend and Director of Operations, Tim Wozniak, to create an easy-to-use app that is quite entertaining.
The app asks first which NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB teams you love and then asks which ones you hate (to put it bluntly). The app also includes Division I football and basketball. With your personalized list, you are put in contact with many people who share the same athletic interests as you. With this matching, the venting can begin. This app has a specific niche that is unique to sports fans. It separates the average post one would see on their Facebook feed and limits it to the copious amounts of unseen fan lingo.
This year in February, Phillips decided to create a Kickstarter project to raise money for his new app. Thanks to donations and personal time spent on SportsVenting’s creation, the app is now able to be downloaded as a prototype. This functional prototype allows fans to see Phillips’ proof of concept and direction for the years to come.
The app is currently available for download on Apple and Android products.
Sources: kickstarter.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News
Natasha Chaillou 
Megan Keating 
Daniel Finegan