Two Columbus, Ohio based entrepreneurs Mike Schroder and Michael Gold have created a game to help kids learn about the sports their parents love so much. Their first product is Future Fans Football, which launched in September and has already won six toy awards.
Schroder and Gold joined SportsJam with Doug Doyle to talk about why they developed the game for ages 4-10.
Mike Schroder says the whole idea stemmed from a desire to connect with his young daughter Ella.
"I'm a big Cincinnati Bengals fan. In January of 2022, they were going on this unexpected, and for me, life-changing run to the Super Bowl. We will our first playoff game in 31 years against the Raiders. I'm there. I'm hugging people that I'm probably not hugging in any other walk of life. On reflection, that's pretty cool and that's what makes sports unique and special. It spans political lines, socio-economic divides, and spans generations. The rest of that playoff run I'm back at home watching the games. I wish I was watching them with my five-year old Ella who was super into the dip and the fight song, but the second the game came on she was out of there. As somebody who really wanted to share this moment with her and experience this run to the Super Bowl with my oldest child, she wasn't interested. That was a real point of frustration. I had tried to teach her every which way of how the game works from Sports Illustrated for Kids books and I tried to pause the TV and explain the game to her. It made me reflect and say there's gotta be a different way of getting through to her but she's capable of understanding some of these things, but just not in the way of teaching her. I wanted to create a different and unique way to unlock the understand of the game. That really led to this teaching in a story-book-led parallel way and then connecting it back to the sport."
As many entrepreneurs do, Schroder found something to fill the need he saw. Future Fans Football was born.
Michael Gold came to know Schroder in 2010 because both of their wives are pediatricians. Gold says he liked the idea of the kids learning game right from the start.
"My kids are a little bit older, 12 and 9. As Mike brought this idea, I quickly realized in my own life, how important sports is to my connection both with my own kids, but also thinking back great memories that I had as a kid with my parents and grandparents. This special connection that cuts across generations and communities really hit home with me."
Gold and Schroder then set out to create the preeminent brand for how kids learn sports by making it fun and easy for an adult sports fan to share their love of the game with a child. Read a book. Play games. Learn the sport. Be fans together.
They say the solution is unique in that it’s a storybook-led experience, embedded with parallel games and situations, teaching the core concepts/rules of a sport (without the child even realizing it).
They've also made incredible progress within the sports world. The Bengals are utilizing our content in their community engagement with local elementary schools, and they've had preliminary conversations with the Eagles, Browns, and the NFL Foundation. Additionally, MLS is engaged in the development of their soccer product.
In short, these two entrepreneurs saw an issue with explaining sports to their young kids and came up with a simple game to explain the rules of football, so Michael could better enjoy his Bengals fandom with his young daughter. Gamifying a game, per se. The idea has now caught on and is starting to catch the eyes of teams and leagues, including the Bengals, who have embraced the game. Thought their career journey and the opportunity to talk about the young demo, now in football, with more coming
You can SEE the entire SportsJam with Doug Doyle interview with Mike Schroder and Michael Gold here.
