Sportsmo founder and CEO Chaitan Fahnestock [Photo: Linkedin]
Sportsmo is a new crowd-funding app that lets fans donate micro-gifts during big gameday plays, “turning live college football action into real-time, fan-funded support for university athletics.” And now, a year after launching, the Dallas-based startup has tackled Oklahoma State University as its first official partner.
Founded by Dallas-based CEO Chaitan Fahnestock—the former president of professional services firm Riveron and an OSU alumnus—Sportsmo notes that NIL pressures and recent legal cases have forced athletic departments to “get creative” to meet skyrocketing budgets.
Sportsmo’s creative approach? To offer fans a gamiefied way to connect with each other and directly support their favorite team in real time.
Under the deal with OSU, Sportsmo will serve as OSU’s exclusive gamified, crowd-funding social network for charitable gifts to the university’s collegiate sports teams. OSU Cowboys football will be gamified first, followed by the university’s men’s and women’s basketball teams. Other men’s and women’s sports will be added as data and software integrations become available, Sportsmo said.
Enabling ‘gamiefied giving’
“Sportsmo’s gamified giving is envisioned to buoy college teams navigating this new NIL era, where every donated dollar matters,” Fahnestock said in a statement. “I’m proud my alma mater, Oklahoma State University, signed on as Sportsmo’s first official partner school, and I can’t wait to see what the Pokes, their fans, and Sportsmo are able to do together.”
Chad Weiberg, director of athletics at OSU, said that given the current landscape of college athletics and the recently finalized House vs. NCAA settlement, “athletic departments are required to think creatively to meet new budget demands. And fans deserve novel ways to connect with and support their favorite teams.”
“We’re excited to partner with Sportsmo and look forward to beginning our first season together starting today,” Weiberg added in a statement last week before his team’s 27-7 win over the University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks.
OSU’s Athletic Department and the OSU Foundation will collaborate to market the app and the Sportsmo experience, the Dallas startup said, maximizing donations to support Cowboy athletics. Sportsmo donations will carry the same credit and perks as gifts made directly to OSU, including Foundation Recognition Credit and Posse Points, which give donors access to benefits including better ticketing, improved parking, VIP event invitations, and more.
Combining micro-gifting with fan interaction
Launched last summer and available for iOS and Android, the Sportsmo app combines live game stats, social media, gamification, and charitable giving. That enables fans to donate micro-gifts on their team’s big plays, interact with and rally fellow fans, and support their teams directly all in one app, the startup says.
Donations made through the app are tax-deductible and flow directly to university athletic departments through their foundations. Schools that partner with Sportsmo and promote it to their communities receive a higher share of proceeds—up to 87% per donation made to them, Sporsmo said, while other schools receive up to 77%.
Sportsmo said it’s “continually looking” for additional schools to partner with.
Don’t miss what’s next. Subscribe to Dallas Innovates.
Track Dallas-Fort Worth’s business and innovation landscape with our curated news in your inbox Tuesday-Thursday.
R E A D N E X T
-
The Tech Transfer Showcase spotlights life science innovation at universities and strengthens the development of future leaders and entrepreneurs, BioNTX said. Here are the six university finalists who’ll be pitching at the summit.
-
Part of the 2025 iC³ Life Science & Healthcare Innovation Summit to be held September 16-17 in Dallas, the showcase pitch event is designed to connect university researchers with potential investors, industry executives, and strategic partners. This is the first year the showcase has expanded beyond Texas.
-
More than 300,000 defense suppliers—from major contractors to small businesses—must meet new CMMC security standards or risk losing contracts; SMU’s conference tackles compliance requirements and implementation strategies Feb. 19-20.
-
The new center at Bridge Labs will train the workforce powering North Texas’ biotech boom—helping startups speed therapies, vaccines, and breakthrough biologics from lab bench to patients. Funded in part by Lyda Hill Philanthropies, the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing Satellite Campus is set to open this summer.
-
Backed by the Department of Defense and $200 million in private capital, the new facility helps companies prototype and scale battery technologies for both commercial use and national defense. The launch comes at a time when supply chain independence is a growing priority. Government and industry leaders recently got a first look.
