• by Colin Kirkland , January 25, 2023

In-game advertising platform Bidstack has announced its own dedicated sports division -- Bidstack Sports -- aimed at expanding sponsorship and fan engagement models in virtual sports stadiums. 

According to the company, Bidstack Sports will enable both league and club rights holders to deliver content and messaging within virtual stadiums and environments, providing “a technological gateway that enables real and virtual world activations to operate in parallel.” 

The new tech solution is built to help team owners to unlock new revenue models while engaging a new generation of fans.

Bidstack Sports is being run by Alex Nunez, an EA Sports veteran and former head of commercial partnerships for Madden NFL, inside of which Nunez spurred the first ever virtual stadium rights deal in partnership with Pizza Hut. 

Nunez says Bidstack Sports addresses untapped media values for the sports industry in gaming by enabling publishers and rights holders to “natively monetize and dynamically communicate inside virtual stadiums through a controlled content management dashboard.”

In addition, Bidstack Sports is being launched with SimWin Sports, a virtual fantasy sports league led by gaming producer David J. Ortiz and Draft Kings’ previous CMO Tom Goedde. 

SimWin’s platform, built to capture individual leagues and franchises in a virtual space, provides daily fantasy players and esports fans with the ability to watch, predict, collect, play and earn around sports teams turned virtual. 

The multi-year partnership deal between Bidstack and SimWin will also allow franchise owners to manage and monetize virtual environments through Bidstack’s ability to segment, target, and serve integrated immersive ads within the SimWin universe. 

So far, NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champion Marshall Faulk has joined as a SimWin franchise owner of the “San Diego Battleships” team. Faulk says that his team utilizes Bidstack’s tech to showcase ads across virtual jumbotrons and ribbon boards, and process stadium rights and jersey patch sponsors.