PlaySport

About PlaySport

PlaySport Digital Pty Ltd operates as a comprehensive digital platform within the sports and recreation market, primarily targeting Australia with a global presence in countries like the UK, Canada, and New Zealand. The company was co-founded by Ben Sanders, whose background in IT and payments at companies such as Adobe and Mastercard, combined with his personal experience as a volunteer at his son's rugby club, inspired the platform's creation. Launched after four years and $5 million in development, the startup secured an additional $20 million in funding for its initial two years, with backers including Regal Funds Management and executives from sports management.

The business functions as a two-sided marketplace. For users, it serves as a discovery tool to find local sports clubs, classes, and facilities from a database of over 56,000 organizations across more than 350 activity types. It aims to simplify the process of getting active by allowing people to search for activities based on location, time, and other preferences. For sports and recreational organizers, PlaySport offers a free, all-in-one administrative platform. This service consolidates functions that are often managed across multiple, sometimes costly, tools. Organizers can create a public-facing page, promote events, manage registrations, securely process payments via Stripe, and communicate with members and participants.

PlaySport's revenue model is not explicitly detailed in the provided information, but the platform offers its core services to organizers for free, suggesting potential revenue streams could come from transaction fees on payments, premium features, or data insights. The company aims to provide valuable data and insights to government bodies and health industries to inform future programs. A significant milestone was a commercial sponsorship with Sport Australia, becoming its Digital Activation Partner to support national campaigns aimed at increasing physical activity. This partnership aligns with PlaySport's mission to get three million more people active by making sports easier to find, organize, and play.