FloSports
Storytelling with sport data. Creating the essential destination for passionate wrestling fans.
Overview
A strategic acquisition and untapped potential
As part of the FloSports network, FloWrestling is the preeminent destination for the sport of wrestling for junior, high school, college, and international competitions.
In 2023, the business made a strategic acquisition of FloWrestling’s largest competitor, Trackwrestling. This made sense because FloWrestling delivered exclusive live events and content and Trackwrestling had amassed a decades worth of wrestling sport data.
Strategic Fit
Passionate fans, disconnected experience
Internal feedback and customer insights revealed that users were forced to jump between multiple disconnected platforms between FloWrestling, Arena, and now Trackwrestling with each offering only a piece of the overall experience.
This fragmentation led to confusion, missed moments, and decreased user satisfaction, ultimately undermining fan engagement and loyalty.
Framing the Opportunity
Using sport data as a connective layer
We defined sport data as scores, results, stats, schedules, rosters, and brackets which are core to how fans follow the sport. We mapped the Event Arc, identifying user needs from pre-event hype through post-event analysis.
User Research
Data validated our hypothesis
To kick things off, we created a simple survey followed by ~20 in-depth interviews using FloWrestling, Trackwrestling, and Arena products. We focused our research on the Homepage, Athletes, Results, Rankings.
We also pulled quantitative data to see if we could find patterns in subscribers behavior to further support survey and interview insights.
Key insight: Sport data is the connective tissue for sports fans
• 43m page views of “Scores and Stats”
• 20m page views on live streams
• Higher LTV and retention than any other sport
“The independent running of Trackwrestling and Flo separate-but-together is annoying. I wish they would just fully merge and be one place for wrestling."
— FloWrestling subscriber
Design Exploration
Rapid sprints towards a unified experience
We reframed research insights into How Might We prompts, then used 2-day iterative sprints to rapidly ideate and test key ideas. Our final concepts focused on integrating sport data into discovery moments across the experience.
Usability Testing
Active subscribers validated our hypothesis
Our methodology was to conduct ~15 usability tests where we had subscribers walk through tasked-based flows with a high-fidelity prototype. The goal was to see if leveraging sport data for discovery and engagement would be well received.
Outcomes
• Embedded scores improved event and content discovery
• Athlete profiles were a fan favorite
• Integrated brackets with live events boosted engagement
Laying the Foundation
Rallying around the vision
At the end of the project, I presented our work at our annual companywide 500-person off-site. Although I moved on shortly after, the effort the entire team put into this work energized the entire organization and created alignment moving forward.
To this day, my friends at FloSports continue to build on this foundation.
