When Piyush Kumar saw how his friends used Tinder to meet up with virtual strangers who shared common interests, it sparked an idea. “No one likes watching sports alone; it’s a community activity. What if we could use an app to bring together people from across the world to cheer for their favourite team? And that’s what we did,” says the 36-year-old founder and CEO of Rooter.
The concept is simple: download the app (on Android and beta version on iOS) and pick which sports you would like to follow. The app then lists the matches that are in progress; anyone can join the forum to chat, cheer and dissect as the game goes on. Cricket, football, basketball and tennis are currently available; others will soon follow.
Fan favourites
Kumar and Soham Sinha, co-founder and CTO of the company, launched the app close to six months ago, and have been correcting and tweaking it in time for the IPL and Formula One seasons. Kumar says, “Apart from school and college, sports is the next big thing that brings people together. When it comes to most sports in India, the revenue is more from advertisements. There is not much engagement with the fans. I’ve always been interested in tapping the potential of this market.”
What’s in a name
If there’s one thing Kumar is proud of, it’s the app’s name. “We didn’t want to use ‘sport’ or ‘fan’, because it will get lost in the deluge of apps that are already available. I came across the story of how Twitter got its name, so I wanted to find a word that could be used as both a noun and a verb. That’s when we came across the dictionary meaning of rooter: a supporter or fan of a sports team or player. After two months of searching, we had found our name!”
Users (also known as Rooters) can use coins to predict various scenarios for matches — from the number of double faults Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will rack up when they go head-to-head, to the number of catches in the first session of the India-Australia test match. Predict right and win more coins — these can be used to get Amazon gift vouchers, and soon, the option to redeem them for sports merchandise, tickets and PayTM money.
All inclusive
It’s not just the big matches that are featured on the app. Even Ranji and Duleep trophy-level matches are given the same importance and platform. “The main criteria is that the match is available on TV. We want people to watch and enjoy the sport, no matter who is playing. And by including NBA and Premier League football, we’re aiming for an international audience.”
The Android app isn’t very intrusive, and keeps notifications to a minimum. At times, there is a lag between the end of the match and points being updated. Some scores take a while to reflect. Hopefully, this will be rectified in the next update.
The Rooter Connect tab shows the number of Rooters around you, with distance and the teams they support. Users can choose to meet at a Root Up, where virtual supporters meet in a real-world location and root for their team in person. So you can enjoy each goal and winning match point without looking away from your TV screen to text about it.
