Lantern scores big with Sporting Kansas City deal
June 26, 2015 | Bobby Burch
Tech firm Lantern Software’s mobile app hit the right pitch with its hometown soccer team.
Lantern CEO Aaron Sloup
The startup, located in Kansas City, Kan., recently partnered with Sporting Kansas City to offer its mobile concessions ordering platform. The deal, effective Saturday, will allow fans in Sporting KC’s Boulevard Members Club to order and pay for concessions on their phones, and then pick up orders quicker at a separate “fast lane.”
Lantern CEO Aaron Sloup said that working with Sporting KC’s affiliate tech company — Sporting Innovations — enabled the companies to try new, innovative approaches to improve fans’ experiences at the stadium.
“This is definitely a big deal for us,” Sloup said. “Their whole team has been great to work with. They want to stay at the leading edge of technology and that means they’re willing to do some new things to move quickly.”
The app, named Gameday, allows fans to choose concession items and pay for their order via credit card or PayPal. Featuring Sporting KC colors and photos, Gameday then tracks fans’ orders, notifying them of when an order is placed and ready for pickup from a separate line.
Gameday app
Fans may draft an order before entering the Boulevard Members Club, but must enter the club to activate the order via small Bluetooth beacons confirming one’s proximity. The app is now available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play store.
“We’re continuously looking at ways to improve the fan experience at Sporting Park,” Sporting KC CEO Robb Heineman said in a release. “Lantern has a proven track record of using micro-location to improve the fan experience at sporting events. We are excited to form a relationship with a local company to provide a service that will greatly benefit our fans.”
Lantern previously was conducting pilot testing with the same app technology with the Kansas City Chiefs. Sloup said that testing has yet to result in a contract, though he remains hopeful for a partnership.
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
WeWork closing Corrigan Station, once a core hub for Kansas City’s startup community
Coworking giant WeWork on Thursday confirmed the planned closure of its Corrigan Station location in Kansas City — a space once closely intertwined with the local startup scene and its flourishing culture of innovation. “As part of WeWork’s strategic restructuring efforts, we have made the difficult decision to end our operations at Corrigan Station,” a…
Starting a business in KCMO is too expensive, study says; here’s how the city can cut those costs
Entrepreneurs in Kansas City, Missouri, face a higher cost of entry to the world of small business than their peers in St. Louis — or even just across the state line in Kansas City, Kansas, said Jennifer McDonald. “We look at things like how expensive it is to start a business, how complicated it is,…
Royals’ pitch for a Crossroads ballpark isn’t the first; what struck out KC’s plans for a domed downtown stadium 60 years ago?
Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Kansas City PBS/Flatland, a member of the KC Media Collective, which also includes Startland News, KCUR 89.3, American Public Square, The Kansas City Beacon, and Missouri Business Alert. Click here to read the original story. On June 27, 1967, Jackson County voters approved a $102 million general obligation bond…
Scoring Google’s $1B data center feels like Super Bowl overtime as KC keeps notching wins, officials say
Kansas City is hitting it out of the ballpark, said Mike Parson, returning from the governor’s office to the region Wednesday for yet another major economic development announcement — this time, a billion-dollar Google data center coming in 2025. “Maybe I should say, ‘You’re hitting it out of the ballpark and scoring touchdowns,” Parson, R-Missouri, told…