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
Innovative tech honored at SXSW has potential to save lives in KC, govtech founder says
Editor’s note: The following story is part of Startland News’ coverage of the SXSW conference in Austin. Click here to read more stories from the 2022 trip. AUSTIN — A tech company from Silicon Valley’s largest city is unleashing a new era of smart infrastructure technology for the world in motion — and Kansas City…
‘9 to 5’ exposed sexism, toxic gender roles at work; 40 years later, has much changed beyond the price of a cup of ambition?
Editor’s note: The following story is part of Startland News’ coverage of the SXSW conference in Austin. Click here to read more stories from the 2022 trip. The minds of women and marginalized employees are still being used without credit more than 40 years after Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda starred in a…
This new agrobot could be the future of farming: chemical-free and swarming in a field near you
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. Harvesting…
11 emerging KC startups hit the road for Omaha pitch; one winner drives home with $25K
Editor’s note: Husch Blackwell is a financial sponsor of Startland News, though this report was produced independently by the nonprofit newsroom. More than a third of competitors at the coming Get Started Omaha premier pitch event are expected to represent Kansas City innovation on stage April 6 — vying for $25,000 in prize money against…