Sports media startup OffBall is finding traction with a new way to engage fans: WhatsApp group chats

Would you want to be in a group chat with your favorite sports celebrities and athletes? You’ll have your chance this fall thanks to a collaboration between WhatsApp and OffBall. 

OffBall, a year-old sports media startup that focuses on careful curation for its followers, announced on Friday that it was bringing back The Chat, which it had previously conducted with sports stars such as LeBron James.

The franchise is designed to get users to participate in big group chats and discuss sports or anything else. High-profile personalities—such as professional athletes or others—also take part, and everyone can text or message each other like any other group chat, or simply follow along with the discussion.

With the success of previous iterations of The Chat, OffBall is going to hold additional Chats, featuring F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo, media personality Kylie Kelce (wife of former NFL player Jason Kelce, and future sister-in-law of Taylor Swift), and NBA players Tyrese Maxey and Tyrese Haliburton.

The Chats will occur during live sporting events, allowing fans to engage and discuss what’s happening, Offball said. The company describes it as a unique “second screen” experience.

Here’s the announced schedule for the future chats:

• October 19: F1 Austin Grand Prix with Daniel Ricciardo, Hunter Lawrence, and Jett Lawrence.
• November 12: NBA Los Angeles Lakers versus Oklahoma City Thunder with Tyrese Maxey and Tyrese Haliburton.
• November 23: NFL Indianapolis Colts versus Kansas City Chiefs with Kylie Kelce and Caleb Hearon.

In an interview published earlier this year by Lia Haberman on her Substack newsletter ICYMI, OffBall cofounder Michaela Hammond said that The Chat was born of athletes’ love of social media, and fans’ love of group chatting around sports. 

“The Chat is built on an existing product feature on WhatsApp called Communities,” Hammond said. “People already use it for larger community-based chats, like neighborhoods, parents at a school, and workplaces.”

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