FanReach’s first college football app debuted with Northwestern Football on opening night, built alongside Ticketmaster and Mappedin.
EVANSTON, Ill. — On Friday, October 2, the New Ryan Field opened its gates, and Northwestern Football gave its fans a night to remember with a 34–13 win over Penn State.
For FanReach, it was a milestone too. The New Ryan Field app is our first in college football, and opening weekend was its first big test in front of 35,000 fans.
The Night
The first game in the new stadium came 100 years after the original opened on the same spot, and the crowd made it feel like a homecoming.
The loudest part of the night was the Wildcat Wall, a standing-only student section of 2,000 behind the southeast end zone. It sold out in two hours and was full more than an hour before kickoff. After the final play, the Wildcats ran straight to the Wall to celebrate with their classmates.
Moments like that are what a stadium gets built for, and what we want every fan’s game day to feel like.
Built With Great Partners
A new stadium means every fan is a first-time visitor. Getting through the gate, finding a seat and grabbing food all depend on ticketing and venue systems talking to each other with zero friction. The FanReach platform brings those pieces together in one app, so fans get the right content at the right moment.
Ticketmaster. Tickets are where every game day starts. Working with Ticketmaster meant fans could get from the app to their tickets and through the gates on a night when everyone was arriving at once.
Mappedin. Nobody had walked the New Ryan Field before Friday. Mappedin’s indoor maps helped fans find their seats, concessions and the spots they were looking for in a building that was brand new to all of them.
We’re grateful to both teams. They were with us from the start of this project, and opening night showed what that kind of partnership makes possible.
“I talk a lot about product orchestration. The FanReach platform connects many technology features into a single seamless experience, and the New Ryan Field app aligns ticketing and the venue to put the right content in the fan’s hand at the right moment. That coordination is my favorite part of product work, and it’s at the heart of how we think: Aggregate, Orchestrate, Simplify.”
— Jana Gauthier, Vice President, Product, FanReach
A Word From Our CEO
“Opening a new stadium only happens once, and Northwestern trusted us to be part of it. Watching 35,000 fans walk into New Ryan Field for the first time, and seeing the players run to the Wildcat Wall after the win, is why we do this work. This is our first college football app, and we couldn’t have asked for a better partner to start with. Thank you to Northwestern, and to Ticketmaster and Mappedin for building it with us.”
— Gabriel Smallman, CEO, FanReach
What’s Next
Opening night was the first of many at New Ryan Field. We’re excited to keep building with Northwestern this season and beyond.
Congratulations to Northwestern Football and everyone who brought the New Ryan Field to life. Go ‘Cats!
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About FanReach
FanReach is a fan engagement and marketing technology platform that powers native mobile apps for sports leagues, clubs, venues and live events. Rather than replacing the systems an organization already relies on, FanReach aggregates and orchestrates them, bringing ticketing, commerce, content, data and marketing tools together into one simple, cohesive fan experience. Its fan personalization engine helps partners reach every fan with the right moment, while giving their teams the data and insights to grow fan relationships and revenue.
