DURHAM – SpokeHub, the social media startup born in Durham with a team of African American entrepreneurs, has secured a partnership with sports analytics firm STATS to provide real-time analytic insights to conversations about one of the world’s largest sporting events – the 2018 FIFA World Cup .

Soccer is one of the most difficult sports to provide meaningful real-time analytics due to the constant motion of the ball and the traditionally asymmetric distribution of players on the pitch—though significant strides have been made by Javier Fernandez and Luke Bornn in recent research measuring the value of space creation.

By leveraging the STATS Insights data within the SpokeHub platform, additional insights and statistics about each match give hubsters—the moniker for users of the platform—information they can use to have deeper conversations before, during, and after games are played.

“The partnership is ideal,” said Taylor Glymph, vice president of marketing at SpokeHub. “The fan experience is unified, providing true engagement with sports insights.”

During the games, live insights deliver trends on players and teams based on in-game events, statistics, and milestones.

“Every fan is looking for deeper analysis around their favorite teams and players,” said Mike Rodriguez, vice president of account management at STATS in a statement released by the two companies. “STATS Insights taps into our extensive historical database to uncover stories many fans may be missing.”

The partnership for the 2018 FIFA World Cup is an extension of an earlier partnership the two companies inked six months ago, said Glymph, as STATS also powered SpokeHub’s scoreboard feature for NCAA March Madness, NBA and NFL games, as well as NCAA Football Bowl Games.

SpokeHub cofounder John York, who envisioned the platform while attending a high school basektball game in Durham, wants to build something that will inspire the next generation to connect and seek deeper conversation.

Photo copyright SpokeHub

SpokeHub’s rapid growth and planned expansion

SpokeHub launched their platform in July 2017 and quickly built a relationship with one of the company’s official brand ambassadors, George Lopez, who has already used the platform to deepen conversations online.

The company closed $500,000 in funding in December 2017—and has raised $2 million in capital from local and out-of-state investors. They’re already in the midst of a productive 2018, with eight full-time employees working toward their mission to inspire the next generation.

In addition to the partnership with STATS, the company launched its fourth-generation app in January 2018, and in March the company unveiled a new feature to their app that provides app-enabled augmented reality and video features, that the company believes might completely change the way conversations happen online. This summer, the young company opened a second location in Uptown Charlotte and is now planning an expansion in Atlanta.

Fans seeking to engage in data-rich conversations about the 2018 FIFA World Cup can download the SpokeHub app in the Apple Store  or Google Play.