How much would you pay now for a trip to the college football title game in Atlanta—if LSU makes it there?
That question is at the heart of Fan Plan, a new startup co-founded by LSU alumnus Stephen Evans. The company, which launched this season, capitalizes on the sometimes irrational hope many college football fans have that their team has a chance to win it all.
Here’s how it works: Customers select a team they think will make it to the national championship game. The price for each share—usually between $20 and a few hundred dollars—is determined by the company’s statistical models. Each share bought on one of the two championship game participants pays off with $1,000 worth of tickets, travel and lodging to the game. Customers can buy multiple plans to get more coverage.
“We certainly think there are superfans who are going to buy it for their team no matter what,” Evans says. “No matter how good their team is.”
So far, that has proven true. Launched in full this season, the company has sold plans for nearly 40 teams—including teams that have virtually no chance of making the national championship, like Tulane and University of Southern Mississippi.
Evans says the idea was crafted in 2014 when one of the original partners, an Auburn fan, couldn’t afford to make it to the national championship game. So Evans and others began exploring the concept of a “prize indemnity” product, (not a gambling product, he notes), that would make the national championship affordable to the average fan, as well as turn a profit.
CEO Terry Leiweke, a longtime sports businessman with experience in the Las Vegas sports betting world, says if all goes well, the concept will be expanded into other sports.
LSU’s plan price—$20—reflects how unlikely the Tigers are to make it to Atlanta this year. Alabama, on the other hand, sold out of plans after a couple weeks. Penn State is going for a little over $200.
—Sam Karlin
