TagSeats helps USC fans find friends in stadium at games
When Gamecock fan Jack Dietrich was making plans to attend the 2010 SEC Championship game, he knew most of his friends were also going.
But he was having difficulty finding where his friends were sitting at the game. That inspired him to create TagSeats, a website where USC fans can see which of their friends are going to a game and where they will be sitting.
“I thought there must be an easier way with new technology to solve this problem … and socialize the event more,” said Dietrich, a USC graduate and Columbia resident who is now the CEO of the company.
Fans can connect their Facebook or Twitter accounts to TagSeats.com or create a quick profile using an email address. Users can pick an event, tag their seat on an interactive map and then easily share where they are sitting across their social media accounts.
TagSeats launched Nov. 12 for Saturday’s USC game against the Florida Gators. Over 200 users tagged seats for that event, the same number of fans that checked in with Foursquare.
Dietrich said he thinks this tool will be especially useful for USC students. For example, he said, since Wi-Fi connection is weak in some areas of the stadium, students will no longer struggle to contact their friends before or during the game to find them. Instead, they can use TagSeats as a tool to plan ahead.
For students with lower deck tickets, TagSeats facilitates coordination, even if students decide to move seats during the game. For those with an upper deck ticket, TagSeats helps students swap seats so they can be closer to their friends.
Dietrich predicts that TagSeats could diminish the problem of students leaving the game early because they will no longer have to worry about finding their friends before heading to their after-game plans.
“A little bit of the problem for USC students this year has been staying the whole game,” Dietrich said. “If you’re not sitting with your friends, you’re spending the whole game worrying about how you can get back.”
Dietrich said the TagSeats team members are happy with the success of their initial launch, and they have big plans to expand the company. They plan to include this year’s SEC Championship and bowl games on the website, as well as USC basketball and baseball games.
TagSeats will also be launching for some NFL games this month, starting with Miami Dolphins games and later growing to include home games for the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons.
Other plans in the works include a mobile app for iPhone and Android devices, in-stadium group chat, tailgating maps with GPS functionality and the ability to swap tickets with other fans.
The company is using the USC fan base as the market for the initial launch, hoping to engage the students in the website and receive comments from them.
“It’s just been great feedback,” Dietrich said. “And as a former USC student and current Gamecock fan, it’s a great opportunity to use this fan base and identify what is useful for them.”