Fan Huddle was recently featured in SportTechie, in an article which featured our Founder, Robert Smith. See the article below:
How Fan Huddle Is Shaking Up the Workplace Wellness Industry With On-Demand Digital Experiences Led by Professional Athletes and Experts
By Andrew Cohen
October 25, 2022
Former NFL running back Robert Smith, a Pro Bowler for the Minnesota Vikings in 1998 and 2000, has been around the medical field for his entire life. He spent plenty of time around hospitals while growing up in a Cleveland suburb since his mother was a registered nurse. As a student-athlete at Ohio State University in the early 1990s, he took classes in biology, chemistry, and physics before the Vikings selected him as a first-round draft pick in 1993.
“I've always been interested in applied science and medicine. When I was at Ohio State, I worked at a hematology and oncology lab doing cloning and sequencing of genes,” Smith tells SportTechie. “This is all the way back in ‘91, so technology was pretty new at that point and a lot different than what’s being done now.”
Smith retired from the NFL in 2001 at 28 years old after repeated knee injuries kept him from sustaining a longer career. Now, he is the founder and chairman of the digital health and well-being platform Fan Huddle. The app offers hundreds of on-demand video classes spanning categories such as:
yoga,
core workouts,
stretching,
nutrition,
walking,
running,
strength conditioning,
relationship health,
meditation,
and cooking tips.
The free content is taught by experts in fitness and mindfulness, with appearances from athletes such as fellow former star running backs Emmitt Smith and Eddie George, current NFL players James Conner, Cam Jordan, Jaylon Smith, Irv Smith Jr., Blake Martinez, as well as Chelsea Gray of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.
“To actually have tips, advice, workouts, and stories from these athletes can really help people in their daily lives,” says Smith, who also works as a football analyst for FOX and the Big Ten Network. “People shouldn't have to pay $1,000 or $2,000 for exercise bikes, or $40 a month for these premium services and content. It should be provided by their insurers, and we want to work with those insurers to help provide that.”
Fan Huddle already has partnerships with healthcare plan providers Optum and BurnAlong, which combined have about 15 million users that are now eligible to access Fan Huddle’s content library. Fan Huddle is also in negotiations with other major corporate health plan providers. The NFLPA has equity in Fan Huddle in exchange for player licensing rights given to the startup.
A lot of people moved to digital solutions. A lot of people are going back to the gym, but I think that they supplement it with that home content as well. Think of Peloton, Echelon, those different companies for home equipment. We're looking to supplement the content they have with the athletes and experts that we have as part of our roster.
“We're the first company founded by a former player that the NFLPA has ever done a deal with,” says Smith, who ranks only behind Adrian Peterson for career rushing yards by a Viking. “Eddie George will give an introduction video talking about why he likes yoga, what he does,” he says, describing content on Fan Huddle. “Then an instructor will take you through different levels. Eddie will have encouragement at the halfway point, telling people to continue with the program, and then Eddie will provide a congratulations at the end.”
The NFLPA also appointed Smith as a member of its Retirement Board to represent the interests of NFL players with regards to pension and disability benefits given by the NFL. Smith hired former Microsoft product manager David Donovick to be CEO of Fan Huddle, which formally operated as Fan Health Network as its previous name. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a lightning rod for Smith to grow Fan Huddle’s health services.
“A lot of people moved to digital solutions. A lot of people are going back to the gym, but I think that they supplement it with that home content as well,” Smith says. “Think of Peloton, Echelon, those different companies for home equipment. We're looking to supplement the content they have with the athletes and experts that we have as part of our roster.”