We’re excited to announce the biggest platform release in Fanmaker’s history. This year, our team has rebuilt the Fanmaker loyalty websites, the iOS and Android mobile apps, the Fanmaker SDK, and the backend that powers all of it from the ground up. Same platform you know, same integrations you rely on, completely new fan-facing interface, and a new foundation underneath.
This isn’t a coat of paint. It’s a faster, more flexible, more fun version of Fanmaker that puts your brand and your fans first.
What’s New at a Glance
- 10 to 12 times faster initial load times, especially noticeable inside the Fanmaker SDK
- Passwordless login by default, plus the full suite of SSO options Fanmaker partners already use
- Punch Cards now reward purchase activity and spend, not just attendance
- Polls and Trivia promoted to standalone surfaces, out of Stories, for a first-class experience
- A transparent interface that lets your colors, textures, brand styling, and imagery come through
- A modern visual language built on the design standards fans already expect from iOS and Android, with subtle glass effects
- A more gamified experience, with full-screen check-in confirmations, animations, and richer use of brand colors
- Rolling out to all loyalty partners over the next 30 days
Faster Everywhere, Especially in the SDK
Speed was the first thing we set out to fix. The new Fanmaker apps and SDK load 10 to 12 times faster on initial open than the previous generation, and that’s not because we tuned a few queries. We rebuilt the backend alongside the frontend: new APIs, new servers, new infrastructure top to bottom.
Effortless Sign-In
The faster you can get a fan into the program, the more value the program creates, so we made signing in nearly invisible.
Passwordless login is now the default for any program not using third-party SSO. Fans enter their email, receive a six-digit code, type it in, and they’re in. No passwords to remember, no resets to manage, no abandoned signups, and best of all, every email address is verified by default. For partners using SSO, the full set of supported providers is unchanged: Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, NBA, NFL, MLB, and custom team SSO.
Polls and Trivia Are Now First-Class Citizens
This one is a bigger change than it sounds. Polls and Trivia used to live inside Stories, which meant fans only encountered them when they were already scrolling through content. We’ve pulled them out and given them their own dedicated surfaces in the new interface, where they’re easier for fans to find.
The result is more daily interaction, more first-party data flowing back to your program, and a much better tool for driving the kind of light-touch engagement that keeps fans coming back between events.
Your Brand, Front and Center
Fanmaker has always believed the partner’s brand belongs at the front of the experience. The new platform takes that further than ever.
The entire Fanmaker interface is now transparent by design. Your team colors, textures, imagery, and visual language show through at every surface, with significantly more of your brand than before. The new design also picks up the glass and depth cues fans recognize from the latest versions of iOS and Android, so the experience feels modern and native on both platforms without ever looking generic.
The result: every Fanmaker program looks more like your team app and less like a third-party widget bolted into it.
More Fun, More Reasons to Come Back
We rebuilt the engagement layer to reward fans the moment they participate. Check-ins now trigger full-screen branded confirmations. Animations are sprinkled throughout the interface. On game day, fans are walked through the experience from check-in, to engagement, to revenue-driving promotions, instead of being left to find their own way. The overall feel is more playful and more rewarding, with plenty more on the way as we layer new touches in over the coming months.
Punch Cards Move Beyond Attendance
The biggest leap in Punch Cards is that they no longer have to be about showing up. The new platform lets you build Punch Cards around purchase activity and spend at the venue, in addition to the attendance-based cards Fanmaker has always supported.
Purchase Activity cards reward repeat purchases of a specific SKU (“buy five Cokes, get the sixth one free”), filling automatically as transactions flow through your POS. Spend Threshold cards reward cumulative spend rather than item count, so a “spend $200 on merchandise, get $10 back” promotion runs itself in the background. And the new Passport Punch Card lists out a set of items and fills in as fans try each one. Imagine 8 signature food items across your venue, with a commemorative reward waiting for the fans bold enough to try them all. It’s a powerful tool for showcasing your food and beverage program and increasing spend. As we know, loyalty members tend to spend 10 to 12% more than non-members.
Every Punch Card now also supports richer imagery, longer descriptions of what fans need to do, and a clearer view of the reward waiting at the end. Once a fan starts punching, the card gets heavily promoted higher up in the home feed.
Available Now
The new platform has been running in production for several months. We launched first with the San Antonio Spurs and across our Diamond Baseball Holdings teams, and the feedback has been excellent. Fans are checking in faster, engaging with more interactive content, and completing Punch Cards at higher rates. The platform is now rolling out across the rest of the Fanmaker partner network over the coming weeks.
This Is Just the Beginning
The new Fanmaker is the foundation for everything we have planned next: more second-screen experiences that connect the app to what’s happening in your venue, deeper interactivity between fans and your program, intelligent discounts and promotions that meet fans with the right incentive at the right moment, more reasons to open the loyalty program in the first place, and a steady stream of new ways to motivate the fan behaviors that matter most to your team.
