Rudy Koch → Writing → The GreenPark Series
There Is No Off-Season
Lessons from GreenPark Sports: Part 2
When we acquired GreenPark Sports earlier this year, we inherited far more than technology, products, and years of development. We also inherited a long history of what worked, what didn't, and the thinking behind it.
Looking back on that journey, one idea kept resurfacing.
There is no off-season.
At first glance, it sounds like a marketing slogan. But it isn't really about sports. It's about fandom.
Fans don't stop caring when the match ends. They spend the rest of the week debating transfers, watching highlights, following injuries, celebrating wins, arguing with rivals, sharing memes, and imagining what comes next. Their relationship with the sport doesn't begin at kickoff and end with the final whistle. It continues every day.
Fandom Never Stops
Looking back, I think GreenPark understood something that wasn't obvious to me at first. Their ambition wasn't simply to build another sports game or another prediction product. They were trying to build a place where fans could express their identity, participate in communities, earn recognition, and feel connected to the sports they loved every day of the year.
That philosophy surfaced everywhere. GreenPark described itself as the heartbeat of fandom, with always a reason to visit. One internal principle summed it up perfectly: "Always be playing, always be growing." It wasn't describing a feature or a game mechanic. It was describing the relationship they wanted fans to have with the product. The goal wasn't to build around sporting events. It was to become part of a fan's daily routine.
What Games Learned
What struck me is how closely that thinking mirrors what I've spent much of my career learning in games. From building games at Blizzard and Disney to co-founding Mythical Games, I've seen firsthand that the most successful live-service games don't win by launching with more content than everyone else. They win by creating a continuous relationship with their players: observing behavior, experimenting constantly, improving the experience, and giving people new reasons to return. The product is never considered finished because the relationship with the player is never considered finished.
Looking back, I think GreenPark was trying to apply that same philosophy to sports fandom. The goal wasn't simply to ship features. It was to build a living product that gave fans reasons to return, create rituals, express their identity, and deepen their relationship with the sports they loved over time.
That distinction matters.
Moments vs. Habits
Sports organizations have become exceptionally good at creating moments. The games industry became exceptionally good at creating habits.
Moments capture attention. Habits build relationships.
Game studios have spent years building organizations around that reality. Product managers, designers, analysts, live operations teams, community managers, engineers, and artists work together every day to observe players, ship improvements, and respond to what they're learning. That operating model is expensive, which is one reason it has traditionally only been practical for the largest game publishers.
The Missing Piece
Reading GreenPark's history today, I don't think the challenge was that they misunderstood where sports fandom was heading. If anything, I think they understood it remarkably well. They envisioned a future where fans had a persistent home, where fandom could be expressed daily rather than only during matches, and where engagement was measured in habits instead of campaigns.
The challenge was the cost of operating that vision.
That's why I think this conversation has become so relevant again.
Why This Matters Now
Artificial intelligence doesn't invent the idea of continuous fan engagement. GreenPark was articulating that vision years ago. What AI changes is the economics of delivering it. Tasks that once required large teams working around the clock can increasingly be automated, personalized, and continuously optimized. For the first time, the kind of operating model GreenPark imagined starts to become practical for organizations that could never have supported it before.
I keep coming back to that original phrase.
There is no off-season.
I don't think it's simply an observation about sports fans. I think it's a design principle. If fandom is continuous, then the products that serve fans need to be continuous too. They need to evolve, respond, and improve alongside the communities they exist to support.
Looking back, that's the biggest lesson I took away from GreenPark. They weren't trying to build another sports app. They were trying to build a living product for people whose passion never really stops.
Today, for the first time, we may finally have the tools to solve it.
This is Part 2 of The GreenPark Series. Read Part 1: Acquiring $55 Million of Sports Fan Engagement R&D.
Written by Rudy Koch, co-founder of Mythical Games and co-founder & CEO of JOA. More: Homepage · Writing · Mythical Games · Media.