'Check-in Champ' App Rewards Fans
January 10, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Michigan High School Athletic Association and SuperFanHigh, a leading fan loyalty and engagement company, have launched a mobile app that will allow students, faculty, alumni, community members and all fans to earn prizes and college scholarships by showing support for high school basketball teams.
To participate, fans simply need to download the “Check-in Champ” app for free from the Apple iTunes or Google Play online stores and then check in at high school girls and boys basketball games they are attending this season. SuperFanHigh will track these check-ins and provide standings of fans who attend the most events statewide beginning Tuesday, Jan. 10. Fans “checking in” accrue points toward prizes including a total of $5,000 in college scholarships sponsored by MI Student Aid.
“The ‘Check-in Champ’ contest provides an exciting opportunity for our schools to promote their regular-season girls and boys basketball games,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “We’re eager to see how this will build more excitement at games, both during the regular season and the MHSAA tournament, and we’re appreciative of MI Student Aid for adding significant incentive for students and their families who support their classmates and communities.”
For the remainder of this Michigan high school boys and girls basketball season, fans who attend games will earn points. When registering on the app, fans must select their favorite school. Schools will be divided by Class: A, B, C and D. A $3,000 scholarship will be awarded to the fan who earns the most points overall across all four classes, and $500 scholarships will be awarded to fans who earn the most points in each class.
Only student fans will be eligible to use the college scholarships; however, fans who are not students may still compete for the scholarships and designate them for specific students should they win the contest. All fans, including those who are not students, will be able to earn app “badges” as they accrue points, and the top 100 point-getters will receive shirts printed to celebrate their accomplishment in the contest.
“We are excited about partnering with the MHSAA to launch this new app,” said Anne Wohlfert, Director of the Student Financial Services Bureau at the Michigan Department of Treasury. “We are pleased to offer $5,000 in scholarship dollars to the students who attend the most games. This joint venture aligns with our goals to provide high school students and their families with student financial resources and information.”
The app provides other information for students and fans including their selected schools’ boys and girls basketball team schedules, MHSAA news and an opportunity to share photos through a ‘fan cam.’ Participants may accrue bonus points by answering MHSAA basketball trivia questions and promoting their “check-ins” on social media.
SuperFanHigh is a division of its parent company, SuperFanU and provides fan experiences for more than 300 high schools and colleges/universities across the country. The company is leading the market in developing innovative platforms that allow the communication and marketing between students/fans and schools to be more engaging and efficient.
“We know that our partnership with MHSAA will yield lots of excitement this year across the state of Michigan,” says Kayla Mount, co-founder and COO of SuperFanU.
Sampson to Join MHSAA Staff
July 12, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Jeremy Sampson, an award-winning sportscaster who founded and currently serves as president of the Lansing United semi-professional men’s soccer club, will join the Michigan High School Athletic Association staff later this month in the newly-created position of Ticketing, Promotions & Marketing Coordinator.
Sampson earned awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters and The Associated Press while serving as the weekend sports anchor from 2005-2013 for WILX in Lansing, where he also coordinated the station’s weekly high school highlights show. He previously worked as the sports broadcasting producer for Michigan State University from 2000-02 and most recently has served as a communications specialist for the Michigan Department of Treasury, coordinating internal communications and assisting with media relations.
He has gained valuable ticketing and event promotions experience from his role with Lansing United. Sampson created the franchise in 2013 and serves as its president and chief executive officer. In those roles, Sampson is in charge of all game day operations, hiring of the head coach and general manager, and developing and executing strategies for ticket sales and team promotion. Lansing United is a member of the National Premier Soccer League, which has more than 80 teams nationwide. The United has drawn on average just more than 1,000 fans per game during its three-season history, ranking third in the NPSL’s seven-team Great Lakes Conference West behind only franchises from much larger markets in Detroit and Grand Rapids.
In his role with the MHSAA, Sampson will take the lead in all ticketing operations and efforts to promote attendance at MHSAA events. The majority of revenue collected by the association for use in its operating budget is collected from ticket sales at postseason events it sponsors.
“The MHSAA is best-known for its tournaments, and this is the first time we have had someone on staff focused primarily on promotion of our events,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “Jeremy Sampson brings experience and ideas, and additionally he adds depth to our staff in a number of other important communications functions.”
Sampson, a native of Vermontville and graduate of Bath High School, also is a 1996 graduate of Michigan State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He will begin his duties at the MHSAA on July 25.