Dallas, Jan. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sportsmo - the first college sports app to combine live gameplay, social competition, and charitable giving - is expanding its gamified giving platform beyond football to include women's and men's college basketball teams, enabling fans to support their favorite schools and teams through real-time, in-game donations.  

The expansion, which supports 363 women’s and 365 men’s college basketball teams nationwide, aligns with the heart of the college basketball season and marks the first time Sportsmo has enabled gamified giving for women’s sports. Additional features will roll out throughout January.

Women’s and men’s basketball rank among the most-watched college sports after football, with women’s basketball experiencing historic growth. According to ESPN, women’s basketball experienced a 37 percent year-over-year viewership increase during the 2023–24 regular season, and for the first time, the women's NCAA championship game outdrew the men’s final in total viewers, according to Nielsen.

The move comes as colleges seek innovative fundraising approaches that support student-athletes and athletic programs amid ongoing revenue-sharing, NIL, and Title IX pressures. By expanding to women’s and men’s college basketball, Sportsmo helps convert growing fan interest into support for women’s programs and other traditionally non-revenue sports across college athletics. 

“Everyone talks about growing women’s sports, and women’s college basketball is leading the way,” said Sportsmo founder Chaitan Fahnestock. “But growth doesn’t happen on hype alone. It happens when fandom turns into something bigger. Sportsmo lets fans directly support the teams they believe in as the game unfolds.”

Sportsmo’s in-app college basketball experience includes a dynamic court graphic showing shot location and successful plays, while live play-by-play updates track moments such as steals, rebounds, and fouls. As with college football on Sportsmo, fan donations and group interactions appear alongside live game action, creating a second-screen experience that blends fandom with philanthropy.

In addition to adding basketball, Sportsmo is rolling out new social updates throughout January, timed with major moments on the college sports calendar, including College Football Playoffs and the run-up to March Madness.  

Coming mid-January, a new Head-to-Head Challenge feature will enable peer-to-peer fundraising between fans of opposing teams. Rather than money changing hands between fans, the loser of a challenge donates the agreed amount directly to the winner’s school foundation through the app, keeping the focus on philanthropy rather than wagering. Donations are tax-deductible, with receipts available instantly in-app.

Additional platform updates enhance the app’s social experience. Sportsmo’s upgraded Private Groups feature allows “commissioners” to form invitation-based groups where friends can chat in-app while viewing live game stats, boosting or matching each other’s donations, and dropping emojis and GIFs. Digital confetti bombs appear when users make pledges, and new, bespoke in-app appreciation messages will roll out later in January.

Sportsmo expanded its searchable Public Groups to include football, women’s basketball, and men’s basketball for each Power Five conference school. These groups allow fans to join school- and team-based communities just as interest peaks around marquee events like the CFP semifinals and finals, as well as conference basketball play. 

Sportsmo founder Chaitan Fahnestock said the power of Sportsmo’s group-based giving model became clear during an Iowa State-Oklahoma State football game, when Oklahoma State alumni formed a group and boosted each other’s donations in real time.

“That moment showed us that fans don’t just want to watch games — they want their passion to matter,” Fahnestock said. “Sportsmo exists to give fans a meaningful way to get in the game and support the schools and student-athletes they love.”

Attachments

• Sportsmo helps fans power the play, from the palm of their hand
• Sportsmo has added gamified giving for women’s sports, starting with women's college basketball

Christine Rogers
Sportsmo
2143647049
christine.rogers@thesparkfarm.com