Blinder started several years ago as a simple app to connect athletes with the media over the phone, and over the last 12 months has begun transforming into a full-service video calling platform. Founded in Auckland, New Zealand, by Caley Wilson and Ross McConnell, Blinder made a name for itself among rugby and football teams before expanding outside NZ and Australia. It now has clients in Europe and the U.S., where it works with the USWNT and several D-I colleges. The company’s service allows teams to schedule audio or video calls between athletes and media without any private information being exchanged on either side. Both parties simply receive a call at the pre-determined time and proceed from there. Only one party needs a Blinder account; they schedule the call and the other party simply gets a message to join. They can do so on a browser or mobile device -- there is no need to install an app or any software.
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During stay-at-home orders, sports properties like horse racing channels Sky Racing and TAB Trackside have been turning to Blinder for their commentators to connect remotely live over the air. Once things start getting back to normal, McConnell is hopeful Blinder will be able to grow its presence in the U.S. “Building awareness of the solution that we now provide that's really relevant to content producers everywhere around the world,” he said, “and supporting them to be able to make great looking, lower cost, agile video content that they can easily share with their audiences.” Blinder accounts typically start at $495 a month for the first three users and scales up on a per-user basic.
