Test the market
Map the rugby audience, product gap and South African starting point before recommending promotion.
An idea became a proposition the industry could evaluate.
Up & Under began as an untested rugby idea. Pace Projects assisted Up & Under to examine the opportunity and shape a working product, a first community and a wider B2B proposition.
Player stat / carries
5.5Will the player finish over or under?
2 picksBuild slip →
Rugby prediction game
300+reported alpha players
Steyn Fourier / CEO, Up & Under
Founder testimonial
“Sean is passionate, insightful and easy to work with. His reliance on evidence gave me confidence to make important decisions.”
01 / The question
Is there a real market here, and what should the product become?
Up & Under started with a new way to engage rugby fans, but no proven position, go-to-market model or route to scale. The first job was not promotion. It was to learn whether the opportunity was real.
Pace Projects assisted Up & Under to examine the rugby market, the products fans already knew and the gaps between fantasy, prediction and betting experiences. South Africa emerged as a useful starting point because the audience already understood rugby and sports prediction.
The international fantasy, prediction and sportsbook products were compared to understand useful behavioural patterns.
The evidence suggested a clear direction: make player-stat choices quick to understand, easy to share and useful during the match. The market conditions were specific; the principles could be adapted.
02 / The process
Find the market before buying attention.
Pace Projects assisted Up & Under to narrow the audience, product, growth model and commercial opportunity before scale became the objective.
Study what worked
Compare international products to find useful patterns without copying the product or market assumptions.
Shape the product
Narrow the idea into quick, mobile-first player-stat choices with a simple proposition.
Build the route
Plan product, audience, creators, referrals, CRM and matchday activity as one measurable system.
ResearchStrategy
Rugby opportunityMarket gapRugby-first picks
Consumer
Play and communityOrganisation
Engage existing fansThe decisive expansion
The technology could serve fans and top-tier industry players.
Pace Projects assisted Up & Under to determine how the product might serve top-tier industry players.
That changed the question from ‘How many users can we acquire?’ to ‘How could an organisation use this product with its existing audience?’
This is a larger opportunity, not a finished result. The value now has to be proved through a working commercial partnership and measurable fan behaviour.
Consumer idea→Working product→B2B proposition→Partnership test
03 / What changed
From an untested idea to a proposition worth testing.
The evidence is early and directional. The important change is the distance travelled from the original baseline.
The live product supports the current user-experience description. The reported 300+ alpha figure, Pace Projects’ assistance, confidential industry conversations and B2B development come from Up & Under and Pace Projects project records. Conversations do not equal signed partnerships or proven scale.
04 / Built over time
Each answer changed the next decision.
Idea
A different way to engage rugby fans
Up & Under began without a proven position, go-to-market model or clear route to scale.
Research
A gap between familiar categories
The process identified room between fantasy games, tournament predictors and sportsbook products.
Product
The proposition became easier to use
The experience moved towards quick mobile decisions, live match interest and a low barrier to entry.
Now
The next test is commercial
The next decision is whether an industry conversation can become a working partnership with measurable value.
05 / What lasted
Research can change the business, not just its marketing.
The lesson is to learn why behaviour works, adapt the useful parts to the local market and let evidence shape the product, audience and model before buying reach. This case does not yet prove scale; it shows a better sequence for reaching the next decision.
Question firstAdapt, do not copyBuild for retentionTest the next claim
Pace Projects / Sports technology
What should your idea become before you spend money promoting it?
We start with the question, learn the market and choose the next step most likely to matter.
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