It was a bet that everyone wanted to win.

Dave Bullock and three engineering buddies were knocking back a few beers while they watched a football game on television. As always, there was plenty of debate around the on-field decisions.

“When we stepped back, we noticed that what people were talking about wasn’t the final score,” says Bullock. “It was game-within-the-game stuff – is Adam Vinateri going to make that field goal, or should they go for it on fourth down?” says Bullock.

“There were all these little nano-strategy decisions being debated and made on a constant basis,” he says. “And, from where we sat, the broadcasters and advertisers weren’t doing anything to jack it up.”

That got the engineers thinking, why don’t big broadcasters and fantasy sites let us call our shots when we tune-in or log on? Why does the experience have to end at kickoff? And how much would an advertiser invest to know what all the people watching that game really think about what they were seeing, on a moment-to-moment basis?

“That sent us off on a two-year path [of] asking people how they interacted with their television and how fans want to apply their [sports] IQ to the game,” Bullock says.

Game on

Click to enlarge

What they found was enough to get Bullock and his co-founders – Robert Riopelle, Jean-Pierre Bhavnani and Jean Paul Dupuis – to bootstrap LiveHive Systems onto the interactive media playing field. Founded in December, 2005, LiveHive’s software gives TV broadcasters, fantasy sports sites, and web portals an immersive interactive entertainment experience that beckons both users and advertisers.

LiveHive’s MVP product is NanoGaming. Fans are taken right down to the sideline, dugout, or pit row where they can call the virtual shots.

“Should they go for it on fourth down? Is it time for a tire change?” says Bullock. “We try and engage the user at the point where they are most intrigued.”

An advertiser’s dream

The key to victory for LiveHive is to help advertisers connect with their top prospects: youngish, sports-oriented, and Internet-savvy audiences.

Hailing from between cyberspace and Couchtown and weighing in at nearly 50 per cent of all TV sports viewers – ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for, the two-screener.

“Historically, it’s an editorial flow of information that fantasy gamers experience,” says Bullock. “We introduced feedback to the game to see what kind of experience we could ignite.”

Put me in coach

Anyone with a television and an internet connection can get in the game by logging on to a web site like “SpeedofSport.com”:http://speedofsport.com/, LiveHive’s demo site.

“The first thing you’ll notice is that it looks like a video game,” says Bullock.

“Demographics show that younger consumers are watching less TV, and immersing themselves in interactive experiences, such as video games” he says. “So we’ve tried to get rid of that one-way flow of information feel. It’s something that really interests advertisers.”

Click to enlarge

LiveHive community members are presented with opportunities to compete in trivia contests, wager fantasy points on in-game debates, and participate in real-time polling or interactive chat.

While the user is immersed in this environment, they interact with advertisers’ brands and sponsored content.

“We’re trying to capture the fan at the peak of their interest. It’s an opportunity that has been historically ignored,” says Bullock ” What we’ve really done is build out a lot of [intellectual property] and technology to automate the creation of that interactive experience.”

A killer line-up of products and services

LiveHive has four primary product offerings and an array of enabling services. The company collects services money by customizing its platform for broadcasters and advertisers looking to score big on the largely untapped social networking aspects of interactive media.

“Anywhere from 30 to 50 per cent of people who watch a game on television, go online for some reason during the game,” says Bullock.

LiveHive also helps their customers leverage the power of interactive media by collecting real-time data – pure gold to marketers scouting for sweet spots.

“The idea is to stitch the advertiser right into the game experience,” says Bullock. “We measure very closely how many people are exposed to that brand and how they interact with it.”

The platform is available on a hosted basis and is customizable from the user interface, through customer support, and in to back-end business rules. “Who owns what IP varies from client to client,” according to Bullock.

Wireless is definitely in the playbook. “It’s certainly at the heart of where we’ll go in the future,” he says.

Tackling the big boys

LiveHive has already tackled a massive project for reality television’s Big Brother and is in the heat of a 10-race package deal with Turner Interactive to put NASCAR fans in the pits.

“People don’t realize how much cool technology there is in NASCAR,” says Bullock. “They’re giving old fans more and letting new ones hop-on for the ride. It’s good business.”

It remains to be seen whether LiveHive will unleash their powerhouse platform on another arena where sports meets business: online sportsbooks.

As readily available technology sits, “for-money” fantasy sports leagues restrict players to a “before kickoff” gaming experience. And traditional online sportsbooks have proposition-style betting, but none of which penetrates to the immediate user experience in real time, so there is no opportunity to predict that decision to go-for-it on fourth and one.

“We don’t use the word wagering,” says Bullock. “We see the immediate future of this technology with helping the Turners and ESPNs of the world get more game to their user,” says Bullock. “Though it’s hard to predict.”

Bullock thinks there is still room left to play in the fantasy sports ballpark—and beyond.

“There are [many] things we can do, [LiveHive] can be used to reach sitcom fans, soap opera fans . . . I think we’re going to see a whole new genre of interactive entertainment.”

Assuming Bullock and company have the game to manage the LiveHive franchise into the future, NanoGaming should be at the top of major broadcaster’s key acquisitions list for many seasons to come.