From Fantasy to Reality: How Bracketology Transformed Their Digital Platform for 500,000+ Users

"Aloa is our one-stop shop for everything we could possibly need: design, development, ideation, and even digital marketing. The amount of burden they take off my shoulders is invaluable."

Jonah Fialkow

CEO

From Passion Project to Digital Powerhouse

Bracketology began when four women, frustrated by their partners' Fantasy Football obsession, created their own fantasy game for The Bachelor franchise. With pooled resources and help from developer friends, they launched a simple platform that quickly gained traction. By 2021, the platform had exploded to over 200,000 unique users in a single year, creating both opportunities and challenges for the growing business.

The founders faced a crucial turning point: how to scale their successful concept beyond The Bachelor franchise to other reality shows like Survivor and Big Brother while maintaining performance during peak usage periods. They needed a modernized, responsive design that would work across all devices and a completely new architecture that could handle hundreds of thousands of concurrent users.

Strategic Outsourcing: Building a Scalable Foundation

Aloa became the critical partner in Bracketology's transformation journey. When Bracketology approached Aloa in April 2021, they had a clear mission: build a brand new platform before the next Bachelor season. Recognizing the financial constraints faced by the growing company, Aloa created a custom financing plan that made the ambitious project possible.

Through their extensive Partner Network, Aloa's Outsourcing Strategist connected Bracketology with development team Onix, who brought specialized expertise in scalable platforms and modern design. What distinguished Aloa's approach was their comprehensive project management—ensuring effective communication, maintaining strict timeline adherence, and providing the flexibility to adapt as challenges arose.

Measured Success: Delivering Under Pressure

Starting development in September created a high-pressure timeline. Aloa maintained transparency about potential risks and challenges, setting realistic expectations while keeping the project moving forward. The commitment to weekly timeline reviews ensured the non-negotiable seasonal deadline would be met.

Bracketology successfully launched their redesigned platform for the 2022 Bachelor season with a completely refreshed user interface optimized for all devices, significantly improved server reliability, and enhanced functionality. While there were initial bugs as expected with any major launch, the Bracketology team was delighted with the outcome—they now had a modern, scalable platform positioned for expansion into new shows.

Aloa's strategic outsourcing approach delivered exactly what Bracketology needed: cost-efficiency, speed, and quality—traditionally an impossible combination in software development. Today, Bracketology stands ready to scale their current user base and expand into new reality TV show markets with confidence.