Game Day Rental Company Receives Deal on ABC’s Shark Tank

Rent Like a Champion CEO, Mike Doyle, and co-founder, Drew Mitchell, on ABC’s Shark Tank.

On October 30, Rent Like a Champion, a game day home rental company that is popular in Oxford, was featured on ABC’s hit show, Shark Tank- and got a deal!

Every week, different companies, usually small or new companies, appear before a group of entrepreneurs to present their products. The company asks for some type of deal from the “sharks” to help them get their business off of the ground in exchange for a stake of the company (at least, that is the usual scenario).

The Company

Rent Like a Champion team. Photo courtesy of Rent Like a Champion

Rent Like a Champion provides people an easy way to rent out their home, condos or apartments on game day weekends. The company was founded in 2006 when its founders, Drew Mitchell, Derrick Shenk and Jordan Curnes, listed a house on Craig’s List and Ebay for rent for an upcoming football game at Notre Dame. Within a short time, it was scooped up to be rented for the weekend, and a business was born.

The company currently has a thriving business in 20 college towns and seeks to grow their business into 20 more college towns for game day rentals and plans to expand beyond game day events, too. In 2014, the company earned $1.4 million.

“We want to reach more markets,”  Mike Doyle, company CEO, said. “We want to reach all college towns, PGA events, too, and others like that.”

According to Doyle, a persons budget determines what kind of rental that works best for them.

“We want it to be the case that no matter what your budget is, we have something that works for you,” Doyle said. “We have one bedrooms for around $400 or upscale homes for $2,000 for the weekend. We also suggest to our home owners what is a fair price for their location.”

In the Tank

Mike Doyle, Rent Like a Champions’s CEO, and company co-founder, Drew Mitchell, went on Shark Tank to ask one of the sharks for a $200,000 investment in exchange for 10 percent of their company.

“The value that they [the sharks] bring is so much greater from them than a random investor off the street,” Doyle said.

Three of the investor sharks offered the company a deal. First, consumer software leader and billionaire, Kevin O’leary, offered Doyle and Mitchell $200,000 investment and a 15 percent stake in the company. Stunned, Doyle and Mitchell were excited.

Within seconds of O’leary’s deal, Chris Sacca, digital investor and billionaire, gave Doyle and Mitchell the exact deal they came in for ($200,000 investment and 10 percent stake in the company).

Shortly, Mark Cuban, billionaire and owner of the Dallas Maverick’s, jumped in the tank. Before the segment ended, Sacca and Cuban went into a deal together to invest $200,000 and a 10 percent stake in Rent Like a Champion.

“We are incredibly fortunate to get exactly what we were asking for,” Doyle said. “Our business is right at the place for sports and technology. Mark has connections on sports and Chris has investments in digital technologies. We felt like we hit the jackpot.”

Rent Like a Champion in Oxford

Among the 20 college towns that Rent Like a Champion serves, Oxford was one of the first towns that Rent Like a Champion started in.

“This is our fourth season in Oxford. Ole Miss fans love what we’re doing,” Doyle said. “We want to thank them for signing up with us. We wouldn’t be where we are today.”

Doyle and his associates are quick to respond to emails and calls. Contact them for your game day rentals.

 Emily Newton is a staff writer for hottytoddy.com and the editor of Experience Oxford magazine. She is a recent graduate of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at Ole Miss. Emily can be reached at emily.newton@hottytoddy.com. 

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