Trainual
Business documentation and employee onboarding software provider Trainual has signed a two-year sponsorship deal with the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, making Trainual their official onboarding partner, a new marketing category for the teams.
As part of the deal, Trainual will receive courtside signage and augmented reality logo projections, transmitted via broadcast, during locally televised Suns games. The Suns and Mercury will also use Trainual’s platform, initially for new employee orientation and compliance training.
Financial terms of the agreement, which was negotiated in-house by both parties, were not disclosed.
Founded in 2018 and based in Tempe, Arizona, Trainual’s software-as-a-service platform is used by almost 10,000 companies. Trainual co-founder and CMO/CRO Jonathan Ronzio, whose brother Chris is co-founder and CEO, said sports is an emerging sector for the company, with Ironman another notable client.
“The businesses that need training the most are, first of all, high-touch service businesses. Sports is all about customer experience, and so training is crucial,” Chris Ronzio said. “And then, because sports is so high-profile and draws a lot of young talent, it’s a place that a lot of people start, but the turnover tends to be higher in sports organizations than in other industries.”
In celebration of the partnership, Suns/Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein and EVP & CRO Dan Costello will participate in a fireside discussion with Chris Ronzio as part of Trainual’s two-day Playbook conference later today. Trainual also hosted a VIP party from Mat Ishbia’s Player 15 headquarters on Tuesday and will have a Wednesday afterparty at the Mercury’s training facility.
In addition to onboarding use-cases, Costello said he eventually sees potential to utilize Trainual’s platform for documenting and sharing best practices related to large-scale events like All-Star weekend (which Phoenix hosted for the WNBA in 2024 and will host for the NBA in 2027).
“We’re starting with onboarding. That’s the entry point to our organization,” Costello said. “But we fully expect the software to have tentacles that go into these areas in which we are focused on consistency. And there are various parts of our organization that touch these events that we want things done in a certain way.”
First appeared on www.sportsbusinessjournal.com