# Bilt bets AI and sports fandom drive local spending

> The rewards platform is expanding beyond rent to connect fans, teams, and local businesses through personalized offers and AI.
- Title: Bilt bets AI and sports fandom drive local spending · Fortune
- Summary: The rewards platform is expanding beyond rent to connect fans, teams, and local businesses through personalized offers and AI.
- Keywords: bilt, ankur jain, sports rewards, local commerce, phoenix mercury, phoenix suns, houston rockets, houston texans, sacramento kings, chicago bears, constellation brands, Fortune
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/11/10/bilt-ceo-ankur-jain-ai-sports-local-spending
- Author: Joshua Hong
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: bilt, ankur jain, sports rewards, local commerce, ai, phoenix mercury, phoenix suns, houston rockets, houston texans, sacramento kings, chicago bears, constellation brands
## Bilt expands beyond rent rewards
The online rewards platform is moving past its origins as a rent-rewards service to become an operating system for local commerce connecting teams and fans.
## Seven teams already on board
Bilt has partnered with the Phoenix Mercury, Phoenix Suns, Houston Comets, Houston Rockets, Houston Texans, Sacramento Kings, and Chicago Bears to test the system.
## Game day extends to the neighborhood
Teams can offer fans restaurant reservations before games, transportation to stadiums, watch parties at nearby businesses, exclusive discounts and other benefits.

> We think of it as expanding game day into the neighborhood.
## Sponsors fund free beers for wins
Constellation Brands, maker of Corona, funds complimentary beer at local bars when teams win. The sponsor pays through Bilt without accessing customers' private information.
## Sports spending is massive and growing
The global sports market generated an estimated four hundred sixty three billion dollars in revenue in two thousand twenty four and is projected to reach six hundred ten billion by two thousand twenty eight.
## AI helps small businesses compete
Bilt's AI agents have completed more than two million real-world actions across more than twenty nine thousand businesses, with ninety one percent completed without human intervention in the past thirty days.
## Small businesses unlock local commerce
Bilt's system is designed to unlock a six point six trillion dollar opportunity in local commerce. AI helps small businesses recognize returning customers, identify previous orders, and provide special offers.

> The biggest beneficiaries of it will be small businesses who can now use AI to help them run their fragmented business.
## Key takeaway

Bilt is expanding its rewards platform to connect sports fans with local restaurants and businesses through AI-powered loyalty programs and personalized offers.