1. Agreement to terms
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and Black&Tan Labs, LLC(“Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), which operates the Areafans platform, website, and mobile application (collectively, “Areafans” or the “Service”). By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms, our Privacy Policy, and, for the mobile application, our End User License Agreement. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
2. Eligibility and age
You must be at least 21 years old to create an account or use the Service. The Service references venues that serve alcohol and is not directed to children. When you sign up, you confirm that you are 21 or older; we do not collect your date of birth. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 21. By using the Service you represent that you meet this requirement and that the registration information you provide is accurate.
3. Accounts
You are responsible for the accuracy of your registration information, for safeguarding your credentials, and for all activity under your account. Maintain one account per person. Notify us at portal@areafans.com of any unauthorized use. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.
4. The Service
Areafans helps fans find the bars and venues that support their teams, mark and verify team–venue affinity through fan actions (votes, nominations, and game-time check-ins), track presence and status, and connect with other fans. Features, including any game or league features, may change, launch, or be withdrawn over time. We do not guarantee that any team has a verified venue in any location.
5. Fan actions, check-ins, and verified status
Team–venue affinity on Areafans is fan-driven. Votes, nominations, and check-ins are weighted according to our evidence model, and “verified” or equivalent status is assigned by us on our servers based on that evidence. We may adjust, recompute, or remove status at any time to protect the integrity of the Service. A location badge or “Verified by Areafans” designation is our own descriptive assessment of fan activity and is not a statement of sponsorship, endorsement, or affiliation by any team, league, or school (see §10).
6. User content
The Service allows limited user-generated content, such as display names, venue nominations, and votes (“User Content”). You retain ownership of your User Content, and you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, display, and use it to operate, improve, and promote the Service. You represent that you have the rights to your User Content and that it does not violate these Terms or any law.
7. Objectionable content and acceptable use — zero tolerance
There is no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive behavior on the Service. You agree not to submit User Content or engage in conduct that is unlawful, hateful, harassing, threatening, defamatory, obscene, sexually explicit, that impersonates others, that infringes intellectual property, that is fraudulent or spam, or that harasses or abuses any person. Rivalry and good-faith competition between fan communities are welcome; hostility, slurs, and harassment are not.
We may remove any User Content and suspend or permanently remove any user that violates this section, at our discretion. You can report objectionable content or abusive users at portal@areafans.com or through the in-app reporting tools, and you can block other users in the app. We aim to review reports and remove violating content or users within 24 hours.
8. Business and owner accounts; billing
Venue owners and operators may claim a venue and subscribe to paid plans. Paid subscriptions are billed through our payment processor (Stripe) on the terms presented at signup. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled in accordance with the plan terms. Owners may state factual venue amenities; owners do not control fan-driven affinity or verified status. We make no guarantee of increased patronage, revenue, ranking, or any specific result. Fees are non-refundable except as expressly stated in the applicable plan or required by law.
9. Prohibited conduct
You agree not to: (a) misuse or interfere with the Service or its security; (b) access the Service by automated means except as we permit; (c) scrape, harvest, or resell data from the Service; (d) submit false location or check-in data or otherwise manipulate the evidence model; (e) reverse engineer the Service except as permitted by law; or (f) use the Service to violate any law or the rights of others.
10. Alcohol; venues; personal responsibility
Areafans does not sell, serve, or deliver alcohol. Venues listed on the Service are independent third parties responsible for their own premises, conduct, age verification, and legal compliance. We do not control and are not responsible for venues or their offerings. Please drink responsibly and comply with all applicable laws.
11. Team names and third-party trademarks
Team, league, school, and other names used on the Service are the trademarks of their respective owners and are used descriptively to identify the teams that fans support and the venues where fans gather. Areafans is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed byany team, league, school, or other trademark owner. Any “[Team] Bar in [City] · Verified by Areafans” designation is our own descriptive claim based on fan activity.
12. Intellectual property
The Service, including its software, design, brand, and content (excluding User Content and third-party marks), is owned by us or our licensors and protected by law. We grant you a limited, personal, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service in accordance with these Terms.
13. Third-party services
The Service integrates third-party services (including Stripe, and mapping, schedule-data, and analytics providers). Your use of those services may be subject to their own terms and privacy practices.
14. Disclaimers; limitation of liability
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY VENUE, LISTING, COUNT, OR STATUS IS ACCURATE OR CURRENT.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE COMPANY AND ITS OFFICERS, MEMBERS, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS OR DATA, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).
15. Governing law; dispute resolution
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, and you and the Company waive the right to a jury trial and to participate in a class or representative action, except where prohibited by law. You may opt out of arbitration within 30 days of first accepting these Terms by writing to portal@areafans.com or to our mailing address in §19.
16. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold the Company harmless from claims and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your User Content, your use of the Service, or your violation of these Terms or any law or third-party right.
17. Termination
You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access at our discretion, including for violation of these Terms. Sections that by their nature should survive termination will survive.
18. Changes; Apple and Google
We may update these Terms. We will post the updated Terms with a new effective date and, for material changes, provide reasonable notice. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance. If you use the mobile application, you also agree to the End User License Agreement, which includes terms required by Apple and Google. These Terms are between you and the Company only, not with Apple or Google.
19. Contact
Black&Tan Labs, LLC
643 N. York St., Unit 2095, Elmhurst, IL 60126
portal@areafans.com