Sprint Stores Turned PokéStop After Signing Exclusive Partnership With Niantic Pokémon Go; Niantic To Partner With Starbucks? [Video]
ByNow that the cold is descending across North America, players of Pokémon Go might have to risk their health if they want to continue playing the popular mobile game. It's a good thing that Niantic decided to make an exclusive partnership with Sprint so players have more locations for indoor PokéStops.
With the exclusive partnership of Niantic Pokémon Go and Sprint, the more than 10,500 retail locations of Sprint across the country will become PokéStops. This is an advantage to those players who had to travel far in order to capture Pokémon since Sprint stores and Sprint corporate stores, Sprint at RadioShack and Boost Mobile are all scattered. Sprint will also be offering free charging station to Pokémon trainers dropping by at their stores for a longer session.
The wireless provider has been having problem in driving drive people to their stores and the partnership is also a way of advertising their products. Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said that they are expecting a huge uptick in the traffic with players hoping to collect important items for their Pokémon, hoping that the players might get tempted to sign up a new account, CNET reported.
Niantic has been eager to bring back the Pokémon Go craze and so they are making good partnerships with other companies like McDonalds and Softbank outlets in Japan turning them into PokéStops and gyms. Now there is a rumor that Starbucks coffee shops are also to turn to PokéStops for Pokémon trainers starting Dec. 8.
The rumors started brewing after a Starbucks memo stating that the coffee shop will offer players a Pokémon themed Frappuccino had leaked. Details of the number of participating Starbucks outlets and locations wasn't mentioned though and neither Niantic nor Starbucks commented on the grilling rumors of their partnership. If this is true, coffee-lovers who are also fans of Pokémon and Pokémon Go will surely love the idea and might also revive the Pokémon Go craze.