WEST CHESTER TWP. — A local couple never expected pick-up basketball games to give birth to a budding business — especially since their future business partner is a former pro football player.

Two years ago, Carrie and Jim Gavigan, of West Chester, began putting an idea they had for a new business on paper. As it turns out, big ideas needed big paper.

When the Gavigans decided to redecorate their basement, their desires turned to a wall-sized, sports-themed poster. But they couldn’t find a business that offered such an item.

Jim Gavigan, whose day job is in sales for a large-format graphics business in Hamilton County, thought he could fill a need the Gavigans say has grown popular recently — with the success of the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Bengals football teams.

The decided name? FanBan, a company that turns photos of sports stadiums and mascots into six-foot hangable wall graphics.

Around that same time, Jim Gavigan met David Pollack — the former Bengal linebacker who suffered a career-ending injury in 2007 after just 14 pro games — while playing basketball in Mason. Their friendship grew.

“We started telling him about this idea that we’d been working on,” said FanBan President Carrie Gavigan. “We showed David a couple of prototypes and his response was, ‘Wow! We have to do this!’”

Pollack and the Gavigans are 50-50 partners in FanBan, which has grown from offering just a few wall-sized pictures — the first was Pollack’s Alma matter, the University of Georgia — to featuring more than 20 NCAA teams.

The graphics mount on removable brackets and are printed on smooth vinyl that can be rolled up and easily transported.

As they acquire additional official NCAA licenses, FanBan will grow, Carrie Gavigan said. They’re also interested in expanding to the NFL.

For more information on FanBan, visit www.bringthegamehome.com.