That’s right, AlphaDraft is fantasy eSports, I didn’t even know fantasy eSports was a thing, did you? Makes sense now that I think about it, you have teams, players, crazy drama all things you need to make a great fantasy draft game. FanDuel seems to think the same thing because just like that, AlphaDraft has been bought or acqui-hired as the Press Release mentions. This got me thinking, what else would make a great fantasy sport platform, foosball, no, oooh beer pong, yeah! You could go crazy with beer pong, start a fraternity, recruit the best players, jack up dues to buy better amenities to attract better players, etc. No, to small, you need something big, bold, epic, something magical, I know, we need to build fantasy Quidditch!
Ok, ok, enough of my babbling back to AlphaDraft, AlphaDraft has some crazy fantasy eSports under it’s umbrella, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and SMITE. Now the really interesting thing here is Turner Broadcast just announced that they are going to be airing two 10-week seasons of their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league a year on TBS starting in 2016. If that turns into a big thing year after year, which it should, that should only boost the potential for the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive section on AlphaDraft to grow big time. When you add that in with the drama of DOTA 2 that happened during The International 5 this past year, the ridiculous crazy fan-base of League of Legends and some SMITE, I’ve never delved into their fan-base but I’m sure it’s just as crazy, you see that AlphaDraft is a solid fantasy eSports platform.
Source Link: http://www.fanduel.com | https://alphadraft.com
PRESS RELEASE
Strategic alliance marks FanDuel’s entry into the rapidly growing fantasy eSports market
New York, NY, September 24, 2015 — FanDuel Inc. (www.fanduel.com), the largest one-day fantasy sports operator, today announced it has acquired leading fantasy eSports platform, AlphaDraft. Marking its entry into the fantasy eSports market, FanDuel will leverage the partnership to enhance and expand core product offerings in order to further reach new sports fans while maximizing engagement.
With the best talent in the sports tech industry, FanDuel’s acqui-hire of AlphaDraft, the premier daily fantasy sports platform that seamlessly blends eSports, live streaming and fantasy sports contests, will bring the company’s employee base in-house to help create a one of its kind daily fantasy product specifically for eSports. This partnership marks the first time FanDuel will have a product for the eSports community.
“With over 200 million people globally watching eSports, AlphaDraft gives those fans a way to engage with this burgeoning entertainment product that creates an enormous opportunity for us,” said Nigel Eccles, CEO and Co-founder, FanDuel. “This is sports for a new demographic, with very little crossover with what are considered traditional sports fans, and this acquisition gives us the ability to leverage the expertise of AlphaDraft’s team, while helping their efforts in customer acquisition and building awareness of this new industry. It’s a win-win.”
The acquisition of AlphaDraft continues FanDuel’s long-term strategy of acquiring top talent around the fantasy sports industry as it builds one of the finest fantasy products for players – all designed to enhance the sports experience. This comes on the heels of the acquisition of numberFire, the premier next generation sports analytics platform, and Kotikan, a leading mobile app developer.
“It is clear that FanDuel is committed to the fan community,” said Todd Peterson, CEO of AlphaDraft. “This pairing creates an incredible opportunity to drive the fantasy industry forward and create compelling products that will enhance all fan engagement.”
Investors in AlphaDraft to date include former NBA Commissioner David Stern, Metamorphic Ventures, WME, Upfront Ventures, Melo7 Tech Partners, IDG Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Freestyle Capital, KEC, Amplify.LA, and others. eSports generated $612m in revenue last year and 13% of all live stream viewers are watching eSports. By 2017, the number of eSports fans is projected to come close to that of American football.
