RotoHog
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| RotoHog | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 RotoHog.com homepage, taken March 4, 2008 |
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| URL | http://www.rotohog.com/ |
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Fantasy sport |
| Registration | Required to play |
| Owner | Sports Composite DE, Inc. |
| Launched | 2007 |
| Current status | Active |
RotoHog is a budget-based, high-roster-turnover style fantasy sports game with sports team management simulations for baseball, basketball and American football.
Contents |
[edit] Platform
Like most fantasy sports games, the core elements of RotoHog games involve building a team and setting a line-up to earning points. To this traditional core game, RotoHog adds a liquid market for players that all team managers use to trade players. Players can be traded at almost any time and player prices reflect up-to-the minute supply and demand. This trading system removes many of the problems with unfair trades or collusion between managers that can occur in traditional fantasy games.[1]
RotoHog also provides a social networking platform that allows users to compete in unlimited size leagues grouped by location, team allegiance, company affiliations, or local watering holes in addition to smaller traditional private leagues made up of a dozen or so friends.[2] This social networking platform allows diverse groups to create custom leagues for their members. For example, the non-profit group Hire-a-Hero used RotoHog as a way to help military veterans connect with each other and transition back to civilian life.[3] RotoHog have agreed to donate a portion of the advertisement revenue received from the Military Fantasy Football League (MFFL) to the Hire-a-Hero program. They have also decided to donate the $10 received for their premium statistical service, with which users can register to receive the latest news, injury reports and scouting reports from the site.[4]
RotoHog is also the provider of nba.com's NBA Stock Exchange game.[5]
[edit] Prizes
RotoHog has awarded various prizes include cash to the top teams in weekly, monthly and season long contests. The 2007 Baseball and Football champions won $100,000 each. [6][7]
The owner of the second place Football team won $25,000, and third place $10,000. The remaining top 100 finishers also earned cash prizes.[8]
[edit] Strategy
RotoHog-specific game strategies used by some players include the following:[9][10]
- Make money trading on fluctuations on player prices early in the season then use the extra cash then play the best players later in the season.
- Play hunches on undervalued players based on scouting and analysis of team match-ups.
- Rely on ability to make real time trades to make daily roster adjustments
[edit] Comparisons with other Fantasy Sports games
RotoHog differs from other fantasy sports games in several ways:
- Player trading floor prices continuously change based on the buying and selling behavior of team managers. Pricing in other games is either set by the game provider or is based directly on the on field performance of the players.
- Team managers can increase their initial budget by purchasing players who they think will appreciate in value and selling them for a profit. Traditional salary cap games do not allow managers to profit from transactions.
- Team managers have an unlimited number of transactions and can make roster changes up until just before games start. Traditional games only allow managers to make a few trades per season and often require managers to set their line-ups a week at a time.
RotoHog differs from fantasy sports stock simulations in that the goal of the game is to score the most fantasy points by fielding the best team of players. Stock simulation games focus on increasing your portfolio value by anticipating price movements of players.
[edit] Criticisms
As a hybrid between traditional fantasy sports games and fantasy sports stock simulations, there are many predictable ways for team managers to increase their budgets through day trading. These managers can then assemble teams with essentially no budget constraint. This gives managers with the time to play the market a financial edge over managers who do not.[citation needed]
[edit] Company, financing and sponsorship
| Sports Composite DE, Inc. | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private Venture Capital-backed |
| Founded | Delaware, U.S. (2006) |
| Founder | David Wu & Kent Smetters |
| Headquarters | Inglewood, CA, U.S. |
| Key people | Kelly Perdew, CEO |
| Industry | Internet |
| Products | RotoHog.com, NBA Stock Exchange |
| Website | www.rotohog.com |
Sports Composite DE, Inc., the company that operates the RotoHog website, was founded by entrepreneur David Wu and Wharton Business School Professor Kent Smetters in 2006 and is based in Inglewood, California. Kelly Perdew was brought on as CEO in May 2008.[11][12]
The company raised $6 million in its first venture round in August 2007. This funding was raised via DFJ Dragon and Mission Ventures, with additional investment coming from Allen & Co. and SCP Worldwide.[13][14] StubHub, an online marketplace, co-founder Jeff Fluhr also invested in the online firm.[15]
The company's board of directors includes Leo Spiegel of Mission Ventures and Andy Tang of DFJ DragonFund China. [16]
Sports Composite DE, Inc. earns revenues from advertising and optional statistical packages. RotoHog leagues and competitions have been sponsored by ex-American football player Marshall Faulk and hall of fame baseball players Fred Lynn, Wade Boggs, and Ozzie Smith.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Online News Article 1 retrieved 11th January 2008
- ^ Review site retrieved 11th January 2008
- ^ Online Sports Magazine Article 1 retrieved 20th January 2008
- ^ Online Sports Magazine Article 1
- ^ NBA posting with reference to RotoHog partnership retrieved 10th January 2008
- ^ Online Newspaper Article 2 retrieved 8th February 2008
- ^ Online Newspaper Article 3 retrieved 8th February 2008
- ^ Online News Article 4retrieved on 19th February 2008
- ^ Online Newspaper Article 2
- ^ Online Newspaper Article 3
- ^ Financial Website Company Profile retrieved 8th February 2008
- ^ Entrepreneur Magazine Article retrieved 21st April 2008
- ^ Online News Article 5 retrieved 10th January 2008
- ^ Business News Website article retrieved 11th January 2008
- ^ Online News Article 6 retrieved 10th January 2008
- ^ News article - Socal tech retrieved 4th March 2008
[edit] External links
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