FanDuel

FanDuel is a web-based fantasy sports premium game and the largest company [1] in the relatively new Daily Fantasy Sports concept. The model consists of traditional season-long fantasy sports leagues being compressed into a daily, and occasionally weekly, game.[2]

The company currently hosts an average of over 600,000 lineup entries per week into their daily games. During 2014, FanDuel plans to pay out over $400 million in prizes[3] - up from $150 million in 2013,[4] $50 million in 2012, and $10 million in 2011.[5]

Background

After taking in $1.2 million in venture capital funding from Pentech Ventures and Scottish Enterprise on January 14, 2009, Hubdub did an internal review and decided to shift focus from its web-based prediction market game to a web-based daily fantasy sports premium game.[6] On July 21, 2009, Hubdub launched FanDuel[7] while the Hubdub website was officially shut down on April 30, 2010.[8] FanDuel received $4 million venture capital funding from existing investors and Piton Capital in September 2011.[9]

On January 30, 2013, FanDuel announced that it had closed an $11 million Series C funding round.[10] The round included new investor Comcast Ventures (the venture capital affiliate of Comcast Corporation), along with previous investors Piton Capital, Pentech Ventures, Bullpen Capital and serial investor Richard Koch.

On February 12, 2014, FanDuel announced that it was restricting real money play for players from Washington state due to the uncertain legality surrounding the state. "We did a full review of all 50 states and Washington was the only one that we identified as problematic." says CEO Nigel Eccles.[11] FanDuel already restricts play for players from Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana and Montana.

As of May 2014, the company employs a total 80 people,[12] with the staff being split evenly between the Edinburgh and New York City offices.

In September 2014, the company announced $70 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Shamrock Capital Advisors with participation from NBC Sports Ventures and KKR. Previous investors Bullpen Capital, Pentech Ventures and Comcast Ventures also participated. [13]

On November 12, 2014, FanDuel announced a strategic partnership agreement with the National Basketball Association(NBA). As part of the deal the NBA gained an equity stake in FanDuel and will be promoting FanDuel as the “Official One-Day Fantasy Basketball Game” [14]

Live Events

In 2010, FanDuel held their first "FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship. (FFFC)" The event consisted of 10 users who won entry into the event by winning a qualifying league throughout NFL season. First place was awarded $25,000 and the total prize pool was $40,000. [15]

FanDuel subsequently made this an annual event with the largest one-day payout granted throughout the year.

In 2011, the FFFC hosted 12 qualifiers with first place winning $75,000. [16]

2012's FFFC doubled in size to host 24 qualifiers. First place was awarded $150,000 and $350,000 was paid out to all 24 participants that day.[17]

In 2013, FanDuel's FFFC hosted 50 qualifiers and marked the first time the company awarded a million dollars to a user at a live event. In addition to the million dollar first place prize, the winner also flew home in a private jet.[18]

In 2014 was the largest FFFC to date, with 100 qualifiers. Due to the size of the event, it was moved to the Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino. First place was awarded $2 million and flew home in a private jet. Second place was awarded $1 million and 3rd place won $500,000. A total of $7 million was awarded that day to the participants.[19]

FanDuel also hosts the Daily Fantasy Baseball Championship every year, and the FanDuel Fantasy Basketball Championship, as well as various live events at the Playboy Mansion during football, baseball and basketball season.

Awards and Recognition

FanDuel has won numerous awards for its spin on the traditional fantasy sports model, some of which include:

2014

2013

2012

2010

References

  1. ↑ cite news| url=http://online.wsj.com/articles/a-fantasy-sports-wizards-winning-formula-wsj-money-june-2014-1401893587 | work=Wall Street Journal | first=Brad | last=Reagan title=A Fantasy Sports Wizard's Winning Formula
  2. ↑ DiFino, Nando. "Instant Gratification in Daily Fantasy Sports Over Traditional Leagues". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  3. ↑ "FanDuel About Page". FanDuel About Page.
  4. ↑ Wire, Business. "Daily Fantasy Sports Company FanDuel Awards First One Million Dollar Grand Prize in One-Day Fantasy Football Championship". Yahoo.
  5. ↑ Heitner, Darren. Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2013/01/30/fantasy-sports-service-fanduel-secures-11-million-investment-includes-money-from-comcast-ventures/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ King, Bill. "FanDuel delivers daily dose of fantasy. games". SportsBusiness Journal. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  7. ↑ Butcher, Mike. "FanDuel turns fantasy sports betting into a social game". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  8. ↑ Butcher, Mike. "HubDub closes news site to focus on fantasy sports spinoff FanDuel". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  9. ↑ Butcher, Mike. "Daily fantasy sports FanDuel closes $4 million series B investment". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  10. ↑ Heitner, Darren. Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2013/01/30/fantasy-sports-service-fanduel-secures-11-million-investment-includes-money-from-comcast-ventures/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ http://dfsreport.com/fanduel-restricts-washington-state-players/
  12. ↑ https://www.fanduel.com/about
  13. ↑ Chernova, Yuliya. "2 September 2014". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  14. ↑ http://dfsreport.com/1864/nba-partners-fanduel/
  15. ↑ https://rotogrinders.com/pages/2010-fffc-final-standings-winning-lineup-105266
  16. ↑ https://www.fanduel.com/insider/2012/01/17/a-look-back-at-the-2011-fanduel-fantasy-football-championship-and-looking-ahead-to-2012/
  17. ↑ https://rotogrinders.com/threads/congrats-to-csuram88-8211-2012-fffc-champion-100268?page=1
  18. ↑ https://www.fanduel.com/insider/2013/12/10/the-fffc-2013-a-3-million-fantasy-football-tournament-that-changed-fantasy-sports-forever/
  19. ↑ https://www.fanduel.com/insider/2014/12/16/2014-fffc-spotlight-a-quick-look-at-champion-scott-escot4-hanson/
  20. ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-alley-100-2014-2014-8
  21. ↑ http://www.fsta.org/?AwardWinners
  22. ↑ http://www.fsta.org/?AwardWinners
  23. ↑ http://www.theeuropas.com/p/peoples-choice/507
  24. ↑ http://www.fanduel.com/insider/2012/12/17/fanduel-wins-the-mashable-2012-sports-innovation-index-award/
  25. ↑ http://mashable.com/2012/12/11/innovation-index-winners/
  26. ↑ http://www.scotlandis.com/news/stories/celebrating-the-stars-of-the-scottish-technology-industry
  27. ↑ http://www.scotlandis.com/news/stories/celebrating-the-stars-of-the-scottish-technology-industry
  28. ↑ http://www.pehub.com/183641/fanduel-closes-series-c/
  29. ↑ http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/corporate-sme/digital-business-awards-to-show-how-technology-can-aid-success-1.1048379
  30. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/20/the-europas-european-startup-awards-2010-the-winners-and-finalists/

External links