Daily Fantasy Sports
GridRival Raises $3M in Seed Funding
GridRival, a sports betting startup dedicated exclusively to motorsports, has raised $3M in Seed funding.
The round was led by KB Partners, the Chicago-based sports-tech fund, with participation from Sharp Alpha Advisors, ESPT Ventures, and other sports betting investors and executives including Lloyd Danzig and Benjie Cherniak.
Over 500 million consumers around the globe tune into some form of auto racing every year. Together with motorsports, sports betting and fantasy sports have been experiencing explosive growth. Armed with 120,000 users and $3M in new capital, GridRival is poised to take advantage of this “trifecta” of perfect timing.
“As a lifelong motorsports fan that’s been watching the DFS and sports betting craze from the sidelines, I knew one thing was clear – if any brand was going to engage the racing audience in a meaningful way at significant scale, it must be done with a platform exclusive to motorsports. We plan to be the authentic, real-money gaming platform that race fans will actually resonate with,” Ross Fruin, CEO and Co-Founder of GridRival, said.
The motorsports app got its start as a “free-to-play” season-long fantasy sports platform and plans to use the new funding to launch its first real-money games in the US and UK in 2022 while simultaneously adding additional racing series to its apps.
“The number of global racing fans is huge but they are currently underserved by existing platforms that focus almost exclusively on traditional sports. We are thrilled to partner with the GridRival team as they build the first truly authentic fantasy sports and sports betting experience for this audience,” Steven Ahern of KB Partners said.
In an industry known for high user acquisition costs, the team at GridRival has found a formula for building a loyal audience. Their active players grew by 2000% YoY at the start of the 2021 season – with 60% of new users for 2021 stemming from viral growth. Their growth and engagement figures caught the eye of prominent sports betting thought leader and investor, Lloyd Danzig.
“Sports betting operators are currently amidst a customer acquisition gold rush in which the focus is increasingly being directed toward finding large, untapped audiences. GridRival has proven itself capable of targeting and engaging the Motorsports fan base at scale with an authentic, full-featured app,” Danzig said.
GridRival’s ambitions go beyond betting. “Our vision is to be ‘the home screen’ for the fans that use our platform. In addition to real money gaming, we want GridRival to be the hub that our users come to for motorsports-related content and community,” Fruin said.
Daily Fantasy Sports
SCCG Management Announces Strategic Partnership with DFS Platform Bettor
SCCG Management, a leading advisory firm in the global gaming industry, announced a strategic partnership with Bettor Together, the first cooperative fantasy sports platform. This collaboration aims to support Bettor Together’s growth and operations by leveraging SCCG’s extensive industry expertise and global gaming network.
Bettor Together transforms fantasy sports by shifting from solo play to a team-based experience. Players join forces with friends to tackle player prop contests, enhancing the excitement and competition. The platform includes innovative features like Odds Boosts, strategic player prop picks, and immersive contests that engage users with real-time leaderboard tracking and thrilling end-game scenarios.
Stephen Crystal, Founder and CEO of SCCG Management, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership: “We are excited to partner with Bettor Together to bring their innovative cooperative fantasy sports platform to a broader audience. Their unique approach to fantasy sports aligns perfectly with our mission to drive growth and maximize opportunities for our partners. We look forward to supporting their journey and helping them achieve new heights in the gaming industry.”
Mark Szandzik, Founder of Bettor Together, shared his excitement: “We are thrilled to kick off our partnership with SCCG. Their industry expertise and expansive network will help us uncover new opportunities and take our innovative platform to the next level. We are excited about the synergies our partnership with SCCG will create, introducing our cooperative fantasy platform to the gaming industry and showing that we are Better Together.”
SCCG will support Bettor Together by developing and executing comprehensive marketing strategies to enhance both B2C and B2B growth. This includes analyzing market trends to identify partnership opportunities, conducting operational reviews to optimize processes, and executing targeted marketing and advertising campaigns to raise awareness within the gaming industry.
Compliance Updates
PrizePicks Awarded Operating License in New Hampshire
PrizePicks, the leading daily fantasy sports operator in North America, announced that it has been granted a daily fantasy sports operating license by the state of New Hampshire.
“We are thrilled to be able to offer our skill-based fantasy offering to sports fans throughout the Granite State. We are grateful to the New Hampshire Lottery Commission for their thoughtful collaboration,” Adam Packer, Senior Vice President of Legal & Compliance at PrizePicks, said.
PrizePicks offers a variety of skill-based fantasy game types, including Arena, an innovative peer-to-peer game where players can compete for prizes against each other. Arena pits players into groups, matching their number of entries, selected entry fee, and experience level. Since launching in January, Arena is now live in nine jurisdictions and has surpassed two million lineups built by over 100,000 players.
New Hampshire becomes the 35th operational market for PrizePicks in the U.S. As the leading daily fantasy sports operator continues to launch in new markets, responsible gaming education remains a key focus.
Daily Fantasy Sports
Dabble to integrate OpticOdds’ API & Trading Screen to power US growth
OpticOdds, the premier feed provider for top operators, has struck a new partnership with Dabble as they continue to expand into the United States with its DFS Pick Em product offering. This collaboration will see the sportsbook and DFS operator integrate OpticOdds’ advanced odds API and trading solutions.
The agreement covers multiple sports and OpticOdds will provide Dabble with comprehensive player market odds data for its US product and additional market coverage for its Australian offering.
Dabble’s customers will now be able to enjoy more wagering opportunities, benefiting from real-time updates and alerts. The API and trading screen provide comprehensive odds updates from over 100 sportsbooks, covering best odds, outliers, player markets, reference lines, settlements, injuries, and more. An added benefit of the OddsScreen is the custom-weighted consensus lines, real-time outliers, arbitrage opportunities, and line movement alerts, and historical odds from one location.
OpticOdds continues to lead global odds coverage, catering to a wide range of sports and events including football, basketball, baseball, MMA, boxing, hockey, soccer, tennis, golf, motorsports, esports, wrestling, rugby, lacrosse, cricket, volleyball, and politics from over 125+ sportsbooks.
Ryan Weinstock, Chief Commercial Officer at OpticOdds, commented, “Our products are designed to boost margins and expand coverage for operators. We’re thrilled to see Dabble fully leveraging the power of our API and trading screen to enhance their offerings.”
Jon Robin, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Dabble, added, “Adding OpticOdds’ suite of real-time data tools for sports betting and fantasy into our offering will enable us to build on our growth momentum and provide an enhanced offering for our 700,000 active customers. Having the right tech and trusted partners in place enables us to focus on creating the best player experiences that have social interaction at the heart.”
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