Fantasy Sports

Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers Running Back and Fantasy Star Joins Yahoo Sports

Published

3 years ago

August 19, 2021

Yahoo Sports Debuts New Fan-First Fantasy Football Innovations for the Season

Today, Yahoo Sports, a leading destination for sports fans, announced a first of its kind season-long partnership with Los Angeles Chargers running back, fantasy star, and Gridiron Gaming Group founder Austin Ekeler. Ekeler will join Yahoo Sports as a fantasy football analyst, creating new and unique fantasy football programming for Yahoo Sports.

Ekeler will create and star in weekly fantasy show titled “Ekeler’s Edge.” The show will debut later this month and spotlight fantasy players that are prone to have a big week based on his personal experiences facing the opposing defenses in the league. Ekeler will also conduct interviews with other football stars and fantasy enthusiasts from all walks of life. Combining Yahoo’s award-winning fantasy platform, “Fantasy Football Live,” expert commentary from fantasy football analyst Liz Loza, and Ekeler’s insider perspective of league trends and cultivated fan base, the new programming will help fans stay ahead and informed during the football season.

Yahoo Sports and Ekeler will also host live conversations throughout the season to answer their fans’ most burning questions, offering unique perspectives for the fantasy community. The new programming will co-stream across Yahoo Sports as well as its associated social platforms including TikTok, and Ekeler’s channels, including his popular Twitch channel (Twitch.tv/AustinEkeler) to reach his avid fantasy fans.

In addition to the season-long partnership with Austin Ekeler, Yahoo Sports announced a series of new initiatives designed to innovate the fantasy football experience, offering fans new ways to get in on the action for this season, including:

First- Ever Yahoo Fantasy Football Championship: A first of its kind competition combining the digital and physical experience for fantasy fans to compete at the inaugural Yahoo Fantasy Football Championship at the MGM National Harbor Resort & Casino in Maryland
Yahoo Fantasy Plus: The premium subscription service from Yahoo Sports introduces the “Trade Hub”
Largest Daily Fantasy contests, now shark-free: The biggest DFS contests on Yahoo Sports are now shark-free, enhancing the experience for fantasy fans and offering more ways to get in on the action
Draft Together: The popular new feature from Yahoo Fantasy that enables fans to draft together though video chat, launches for fantasy football this season.
New Gaming Programming: Yahoo Sports will launch “Yahoo Sportsbook Live” on the award winning Fantasy Football Live, a new live gaming program designed to help football fans make real time bets during the crucial halftime window this season, which will debut across Yahoo Sportsbook, Yahoo Fantasy and Yahoo Sports social channels every Sunday at 11:30am PT

First-Ever Yahoo Fantasy Football Championship

For the first time ever, Yahoo Fantasy players will have the opportunity to face off in person as part of an exclusive free Daily Fantasy contest with $200K in cash prizes and the title of the Best Yahoo Fantasy Football Player on the line. The Yahoo Fantasy Football Championship will bring together sixty players from around the country at an exclusive weekend at MGM National Harbor Resort & Casino in Maryland on December 11-12, during week 14 of the NFL season.

Fantasy players will have the opportunity to qualify for the championship through various free and paid contests throughout the first 10 weeks of the season. Sixty winners and their guests will then attend a surprise-filled VIP weekend in Maryland, complete with accommodations at MGM National Harbor Resort & Casino, roundtrip airfare for two, $500 in resort credits, and a series of special events. The first-place winner of the contest will be crowned with a $100k prize, and all qualifiers will walk away with a cash prize. For more information visit sports.yahoo.com/dailyfantasy/yffc.

Yahoo Fantasy Plus subscription offers new features for football season

Continuing to expand its offerings for fans, Yahoo Fantasy Plus, the Yahoo premium subscription service that provides a series of exclusive tools for fantasy players including access to premium research tools, trade insights and easier lineup management, will introduce the new feature “Trade Hub,” making proposing and completing trades easier and more fun to debut for football. Yahoo Fantasy Plus, which offers an edge on the competition with draft, trade and research tools and much more, is now available on mobile and desktop for the football season. Yahoo Fantasy players can sign up for a free 7 day trial here.

Largest Daily Fantasy contests, now “Shark-free”

Yahoo Sports will introduce “Shark-Free*” Daily Fantasy contests, providing an opportunity for more players to win the biggest cash prizes. Players will have the opportunity to compete in a wide range of Daily Fantasy football contests, including single-game contests and multi-entry contests on a level playing field, beginning with the Week 1 NFL Baller contest with a $1 million prize pool.

Yahoo Fantasy will also be giving $10 in contest entry credit to every Yahoo user, whether they are an experienced Veteran or if they’re new to the platform. And new depositors will receive an additional $25 in contest entry credit after making their first deposit.

Draft Together by Yahoo Fantasy, Available Now for Football

Draft Together, a popular new feature on Yahoo Fantasy that enables fans to draft together while on video chat, rolls out for Fantasy Football this season. Private leagues with up to 12 teams can use Draft Together on desktop and the Yahoo Fantasy mobile app. Draft rooms open 30 minutes before each draft starts, so users can join early to catch up with their league and test out the video chat before starting to make picks. The interactive experience gives users more flexibility for draft parties — which are inarguably one of the most enjoyable parts of fantasy. Learn more about how Draft Together works here.

Yahoo Sports offers sports fans the ultimate and most dynamic fantasy experience with free and paid Daily Fantasy contests as well as Best Ball leagues and season-long prize leagues. Sports fans can sign up for Yahoo Fantasy here to create or join a fantasy league, play Best Ball or Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), stay up to date on fantasy news, and more. Additionally, the Yahoo Sports partnership with BetMGM allows fans to view all sports betting odds and content on Yahoo Sportsbook providing fans an unrivaled gaming experience.

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*lPlayers who have consistently won large amounts on Yahoo DFS will no longer be eligible to enter multi-entry contests, and will be labeled as “Super Veterans.”. Super Veterans will still be able to participate in head-to-head matchups and all single-entry contests.

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Fantasy Sports

Canton Welcomes the Return of the Country’s Largest Fantasy Football Expo to Hall of Fame Village in August

Published

2 months ago

March 11, 2024

Niji Narayan

Hall of Fame Village announced that the largest Fantasy Football Expo in the country will be making a comeback, and looks to bring thousands to Canton. Fantasy Football Expo 2024 will be hosted on the Hall of Fame Village campus at the Center for Performance from August 9 to 11, 2024. This event, in its 5th year, takes place for a second time at the Village and brings together passionate fantasy football fans and top experts from around the country for 3 days of ultimate fantasy football fun.

Fantasy Football Expo 2024 has 3 days of experiences planned, uniting enthusiastic fans and leading experts nationwide. The weekend includes a blend of fantasy drafts, networking opportunities, and expert insights, bringing together seasoned veterans and newcomers to experience all things “fantasy football” under one roof.

“Hosting the Fantasy Football Expo 2024 fits perfectly within our Company’s model of bringing sports and entertainment together, especially with fantasy and the virtual experience being such integral parts of how fans engage with sports. We are thrilled to leverage our world-class venue to enhance and elevate this extraordinary event, considering the popularity of fantasy football and our mission to inspire and entertain guests,” Michael Crawford, President & CEO at Hall of Fame Village, said.

Bob Lung, Director of the Expo, said: “I’m incredibly thankful to work with Hall of Fame Village to bring the Expo back for another fantastic year. Hall of Fame Village offers an unparalleled backdrop for the event, providing the perfect setting for fantasy football enthusiasts to come together and celebrate their passion.”

Key highlights of the event include the introduction of Sports Betting Saturday, Presented by Underdog Fantasy, offering a unique opportunity to learn strategies and techniques to help enhance your experience in the sports betting world. Expert panels and workshops will be a focal point, delivering valuable insights and strategies from esteemed names in the sports betting and fantasy football industry. Sports Betting Saturday is committed to promoting responsible gaming practices and recognizing the importance of maintaining a safe and enjoyable environment for all participants. With dedicated sessions led by experts and sports gaming representatives, attendees will gain comprehensive insights into responsible gaming measures, including strategies for setting limits, recognizing problem gambling behaviors, and accessing support resources.

Fantasy Sports

Underdog Invests in Critical Responsible Gaming Cross-Platform Technology

Published

2 months ago

March 6, 2024

Niji Narayan

Underdog, the fastest-growing fantasy sports company ever, announced an investment in idPair by GuardDog, Underdog’s responsible gaming innovation fund. idPair’s proprietary technology creates a centralized view of an individual’s play and gambling activity across all applications and operators in a jurisdiction for regulators, providing for universal responsible gaming limits. In addition to an investment from the fund, idPair will have access to top advisors, mentors, and investors and will be prioritized for integration into Underdog’s product offerings.

“Most users play with more than one operator for their gaming activity. The opportunity we see with idPair is the ability to connect people and their play, and use those insights to inform enhanced responsible gaming initiatives. Operators can only focus on their individual platforms. We believe that the ability to partner with regulators using idPair’s technology will create opportunities for partnerships that advance safer play,” Adam Warrington, VP of responsible gaming at Underdog, said.

idPair is active in multiple jurisdictions, bridging information gaps by collaborating with legislators, regulators, and operators to detect and mitigate harm from high-risk gambling across platforms. Recognizing the crucial role of research to move the industry toward sustainability, idPair has also partnered with several major universities to facilitate the study of anonymized transactional data by experts in the field.

“We are thrilled about GuardDog’s investment and partnership with us. By leveraging their vast network and data, we can accelerate our mission to drive collaborative information sharing among operators and regulators, ultimately fostering a safer and more sustainable environment for all. Together, we look forward to making significant leaps in consumer protection and industry innovation,” Jonathan Aiwazian, CEO of idPair, said.

Fantasy Sports

Underdog Fantasy Partners with Sift to Prevent Fraud, Protect Users

Published

3 months ago

January 16, 2024

Niji Narayan

Underdog Fantasy, the fast-growing sports gaming platform, announced a new partnership with Sift, the leader in Digital Trust & Safety, to protect users against fraud and streamline transactions.

Sift’s platform uses machine learning and a global data network of 1 trillion annual events to identify high-risk transactions in real time. Sift’s technology enables Underdog to prevent the use of stolen payment methods on its platform, reducing fraudulent chargebacks and false positives that create friction for legitimate players. With adoption from Underdog, Sift has cemented itself as the preferred fraud protection solution for daily fantasy and online gaming.

“Protecting our players through innovation is part of our DNA, and we’re thrilled to partner with Sift in this important mission. Sift’s industry expertise and innovative use of machine learning allow us to instantly identify and block emerging fraud threats without creating hurdles for our players. This partnership will help us further ensure our players can trust that Underdog will give them a fun, fair, and secure environment to increase their enjoyment of sports,” said Dustin Cooper, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Underdog Fantasy.

“With Sift’s deep and broad coverage in the online gaming industry, we have a unique level of visibility into different fraud patterns affecting the sector. Underdog Fantasy abides by a player-first mentality, and we’re confident our solution will help them do even more to protect their community without compromising a great user experience,” said Armen Najarian, Sift’s Chief Marketing Officer.