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Web3 Fantasy Sports Platform Gambit’s Private Alpha Launch Sees 23,000 Registered Players in First Two Weeks Following US$1.5M Pre-Seed Funding Round

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Web3 Fantasy Sports Platform Gambit’s Private Alpha Launch Sees 23,000 Registered Players in First Two Weeks Following US$1.5M Pre-Seed Funding Round

 

  • Pioneering a more accessible fan-centric gaming environment for the web3 fantasy sports ecosystem

  • NBA Finals excitement brings in players from across the world, with especially high engagement in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and India 

  • Powered by crypto venture studio SuperLayer, backed by innovators across web3, sports, and technology  such as Joe Montana and Marc Andreessen 

Gambit, a tokenized fantasy sports platform that allows players to build, trade, play, and earn through their favorite sports, has enjoyed a successful Private Alpha Launch throughout the NBA Playoffs and is capitalizing on the excitement of the NBA Finals this week as the Warriors and Celtics tie going into Game 3.

Gambit has seen significant and sustained user growth over the course of the NBA Playoffs with over 26,000 registered players invited to test the Alpha product from a waitlist of over 130,000. Engagement has been highest in Southeast Asia and India, accounting for over 60% of players.

Communities are at the cornerstone of web3 ecosystems and Gambit has already seen mass appeal on a global level, with players across Asia accounting for the majority of its current users. This is in line with the growing internationalization effort driven by the NBA, which has seen significant popularity in markets across Southeast Asia such as the Philippines and Indonesia. Compounded with strong adoption of play-and-earn and free-to-play (FTP) gaming across the region, Gambit has experienced impressive global engagement figures through the NBA Finals, with a more winnable and fan-friendly product.

Once the NBA season comes to a close in mid-June, Gambit will be gearing up for its next milestone — a public allowlist Beta launch — focusing on bringing a new sport and over 100,000 users onto its platform. Soccer will be making its debut on the platform this year, starting with the “Big Five” European leagues. While the Beta waitlist for the soccer season will begin with current players, new members will be given many opportunities to experience the Beta product for themselves. Gambit will also be working to release its platform to a wider audience during its full public launch later this year.

Commenting on the growth seen to date, Riaz Lalani, Founder of Gambit, said: “Today’s fantasy sports ecosystem has largely forgotten about the fans — games are more about crunching numbers than the fun and enjoyment that comes with being a sports fan. At Gambit, we want to put the power back in fans’ hands, enabling them to own the fantasy sports journey from start to finish. We’re taking the play-and-earn dynamic one step further, empowering our users to play-to-own. We’re excited to offer an ecosystem that every sports enthusiast deserves and has a collective stake in.”

Rather than simply address the shortcomings of existing fantasy platforms, Gambit is forging a new path by prioritizing accessibility, ownership, and fun over the transactional nature of traditional web2 fantasy sports. The community ethos of web3 ensures greater persistence and retention among users through the $GMBT token, which encourages alignment across customers, builders, and stakeholders. However, Gambit does tackle the critical pain point of equal odds and equal outcomes in today’s fantasy sports market. With existing platforms heavily skewed towards experts, Gambit ensures that casual fans have the opportunity to win alongside hardcore players, making the gameplay equally enjoyable and accessible for everyone involved.

To support Gambit in its next phase of growth as it transitions out of its Alpha Launch, the project has received US$1.5 million in pre-seed funding from SuperLayer, a venture studio born out of and made exclusively for web3. Incubated through SuperLayer, Gambit also benefits from unparalleled access to the resources and expertise of the $RLY Network, which supports multiple layer-one protocols including Ethereum and Solana, providing liquidity across tokens.

Mahesh Vellanki, Managing Partner of SuperLayer, said: “Over the past year, NFTs have radically transformed the world of sports — from the gamification of the digital sports collectible market to the rising popularity of NFTs across basketball to Formula 1, it’s clear that franchises, teams, leagues, and fans alike have all come to recognize the value that crypto brings. Gambit is taking this one step further by leveraging fungible athlete tokens in a way that provides a next-gen product experience for players, while simultaneously solving tangible problems faced by traditional fantasy sports operators. We’re thrilled to be supporting Gambit as they demonstrate the true utility that crypto can bring to traditional consumer applications.

Led by a team with a proven track record across the worlds of crypto and venture capital, projects within the SuperLayer ecosystem benefit from access to a best-in-class network of founders and a multi-disciplinary bench of successful backers. These include Andreessen Horowitz managing partner Marc Andreessen, Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu, former NFL quarterback Joe Montana, Japanese professional football player Keisuke Honda, early-stage blockchain investor Jehan Chu, and many more. SuperLayer is also a partner of the RLY network, an open, decentralized network, that supports an ecosystem of consumer crypto applications with the goal of bringing the next 100 million users into crypto.

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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

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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.

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Fantasy Sports

Underdog Invests in Critical Responsible Gaming Cross-Platform Technology

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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.

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Fantasy Sports

Underdog Fantasy Partners with Sift to Prevent Fraud, Protect Users

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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.

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