“This Week In Daily” is LegalSportsReport’s weekly wrap of key facts, happenings and miscellany from the daily fantasy sports industry.
Stories of note
DraftKings = No 1?
It was a relatively quiet week for FanDuel, but not so for DraftKings:
- The $2.5 million Millionaire Maker for the U.S. Open sold out, and it launched a $3mm contest for the British Open.
- DraftKings applied for a gaming license in the U.K.
- Chris Grove wrote an intriguing piece that says DK is the top DFS site, at least in this snapshot in time.
It all adds up to another good week for DraftKings, which has seemingly had a lot of momentum on its side. Can it keep up when football season rolls around?
SidePrize launches
We don’t profile every startup that comes along, but this one is pretty intriguing. SidePrize offers fantasy players in season-long leagues a way to challenge other players in their league to a real-money contest, based on the outcome of a weekly head-to-head matchup. It basically is an easier entry point for season-long players to get converted to a DFS-type format. Read more about the company and its recent launch here.
So far, it’s only on Rotowire’s MLB Commissioner platform. But we wouldn’t be surprised to see it quickly gain some traction in the DFS industry.
Of the week
Read of the week
Inside DraftKings’ $2.5 Million U.S. Open Bet On Fantasy Golf Fans
We took a closer look at DraftKings as it continues to tap into the golf vertical, which has no signs of slowing down, so far. Golf is creating revenue for DK at a typically slow time of the year for DFS sites, with two more majors still left on the professional schedule.
Will DFS for golf continue to grow past what we’ve seen this spring? Will DraftKings be able to sell out two more huge contests?
Watches of the week
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins talks about his site’s relationship with Major League Baseball here.
RotoCurve’s State of DFS breaks down all the recent happenings in the industry:
Tweet of the week
And I’m watching golf. Yup. It worked. #DFS
— Andrew Feldman (@AFeldmanESPN) June 18, 2015
Number of the week
$50mm+
The amount of capital raised so far by Fantasy Feud’s new parent company, Gaming Nation. Read more about the recent transaction that could lift FF to No. 3 in the DFS market here.
