AlphaDraft continues to keep pace with Vulcun in the daily fantasy eSports space, launching contests based on the popular online card game, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.
What’s new at AlphaDraft
Vulcun announced its Hearthstone intentions in May, and AlphaDraft moved to match its competitor by announcing its Hearthstone offering today.
“With the addition of Blizzard’s Hearthstone, we continue to lead the fantasy eSports industry by supporting the most popular eSports titles as part of our rapidly expanding offering to fans,” said AlphaDraft CEO Todd Peterson. “It’s part of AlphaDraft’s continuing strategy for exponential growth, and we have absolutely no plans to slow down.”
AlphaDraft also looks to up the ante in the “real” Hearthstone space — i.e. the video games competitions themselves, on which the fantasy contests are based.
AlphaDraft is sponsoring the $250,000 Archon Team League Championships, which begin today. That matches the prize pool of the first-ever Hearthstone BlizzCon World Championships in 2014. AlphaDraft is also partnering with Team Archon, which features the winner of the first world championships — “Firebat.”
Vulcun, meanwhile, is putting on its own two-season Hearthstone competition, with $100,000 up for grabs, that will also surely drive participation in its daily fantasy game.
Hearthstone became a sensation almost overnight. Launching in March of last year, there are now 30 million users, and that number has continued to grow with apps going live for iOS and Android smartphones in April.
A growing rivalry
If you were drafting daily fantasy sports sites, many might pick Vulcun and AlphaDraft. The two DFeS sites continue to experience explosive growth after launching earlier this year. Vulcun has raised $12 million in investment funding, while AlphaDraft has received $5mm. Vulcun will pay out $10 million to fantasy players this year, while AlphaDraft says it will pay out $5 million.
The sites are both based on the same concept — salary-cap contests like those featured in the traditional daily fantasy sports space — but have similarities and differences.
Both sites offer contests on League of Legends, DOTA 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, as well as Hearthstone. Vulcun hosts games based on Call of Duty, while AlphaDraft presents contests on the game SMITE.
