It’s becoming more and more clear that data and content are the next big push in the world of daily fantasy sports. For example:
- FanDuel has acquired sports analytics site numberFire, and signed a deal with Sportradar for NFL statistics.
- DraftKings recently hired respected NFL fantasy writer Adam Levitan and launched a football podcast.
- CBS rolled out SportsLine with daily fantasy sports alongside a paid analytics product.
If the daily fantasy sports operators themselves are focusing on the data and content side of the industry, it’s a pretty good sign that it’s a ripe market for those already in the content and data business, or for those looking to get involved.
Michael Gentile, co-founder of the results analysis and bankroll tracking site RotoTracker, has watched that trend develop firsthand.
“I think the push for new DFS tools is mainly fueled by demand from the players themselves,” Gentile told Legal Sports Report. “The more players that take up daily fantasy sports as a hobby and as a profession, the more the need and desire for tools that fill a gap in the current offerings grows along with it. As the industry further develops and begins to mature, tools like RotoTracker are going to be developed to meet that growing demand of the expanding industry.”
The key for non-operators (and perhaps operators alike) is finding ways to provide and interpret data and new tools that DFS players can’t do without. And that’s where RotoTracker might be able to provide something useful to players of all levels.
Bankroll tracking for DFS?
RotoTracker is a pretty simple idea at its core. The site allows you to upload your results from multiple DFS sites (currently FanDuel, DraftKings and DraftDay, with plans to add more functionality down the road.) From there, it gives users the ability to analyze their results in a variety of different ways, by contest, by buy-in or by sport, for example.
RotoGrinders is one of the leaders in the DFS tools category, and it does offer a bankroll tracker as well. It’s a recently launched beta version, which is embedded in its website with easy access for users. RotoTracker takes it a step further, presenting a way to organize and analyze data on a slick web platform, including charts and advanced filters.
Gentile explains the gap he believes that the product is filling.
“Before RotoTracker launched, all players had with which to analyze their data were the “csv” files from the DFS sites or the spreadsheets they created at home – which, as a player myself, I know could get very time consuming and confusing – especially when you play on multiple sites and enter multiple games per day,” Gentile said.
“So having a tool that allows you to upload multiple entries from multiple sites and that quickly puts the data into a format you can understand is so very valuable and relevant to all DFS players at all levels of ability.”
For pros or casual players?
Tools like RotoTracker and DFS content and analysis aren’t just for professionals who plan to try to make a lot of money. That would be a pretty niche market.
Getting data in the hands of casual players in an easy-to-consume format is a way to help them get better, to have control over their results and to empower them.
“Many daily fantasy sports players are stats geeks at heart, and RotoTracker provides the opportunity to look at a player’s own statistics and identify their strengths and weaknesses in a way never before possible for the majority of players,” Gentile said. “I think the service can be useful for both high-volume and casual players.”
Gentile sees it as something that can help level the playing field — at least a little bit — in the DFS player ecosystem. Instead of blindly entering contests, players can figure out what they are good at in DFS, with a few clicks. That’s something that was more difficult for the average player to do before RotoTracker, Gentile explained.
Where is the DFS tools market going?
While bankroll tracking might not be something that is done, currently, by massive amounts of players, it certainly has a chance to become a key part of the industry.
Tracking results has long been a part of the online poker industry, which Gentile knows well as the publisher of the poker news site PokerFuse. But he also sees DFS tools as having more overlap with another industry.
“While there are many parallels between DFS and online poker, I think many of the consumer-facing ancillary products that we are seeing in DFS mimic stock trading more closely than online poker,” Gentile said.
“Information and data along with the analysis of that information and data has led to several types of products that DFS players can use to find an edge, including tools that help players pick lineups. Tools that recently hit the market which allow players to submit lineups and make substitutions in mass are also reminiscent of the types of things we see in the stock market.”
Some worry about the long-term sustainability of the DFS industry, over the long term, because of the skill gap between top players and casual ones, an issue that online poker struggles with.
Can tools like RotoTracker and others help players dabble in DFS and enjoy a modicum of success, like those who dabble in the stock market? There are probably worse things that could happen to the industry in terms of its long-term sustainability than helping to put the casual DFS player on the same level as a day trader.
