Insolvent Fantasy Sports Site FantasyUp Rescued By iTEAM Network, Which Will Pay Player Balances


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FantasyUp bailout

The white-label daily fantasy sports provider iTEAM Network announced it was taking over the shuttered and insolvent DFS site FantasyUp.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The iTEAM anouncement on FantasyUp

FantasyUp announced that it was closing down in January, with the following note to players:

“Our sincere apologies that we cannot process withdrawals, as the Company does not have the funds needed to process the withdrawals to all customers.”

A little more than two weeks later, players who were owed accounts balances — with no real recourse other than the courts to try to recover funds — find themselves in a very different position. iTEAM announced that it was taking over FantasyUp and relaunching it this week.

Here is part of a statement from iTeam:

On Wednesday, the iTEAM Network will be re-starting FantasyUp.com, the daily fantasy sports site which recently announced its insolvency. As part of the takeover, iTEAM will reinstate all players’ accounts making all winnings and balances available to customers.

At the same time, iTEAM will install a new user interface and establish the requisite fiscal responsibility and back-end systems to ensure the site’s viability for the future.

The FantasyUp saga

FantasyUp had problems for several months leading up to January’s closure, including a period in which players could not access their funds in the summer of 2015.

All players who requested withdrawals appear to have been made whole at that time. But the site went on to run “rake-free” — generating no revenue — while offering a 300% deposit bonus during the NFL season.

FantasyUp would shut down in January while anecdotally still owing players thousands of dollars.

On several occasions, FantasyUp had hinted that it was in the middle of being acquired by another company, although that deal never came to fruition. Upon closing, FantasyUp said that that reported deal falling through was responsible for its insolvency.

From an email sent to users last month:

FantasyUp no longer has the capital to fund even minimal operations. The owners and investors in FantasyUp continued to fund the business while waiting for the financing deal, but after numerous conversations with advisors, experts, and past/potential investors, the Members of the LLC have concluded that they have no choice but to shut down the business and dissolve.

iTEAM’s background

This will be the ninth DFS site to become a part of the iTEAM Network; that includes a newly launched site from poker pro Phil Ivey

Founded in 2013, iTEAM Network is headed by gaming industry veteran Gabe Hunterton, who has worked extensively in regulated gaming.

A white-label daily fantasy sports network, iTEAM handles product development, security, customer support and offers marketing and player acquisition support for its partners.