Fantasy Sports operator Picklive are hoping to raise £5m through a listing on London’s Alternative Investment Market (Aim), in potential £10m float.
The 2013 Totally Gaming Awards: Best Betting Operator of the year, Picklive, have announced plans to try and raise £5m through a listing on London’s Alternative Investment Market (Aim), in a move that will see the company valued at £10m.
Picklive is a gem of a company in the burgeoning market of Fantasy Sports, and they specialize in the instant gratification style of game, that has become more and more popular over time.
When Fantasy Sports first became popular, games were determined over the period of a season. Picklive are not that type of Fantasy Sports option. Instead, Picklive concentrate on single matches, and their specialty sports are football, baseball, and American football. The fundraiser is aimed at financing Picklive’s foray into other sports such as cricket and ice hockey.
“Picklive offers investors access to a business with an early mover advantage in the UK. In the US, we have a strong partnership with Sportech, where we have recently launched our American football and baseball game,” said Chief Executive David Galan. “We believe that this is the opportune moment to seek a listing on Aim to accelerate the company’s growth, drive Picklive’s highly-scalable proprietary technology platform and develop global appeal.”
Fantasy Sports has a big future in the UK because the legislation is not as intrusive as other parts of the world. Picklive has buy-ins at all levels, and even play money games. You can also choose games with a wide range of different opponents, and the short instructive video on the Picklive website compares the game to poker in a lot of aspects.
When a game is being played, such as Manchester United v Manchester City, in the English Premier League, players will choose 5 players to add to their team and 2 substitutes and points are accrued by players in accordance with a scoring system available on the site.
You get 40 points for a goal, 10 points for an assist and 8 points each for a shot on target or a save. You can also lose points, for example, -20 for an own goal, -10 for a missed penalty, and -10 for a yellow card.
“Traditional sports betting is a bit boring. We also think that traditional Fantasy Football takes too long. We don’t have the patience. We like the thrill of the games you can won or lose in an evening,” says the promotional video.
The game relies heavily on the accuracy of statistics provided for by Opta, who are the world’s leading sports data company owned by the digital sports media group PERFORM.
