A new joint venture has formed to acquire daily fantasy sports operator DraftDay and remodel it as a B2B platform in addition to a B2C site.
In June, MGT Capital Investments announced it had sold DraftDay to a new entity called Random Outcome USA Inc. for $7m, while day-to-day operations would be managed by UK pools betting operator Sportech.
On Wednesday, it was announced that Sportech was teaming with “entertainment marketing and rewards platform” Viggle Inc. to form DraftDay Gaming Group, which would purchase and operate DraftDay for nil consideration, in exchange for providing executive management and a potential customer network.
Viggle will hold the biggest stake (44%) of DraftDay, while Sportech PLC’s Sportech Inc subsidiary will control 35%, with the balance held by MGT Capital and other shareholders. As previously stipulated, Sportech will be responsible for managing DraftDay’s day-to-day operations and Sportech’s digital president Rich Roberts will serve as DraftDay CEO, while Robert Sillerman will act as chairman.
DraftDay Gaming Group plans to expand DraftDay’s reach by offering its platform to “businesses desiring turnkey solutions to new revenue streams” and facilitating “entry for consumer brands” into the DFS market.
Viggle currently operates the MyGuy and Viggle Football apps. MyGuy is a fantasy-style game that allows play-by-play substitution during football games, while Viggle Football is a pre-game and in-play prediction game, whose users answered nearly 65m predictive questions last season. Viggle Football will be integrated with DraftDay games, which Roberts claims “introduces significant potential to expand the user audience of US sports fans while creating more visibility for DraftDay.”
Viggle CFO John Small said the merged assets of the DraftDay Gaming Group “create a compelling win-win for both sports enthusiasts and the advertisers aiming to reach this demographic in a very targeted way designed to build brand loyalty.”
