Rebecca Liggero talks to Comcast Venture’s Principal, Gavin Teo on innovation in eSports and daily fantasy sports.
The explosive popularity of fantasy sport is felt across the industry. Gavin Teo, principal at Comcast Ventures, said there is a unique opportunity right now—particularly in the United States—for companies to deliver new customer experiences.
“I think that the innovation here is gonna come and take form in shape of new, vertical leagues that are then attached to new rosters so we can draw, you can deliver fantasy again,” Teo told CalvinAyre.com.
One example of that is the convergence of eSports and fantasy sports.
“Unlike in the traditional sports world, other than the League of Legends Championship Series, other large titles [don’t] yet have sort of analogous opportunities and schedules for people to kind of tune in, watch and then take positions on and have their favorite players, so as that expands, I think you’ll start to see innovation in that corner of daily fantasy,” Teo explained.
Still, a lot of people are concerned that FanDuel and DraftKings, the two leading daily fantasy sports sites at the moment, have taken all of the market share.
“It’s still very early overall in saying, you know, that this is a fully penetrated market in the consumer standpoint,” Teo said. “There’s 40 million sports fans that play fantasy in the U.S., and a very small fraction of that—1 million or so—are currently avid daily fantasy users, so I think that [the] market is gonna expand.”
Teo said there is a lot of potential in the United States market, and online gambling companies should take advantage of that, especially if they want to make a mark right now.
“Don’t shy away from the U.S. This is a market that has a lot of potential and it’s in the very early stages of growth because of the combination of the regulatory environment, the tech environment, and just the amount of capital flowing in, so I’d say understand that environment well,” Teo said. “I think the presence of the leagues and content owners and rights, particularly as it pertains to sports, make a big difference. How you enter this market, how you perform is as important as what product you deliver.”
