Fantasy sports firm Ballr is expanding its reach to millions of daily fantasy sports fan in Asia, starting with the launch of its operations in India, local news media reported.
But unlike its market competitors, Sam Jones, founder and chief executive officer of Ballr, wanted the company to track a different road as it tries to distance itself from gambling.
“It’s not cool for a brand to be close to a gambling brand. We are going down fan engagement; if we succeed in getting 50 million people to play our games, to connect with their friends through this special moment of time when they are watching live sport,” Jones told website Live Mint.
Jones was in India last week to launch mobile fantasy sports application Ballr and to expand their reach to millions of daily fantasy sports fans in Asia. After India, Ballr planned to conquer China, where there was an estimated 281 million adult sports fans, before testing the Thai and Vietnamese markets.
The company has earmarked a $4 million seed capital to pursue adult sports fans in both China and India.
“Our business is launching from India, outwards. We launch in India covering cricket. In July, we launch in China covering soccer. There’s not many cricket fans in China. So we have got cricket and soccer, the two biggest games, the two biggest countries,” Jones said.
“We are launching on Android but as soon as we launch in China we are also on the iOS. Come October we launch NBA on the app,” he added.
Jones cited the youth’s “immense enthusiasm” for sports and the country’s reputation for being the second largest smart phone market as some of the reasons why the company decided to put up their operations in India.
The company’s goal in India, according to Jones, is to create a community of sports fans and build a digital environment for friendly competition and conversation instead of becoming an avenue for gambling.
“Adult sports fan all over India will enjoy testing their knowledge and challenging their friends for the top position on the leaderboard. Ultimately our goal is to connect fans around the world through live sports games.” Jones told Indian sports news website Sportskeeda.
Jones said Ballr intends to tap sports celebrities, who have millions of followers in different social networking websites – such as facebook – to lure an estimated 93 million adult sports fans in India.
Harbhajan Singh, who is one of Ballr’s ambassadors in India, said during the company’s launch: “I’ve been deeply associated with the leadership of Ballr in India and believe this will be a great platform for fans to connect with the game. It gives them the chance to play alongside, test their skill and get rewarded by brands. It is a much more interesting way to watch cricket and I am sure to play with it as well.”
