Yahoo Launches Daily Fantasy Sports Site: Will Take on DraftKings, FanDuel
Yahoo, long a leader in the season-long Fantasy Sports space, began offering Daily Fantasy Sports contests effective Wednesday (July 9, 2015). Yahoo has now positioned itself to compete with DFS juggernauts DraftKings and FanDuel.com, both of which have partnered with professional sports leagues and franchises.
Yahoo will first offer Major League Baseball Daily Fantasy contests then will expand into other sports such as the NFL.
The great news for players, most of the early contests had rather large overlays. This means a significant percentage of those entering will end up cashing.
The overlays won’t last for long as Yahoo has the ability to meet millions of people in a matter of days. Yahoo said tens of millions of people already play Yahoo Fantasy Sports, spending an average of 500 minutes a month at the site
Ken Fuchs, Yahoo’s vice president for publisher products, said that fantasy sports were different from gambling because they relied on the skills of the player. Yahoo already runs cash leagues for fantasy sports that last the length of a season, and the daily games are no different.
“We stay very close to the laws,” Mr. Fuchs said. “We certainly encourage people to play responsibly.”
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
