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READING, England -- Fantasy sports wagering first took hold in America and then crossed the pond to Europe, but now there's another game on the continent that's getting some buzz.
And if it becomes as popular and successful as traditional fantasy sports betting, expect this alternative form of sports gambling to cross back to the USA and become popular and successful there.
So what are we talking about?
Prediction sports!
A website, called Predict the Football (www.predictthefootball.com) and based in this historic town 40 miles west of London, is based on predicting the final scores of professional soccer matches throughout Europe.
It's just in the free play stage now--meaning it's free to play and there are no cash prizes--but that is expected to change in the future, when fees are installed and big money prizes will be bestowed.
So how are prediction sports similar to fantasy sports?
And how are they expected to impact the general sports gambling landscape?
To get the answers to those and other probing questions, Gambling 911 last week dropped in at Predict the Football headquarters in England and had a chat with the company's founder and owner, Tim Cummins.
Here is a transcript of that interview:
Gambling 911: How does your operation work and how is it different from not only the many fantasy sports leagues out there, but also from the other prediction sports sites that are out there?
Tim Cummins: Predict the Football allows you to predict the outcome of games in various different competitions around the world. The main difference to other prediction leagues is in the scoring system, because you get bonuses based on successfully predicting unlikely outcomes. This rewards those who think about their predictions a bit more carefully, so it is actually a game which takes some skill to win consistently.
G9: How much does it cost to join?
TC: It’s free to play.
G9: What's the object?
TC: You can predict the scores for up to 14 different football competitions and create mini-leagues to compete against friends and colleagues.
G9: What can you win?
TC: No cash at this time, only trophies.
G9: How did you get into this business? Can you tell us about your personal background?
TC: I began running prediction leagues in the early 1990s whilst still at school. It used to cost 20 pence to predict the weekend’s Premier League games, with 40 per cent of the pot going to charity and the other 60 per cent as prizes. When I left university in 2002, I started building websites and it seemed logical to create a website to run football prediction leagues. It was initially mainly just for friends and family, but then other people started finding it and signing up. I’ve never really invested anything in marketing, but the site has continued to grow.
G9: Grow how much?
TC: During the World Cup in 2014, there were nearly 40,000 people predicting each game.
G9: Where are you located?
TC: In Reading, England, just outside London.
G9: How does the site generate revenue?
TC: Since the site doesn’t cost anything to play, the revenue comes entirely from advertising on the site.
G9: Do you envision eventually charging customers to play on your site and using those fees to fund large cash prizes?
TC: Yes, it’s certainly something that I’d consider adding to the site, though I don’t have any immediate plans to do so.
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
