Fantasy League Meeting With Ray Rice Reps on Wednesday
$1 Million Endorsement Deal is on the Table
VANCOUVER -- Only time will tell which of the many fantasy sports leagues popping up all over North America are destined to survive.
And thrive.
But if marketing savvy is any indication of future success, one new league looks like it has hit a home run (or in this case, scored a touchdown).
The league, which is called Pro Draft League or PDL (www.prodraftleague.com) and which operates from Canada, has been all over the news in recent weeks because its chief executive officer, Mark Tadros, offered disgraced former NFL running back Ray Rice $1 million to endorse and become a spokesman for PDL.
Rice was kicked out of the NFL last season after the gossip website TMZ.com obtained and posted Atlantic City casino elevator surveillance video showing Rice punching and knocking out his then-fiance in a drunken rage.
If the offer by PDL to Rice was a publicity stunt, it worked.
Tadros and his company were all over the news, including being interviewed by Harvey Levin on the televison show TMZ Live, a program which generally covers Hollywood entertainment news and gossip.
And if the offer was legit, then PDL may become the first fantasy sports league to have as its face an NFL star who was banned for punching a woman in the face.
On Wednesday of this week, Tadros is scheduled to meet with Rice's management representatives to discuss the endorsement offer.
If it's accepted--which is unlikely, as Rice is trying to get back in to the NFL--then PDL will REALLY be all over the news.
In a wide-ranging interview with Tadros last week at PDL headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Gambling 911 asked the CEO about his company, their future plans and whether the Rice offer was, in fact, just a publicity stunt.
Here is a transcript of that interview:
Gambling 911: What states and countries is Pro Draft League legal in and how do you stop players who are not in those locations from joining? And what is the age limit to join and how do you verify that?
Mark Tadros: All our games are based on skill and we operate 100 per cent legally under United States and Canadian law. The United States' Federal government and 45 of the 50 states consider fantasy sports a game of skill. However, residents of Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Washington in the U.S. and residents of Quebec in Canada are not allow to participate in our contests due to state- and province-specific regulations against cash prize offerings. As well we require that our customers must be 18 to participate, 19 in Alabama and Nebraska. We take regulatory compliance of our contest offerings very seriously and encourage you to contact our support team if you have any further questions.
G9: How much does it cost to join and what do you get for your money?
MT: It’s completely free! You can register today for free and still have a shot at winning some cash.
G9: How did you get into the fantasy sports business? Can you tell us about your personal background?
MT: I used to play professional poker when I lived in Montreal and I've always been a huge sports fan with a mind for fantasy sports. When I moved to Vancouver in 2011, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands and both those passions came together nicely when creating Pro Draft League.
G9: How are you preparing to compete against the commercially successful DraftKings and FanDuel? Both companies have attracted significant investment monies recently, so are you preparing to do the same?
MT: We have already raised more than seven figures for PDL, so we have the artillery needed to compete. But we plan on being way more creative and outside-the-box in our marketing efforts, which should give us an edge.
G9: What has been the growth rate of your business in the last year? And what is the driving force behind that growth? Has the media coverage fantasy is getting translated into a boost for your own business? And how many paying customers do you have right now?
MT: Lately our site has been growing rapidly. In just the last few months, we doubled our user base, going from 5,000 to 10,000 users, of which 1,500 are playing for real money.
G9: What is an average fantasy player worth? How much will he or she spend on daily fantasy games in a given year? How does this compare with season-long contests?
MT: Our daily players spend around $1,400 in U.S. dollars a year on the site, whereas a season-long player will spend around $1,500 a year.
G9: Can you compete with the likes of ESPN and Yahoo should they enter daily fantasy sports, as is rumored?
MT: The market is massive and there’s enough room for many players. For us we’re just going to have to make sure we differentiate ourselves enough to keep that distinct user experience.
G9: Would it make sense for a fantasy company like yours to team up with an online sportsbook partner, such as Bookmaker.eu or Sportsbook.ag out of Costa Rica or one of the European books such as Paddy Power of Ireland or William Hill of the U.K.? Such a partnership would give you a ready-made customer base of sports-betting fanatics, so have any such companies approached you or vice-versa?
MT: We’re never opposed to exploring new options and new partnerships.
G9: Where are you based and why have you chosen that location? And are you considering branching out into other locations?
MT: We are based in Vancouver, but we also have team members working out of California, New York and Toronto. We’ll be expanding in the very near future to other countries which we feel have a market for fantasy sports.
G9: What is the most money anyone has earned playing with you?
MT: Our biggest player won over $50,000 during 2014 and he will likely double or triple those earnings in 2015.
G9: Do you have many female players? What percentage of your customer base is female? Are there any significant differences in the way female customers play fantasy as compared to male players, as far as strategy, tactics and expectations are concerned?
MT: Yes, about one out of every five users is female and we plan on expanding our marketing efforts to attract more females to the site.
G9: What is the basic demographic of your paying customer? If it mirrors the demo of the average American sports bettor, it would be white and male with a high level of education and income, although the age for fantasy players would be lower on average than the age for sports bettors. How accurate is that assessment?
MT: That's pretty accurate. The average user is male, aged 19 to 34 years old.
G9: Where do you expect fantasy in general and your company in particular to be a year from now? Do you expect legal sports wagering to become more widespread in the U.S. in the coming years? If you do, how would that affect fantasy?
MT: Fantasy is a different experience than sports betting. Although it might hurt the fantasy industry a little, I don’t think anything could slow down the growth we are feeling. The daily fantasy sports industry will double again in 2015.
G9: Online sportsbook operators say it's hard to reel in affiliate partners who are used to making crazy earnings with sportsbook, casino and poker affiliate programs. How does your company look to compete in this area? What are your marketing plans? Is there an off-season or does Major League Baseball actually represent a peak in revenue potential, as opposed to the decline we see with sportsbooks?
MT: Major League Baseball is definitely our best season at PDL and we’re just about to roll out our season-long contests.
G9: Do you plan on pushing your software as a white label product to potential partners and operators?
MT: We have explored the option and have had many request to do so. There’s a real chance we’ll build out our business model to include reselling the software to strategic partnerships.
G9: You recently offered disgraced former NFL running back Ray Rice $1 million to come work for you and promote your company. How did this come about and have you heard from him yet?
MT: We actually plan on speaking to his management this Wednesday.
G9: The job offer was a brilliant publicity stunt--among other things you appeared on the TV show TMZ Live and discussed the Rice job offer with Harvey Levin. It was a publicity stunt, wasn't it?
MT: That worked out well for us, with over 1.6 million views to our website, but that wasn’t the objective. This is a real offer and we're confident we will bring Mr. Rice on board.
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
