SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The much anticipated FanDuel DFS product for the UK market has now been announced and launched by the operator.
The fantasy sports operator, which launched in Edinburgh in 2009 and took the States by storm, has now gone live with its product created exclusively for the UK’s football fans. There is an initial focus on the Premier League, and it will be available to play on both web and mobile.
The product has been built from the ground up by the same UK-based team that developed FanDuel’s US product. Utilising Opta’s stats some key features of the product include contests which last either one day or one weekend, the selection of 11 players with no captain and no substitutions and flexible formations; players will be able to choose from three to five defenders, three to five midfielders and one to three forwards.
FanDuel’s fantasy sports contests have been exclusively available in North America to date and focused on US sports such as American football, basketball and baseball. In seven years the company has attracted over 6 million users across the US and Canada and 4 million app downloads. In the UK market it will compete with US rivals DraftKings, who launched in the UK last season, Oulala and Mondogoal. The launch of a football product specifically for the UK market is the first step in international expansion plans.
Nigel Eccles, FanDuel CEO and Co-Founder, said of the news: “This is a proud moment and marks our first step into fantasy football and the UK market – our first international offering. Until now, FanDuel’s product has been exclusive to the US and Canada, we’re delighted to be able to offer contests back on our home turf in the UK, where we first started the business and continue to base our engineering operations.
“Our company has spent the past 12 months creating a product for UK football fans, designed to resonate with them and their love of the game. Every feature considers this, from the formation of fantasy teams, to the pricing of players in £s to our unique and detailed scoring system, which realistically reflects the play of all those who are on the pitch.
“We want to make football even more exciting for fans, that’s why we’ve included a live scoring system that keeps players updated on their fantasy team’s performance, as the real time matches are being played.”
The first contests will kick off on August 13th for the start of the English Premier League 2016/17 season but entries are live now at www.fanduel.co.uk.
