Sportech Agree Fantasy Joint Venture with Picklive.

Sportech operators of sports betting pools and totes have announced the agreement of a joint venture with Picklive to target the US fantasy sports market, Picklive the creators of the first live fantasy sports game, will extend Sportech’s gaming portfolio by designing and integrating a range of fantasy sports games for Sportech under the brand ‘Picklive USA’. Sportech will look after distribution and marketing of the product as Sportech looks to diversify its product range.

Picklive USA will be distributed nationwide and will leverage Sportech’s extensive reach in the U.S., where it currently processes 50% of all horse racing bets. The new fantasy games will extend Sportech’s product offering beyond horse racing to a vast sports market, including U.S. professional-league football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer. Picklive will be accessible to Sportech’s existing customer base in Connecticut as well as to its B2B customers through eBet, Sportech’s U.S. online division, which operates over 20 horserace betting websites.

The new fantasy games will be launched next year in Connecticut following the commercial launch of MyWinners.com, Connecticut’s only legal online betting, which is expected before the end of this year. Further distribution opportunities will be made available by utilising Sportech’s customer base across the United States.

Research carried out by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association in 2013 estimated that 33.5 million adults play fantasy sports games in the US, in an industry worth over $2 billion, with daily fantasy sports taking a rapidly increasing share of the overall market. Sportech sees the opportunity to bring the “social” experience into the fantasy sports space, and aims for Picklive USA to be the ultimate second-screen entertainment and social experience during live sport.

Commenting on the joint venture, Ian Penrose, Sportech CEO said:“This transaction further develops our increasing online presence in the rapidly growing U.S. market. With Sportech’s strong heritage in sports gaming and strong relationship base, the daily fantasy sports market is a natural potential growth area for us, and I am excited by Picklive USA’s potential to become a major player in this space.”

Commenting on Picklive USA, David Galan, CEO of Picklive said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Sportech given its unique position as a major operator in the highly regulated and rapidly changing U.S. gaming market.  Picklive has already enjoyed great success in the UK and this opportunity allows us to bring product innovation and the ‘social’ element into the daily fantasy sports space in the U.S. and become a primary second-screen entertainment destination and social experience to accompany live sport.”