SBC News SBC Interview with David Galan - CEO Picklive Live Fantasy Sports

SBC Interview with David Galan – CEO Picklive Live Fantasy Sports

davidFollowing on from their recent announcement with Sportech Plc this week, SBC business correspondent Mark McGuinness caught up with David Galan, CEO of live fantasy sports operator Picklive to chat about the company’s current and future plans.

Picklive integrates fantasy sports within gaming/ sports betting businesses by converging fantasy sports, in-play betting, social gaming and live second screen entertainment. Set-up in 2012 Picklivehas plans to become a world leader is sports gaming.

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SBC: David, tell us about yourself and how you became involved in the fantasy sports industry?

David: I actually started off as a chartered accountant working for Arthur Andersen.  I then moved into investment banking, specialising in bringing smaller companies to the AIM market together with fund raisings for these companies.  I worked a lot of with early stage technology companies and loved the idea of using technology to create new products and markets.  I ended up joining a gaming start up called Soccer Millionaire and that is how I got into the gaming industry.  After exiting Soccer Millionaire, me and my business partner acquired Picklive, as we saw enormous potential in daily fantasy sports together with social gaming and in-play betting elements.  The market had grown exponentially in the US, but was in its infancy in the UK and the rest of the world.

 

SBC: Fantasy sports are a big business with over 3 million players in the UK, so what makes the Picklive business different from other providers?

David: Picklive is not just fantasy football.  It takes the concept of fantasy football and ‘super charges’ it!  We mix up very short duration fantasy football games with a heavy social element and in-play entertainment.  What that means is that you don’t have to sign up for a whole season with Picklive.  There is not getting bored, as the games last for only one match.  We encourage you to play Picklive along to live sport and socialising with the other players is a key part of the experience.  We see ourselves as second screen entertainment providers, as much as we are also about having a fun, low stakes bet.  It is all about the game and all about the people you are playing with, as opposed to winning cash from a faceless bookmaker.  We see our future as a ‘mobile first’ philosophy, all our new products will be developed first and foremost with mobile in mind.

SBC:Do you think fantasy gaming has a product fit with existing fixed odds sports books given the trend towards social gaming and social betting?

David: Absolutely.  We believe the value in Picklive for existing sports books is that Picklive builds a much stronger relationship with the player.  Our players interact and engage with us, they spend the 90 minutes of a live football match ‘glued’ to their second screen, engaging with the Picklive product and the other Picklive players.  I think most sports books dream of keeping their players engaged ‘on site’ for 90 minutes at a time!  Picklive has many benefits to existing sports books, it is a great acquisition, monetization and retention tool, given the product’s ability to attract non-traditional players who are after entertainment and a social experience as much as a ‘bet’.

 

SBC: The USA is a huge market for fantasy sports with over 30 million America’s playing the nearest thing to legal sportsbetting. With the market hottening up with the likes of Edinburgh based Fanduel and Cantor Gaming investing $25 million in Topline Games Lab, what’s the vision and strategic opportunity for Picklive? 

David: The USA is going to be huge for Picklive and we believe our product is unique in this market.  We believe we are the only product that has in-running features in the US and aims to be an ‘entertainment’ destination during live games.

We just announced that we have formed a joint venture with Sportech plc, Picklive USA, which will launch our product in partnership with Sportech across the US.  We are delighted to be partnering with Sportech, who have a unique position as a major operator in the highly regulated and rapidly changing US gaming market.  Sportech’s US business is licensed in 26 states with a perpetual and exclusive license to operate Connecticut’s only legal online horseracing betting platform.  Through eBet, Sportech is able to provide online betting solutions to B2B customers across the US.  We believe we will be the only fantasy sports company that is in partnership with a legal betting company in the US, a combination we believe will be very powerful.

 

SBC:Daily-fantasy games were responsible for $492 million of the $1.7 billion spent on fantasy sports in 2012, according to a Fantasy Sports Trade Association of America’s study.  Do you see this figure increasing and potentially attracting the same demographic as poker with a World Series of Fantasy Tour, with professional whales looking to make a full time living out of the sports?

David: The market is still growing strongly.  The daily fantasy segment of the market is what is super charging this growth.  Professional fantasy players are beginning to emerge and we keep reading stories about players quitting their jobs to play fantasy football full time!

SBC: With World Cup 2014 on the horizon what can Picklive fantasy games offer betting operators and media outlets looking to grow their business through mobile, second screen betting in what shall be another land grab for betting customers?

 

David: Picklive can offer betting operators and media operators the opportunity to engage in a totally new way with their players and audience.  Picklive is about ‘playing’ and having fun in a social environment and creating long term relationships.  Picklive games enable operators to earn recurring revenues from very ‘sticky’ and loyal players from demographics that they may never have previously been able to access.  We believe the way people interact and bet on live sport is changing and we will be at the forefront of that change.

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David Galan, CEO Picklive

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