$2M Raised by NFL Stars Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase for Fantasy Life Project
Sports media startup Fantasy Life, created by renowned fantasy sports guru Matthew Berry, recently secured a $2 million investment round led by several professional athletes and celebrities.
As revealed by Axios, this "friends and family round" included the likes of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and his favorite receiver, Ja'Marr Chase, Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler, and singer John Legend.
Also contributing to the round were Lebron James and entrepreneur Maverick Carter's LRMR Ventures, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Tony Khan, and Miami Marlins co-owner Roger Ehrenberg. Large players in the sports betting industry such as DraftKings and Sportradar have previously attracted team owners as investors, and Fantasy Life seems to be following suit.
Fantasy Life was established in 2020, named after Berry's 2013 book, and after leaving ESPN, Berry migrated to NBC Sports to develop his company further.
Fantasy Life Checks Off Important Startup Milestones
The young company is already ticking off some major boxes in the startup world: it's run lean (with just 13 employees), and it's seeing a profit. Berry has disclosed that the company is generating an annual revenue of several million dollars, most of which comes from advertisements. Existing advertorials on the platform include those from BetMGM and Underdog Fantasy, among others. While the content on Fantasy Life remains free, the site might feature premium options in the future.
Daily and season-long fantasy sports players have a history of paying for expertise in their lineup-building. Similarly, sports wagering has long seen retail bettors pay for picks. However, in both these fields, there's also a high rate of churn in subscribers.
Fantasy Life caters to not just fantasy sports enthusiasts, but also bettors. It offers a wide range of tools for both groups, including parlay calculators, player prop projections, trade ratings, fantasy rankings, and more.
Fantasy Life Taps into Alternative Investor Base
Apart from high-profile individuals who contributed to the investment round, traditional investors such as gaming analyst Chris Grove, Bruin Capital CEO George Pyne, private equity investor and former Cleveland Browns president Alec Scheiner, investor and operator Jason Stein, and FOX Bet CEO Kip Levin were also involved in the financing.
Grove is a managing partner at Acies Investments, which boasts 22 portfolio companies on its website like Underdog Fantasy and Jefebet.com.
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Source: www.casino.org
