Tuesday, April 22, 2008

USA Today Invests/Partners in Fantasy Sports Ventures


Looking for more content in the growing fantasy sports market, USA Today has taken a minority stake in Fantasy Sports Ventures, an aggregation of more than 100 sites that draws about 5 million unique users per month. Content sharing between FSV’s fantasy-rich sites, which include KFFL.com, HoopsWorld.com and TheHuddle.com, and USA Today’s print and Web operations has already begun. Some FSV sites will also feature USAToday.com content. Along with the standard link exchange, USA Today also committed to promote FSV’s sites in print and online. Neither side would reveal the size of the investments; previously, FSV was in the market seeking low eight figures in funding. The move presages a further expansion of USA Today’s fantasy content, which includes two dedicated issues of its Sports Weekly publication and a dedicated fantasy channel online. Other than adding content to the sports sites for USA Today’s 3 million monthly visitors, the deal gives FSV a larger platform on which to achieve its long-stated objective of selling fantasy sponsorships, rather than just eyeballs. As an example, Russo cited a recent deal with Gillette under which FSV did a fantasy game based on the company’s “Young Guns” NASCAR marketing platform. Still, at peak periods, like the beginning of the NFL season, FSV and USA Today’s sports sites could attract as many as 13 million to 15 million unique users combined. Right now, the number is closer to 6 million. The partnership between the two also extends a trend among top-tier content hubs and distributors to have as much fantasy content as possible. In the last two years, a flurry of deals along these lines has included ESPN’s purchase of The Talented Mr. Roto and installation of Matthew Berry as its lead fantasy voice, NBC’s acquisition of Rotoworld.com, and fantasy forecaster AccuScore striking a series of content deals with Yahoo!, AOL and others.
http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/58761

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-usa-today-takes-minority-stake-in-fantasy-sports-ventures-will-share-co/

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