One of the most amazing sports businesses in the last 10 years has been the emergence of Under Armour as a major player in the sporting goods realm. Here is a video of speech given by Under Armour’s Chairman, CEO and Founder Kevin Plank. It is a very riveting video and some great insights into how to build a great business–compete. I highly recommend you check it out, if even it takes multiple sittings (it is 74 minutes long):
Did you watch it all? What do you think? Ready to compete?
We have all heard of the The League on FX by now, but there is a new fantasy football web series on the interwebs, Sundays of Our Lives. The series follows Jake Diablo as he attempts to win his fantasy football championship. Like any good soap opera, there is lying, cheating, and the occassional celebrity cameo. It’s an entertaining watch, so you should check out the first two episodes below:
While gun control is not normally a topic you would see on this site, nor will I express my opinion on the subject, it was what naturally came to mind upon seeing this video. If there ever was an argument for it, this would be it. The details, A hardcore Redskins fan bet his Facebook fans that if the Saints won the game, his friends could shoot at his big screen television. Well, the Saints won, and the guy’s television was toast.
In case you are dragging on this Monday, like half of the population, you might want to check out this inspirational sports story. You have probably seen it before, but it cannot hurt to check it out again.
Many years ago, people thought that ESPN was crazy for broadcasting the World Series of Poker, and we all know how well that turned out for them. Now, Versus is hoping that same kind of magic will work with the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF). The WCOFF has been around for many years, and has become the premier high stakes fantasy football league.
The first episode aired on Thursday, October 15, but you can check out the first episode by checking out WCOFF TV. The show is well done, and surprisingly intriguing. For the fantasy industry, this is a breakthrough opportunity to make the game even more popular. Combine this show with FX’s new show The League, which is a sitcom built around a fantasy football league, these are great opportunities of watching fantasy football as entertainment.
Will it take off? Only time will tell. In the mean time, check out the video online, and let me know what you think.
From the “I couldn’t make this up if I tried” category, you can now get weekly fantasy football sleeper picks from three bikini-clad beauties in a hot tub. Hot Tub Sleeper Picks is a new video series offering fantasy advice.
Hot Tub Sleeper Picks is clearly tailoring to the mostly male fantasy football audience, and some find them offensive and/or chauvinistic. The videos are well produced, and the fantasy advice is backed up with rationale. Again, no one will watch for the fantasy advice alone.
Below is the Week 5 Sleeper Picks video, where the ladies nailed one of their three sleeper picks, after going two for three the week before.
While ESPN consistently promotes its free fantasy football games, it has not completely abandoned the pay model. Fanball and ESPN just unveiled their new $50,000 Fantasy Football game. It is a pay-to-play salary cap game with point-style scoring, where the winner will take home a cool $50,000. Not too shabby for a $39.95 entry fee.
More importantly, the fact that two of the major players in the fantasy industry are teaming together on a game should make you take note. ESPN has become the number two player (behind Yahoo!) by offering completely free fantasy games. Fanball is the leader in pay-to-play games under its own brand, and hosting white-label games, such as the Fantasy Football Open Championship. According to Ryan Houson, Fanball’s Vice-President of Business Development, that this game came about through, “Lots of discussions. We discussed this a lot and we are excited it finally got done.” It is a win-win deal for both sides. It allows ESPN to tap into the pay-to-play market, while giving Fanball another game to market to its existing customer base, and more importantly, the ability to market to the millions of fantasy players that play at ESPN.
Congratulations to both sides on the deal, and I look forward to see how this relationship develops. If this is successful, you better expect to see something come fantasy baseball season.
There are two kinds of fantasy players: those who rely on their gut, and those who rely on math. Fantasy Football Starters is for those that rely on math. Fantasy Football Starters. It is a web-based software tool that allows you to determine which players on your fantasy football team to start on a given week. Now, you can get if for free.
Fantasy Football Starters has become one of my favorite fantasy sites over the last few years. Using simple to understand displays, and straight-forward analysis, it works. I love the fact that Fantasy Football Starters allows fantasy players to test the entire site out for free. You can use its weekly lineup analyzer or trade analyzer to your hears delight. There is an upgraded version of Fantasy Football Starters that allows fantasy players mobile access and a few other bells and whistles.
Of course, if you do not see the value in statistical analysis, then you will have little use for Fantasy Football Starters. But, I do, and if you are like me, you will want to take a long look at making Fantasy Football Starters part of your weekly game preparations.
After running a successful test in Chicago, ESPN announced that it will be launching new local sports sites in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas. In just three months, ESPN Chicagohas surpassed the Chicago Tribune’s Sports section as the top sports section in Chicago. Three months, that is all it took. That has to be even faster than ESPN had anticipated.
While this may not necessary mean too much for fantasy, it is interesting to note on the ESPN Chicago landing page, fantasy is no where to be seen. I find that interesting since local sports coverage is probably one of the best sources of information about fantasy players. Not even a “Hot Local Fantasy Tip” box. Then again, the emphasis is on local news, and not fantasy.
On a mostly unrelated note, does anyone find the box to the Huffington Post’s Chicago-related news out of place? I am just surprised it is not a link to news reports from WLS-7, ABC’s Chicago affiliate.
From fantasy sports business to its unique culture, from industry news to some lighthearted fantasy humor, and even fantasy sports jobs and videos, Fantasy Ethos covers the world of fantasy sports for fantasy players and the fantasy professional.
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