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February 2017

LaLiga signs football deal with Fantasy Sports Ballr app

By Sports app
[toc]The first division of Spanish football, The leagueannounced a deal with a fantasy sports app, Ballerthis week.

It’s one of the biggest deals for a sport outside North America regarding a foray into fantasy sports. The European tour for golf and everyday fantasy sports site Play on entered a affair in 2016.

The deal for LaLiga and Ballr

LaLiga have announced that they have reached a sponsorship agreement with Baller “to develop a digital game over the next three years.”

Ballr is not like typical daily fantasy sports sites and apps, as there are no entry fees for players. But users choose players and compete to win prizes through the platform. It seems to have some “in-game” fancy elements in that users can make changes or choose players mid-game.

More from LaLiga and Ballr on the deal:

“This agreement with Ballr is a great opportunity for LaLiga fans to connect via digital media and it is also a fantastic way for them to connect with LaLiga Santander,said La Liga president Javier Tebas. As he has explained on other occasions, LaLiga wants to be close to its fans and that’s why efforts are being made in various areas to give them that extra edge during matches.

“LaLiga is committed to improving the fan experience and Ballr shares these values ​​with us, which is why we want to build a three-year sponsorship relationship together,” explained Adolfo Bara, General Manager of Sales, Marketing and of LaLiga sponsorship.

“With a global audience of 2.5 billion people in more than 180 countries, LaLiga is one of the best sports competitions in the world. At Ballr, we are confident that this agreement will help us achieve our goal of connecting the world through to live sports,” added Sam Jones, CEO of Ballr.

Ballr’s story

Founded in 2015, the company has focused mainly on Asian markets so far. Including Indonesia and Thailand. Last year, Ballr announced a partnership with Manchester City of the English Premier League. The company said in 2016 that it had raised $4 million in seed capital.

According to Ballr’s website, “The app will be launched in Asia in February 2017 and will cover all EPL matches. Other major leagues will be added in 2017 including La Liga, Serie A, CSL and La Ligue HAS. “

Interestingly, the site’s domain was once owned by a now-defunct DFS carrier that served the United States.

Many approaches to DFS outside of North America

There are currently a variety of different ways operators are trying to implement DFS in Europe, beyond Ballr’s free-to-play model. DFS has not imposed itself there as a consumer product:

  • DraftKings, FanDuel and yahoo all ported versions of their North American product to the UK.
  • DFS platforms such as Oulala, Mondobut and World Daily Fantasy Sports are in partnership with existing online gambling and sports betting operators, or attempt to do so.
  • PokerStars has just rolled out its own version of a proprietary DFS platform, BetStarsJackpots.

Which will work, if any? Or is there room for more than one type of fantastic product? We are still far from learning the answer to these questions.

Image credit: LevanteMedia / Shutterstock.com