DraftKings is getting extra concerned in daily fantasy for fight sportsbook and combined martial arts with the announcement of its buy of the DFS platform Kountermove.
DraftKings’ announcement
DraftKings already provides combined martial arts fantasy contests and has a partnership with the UFC. However DraftKings apparently sees worth within the Kountermove platform and its different, non-MMA choices.
Kountermove, when it comes to customers, has a fraction of DraftKings’ consumer base, and there’s probably a number of cross-over between the 2 for his or her MMA contests.
Phrases of the deal weren’t reported.
Right here is a part of a press launch by DraftKings on the transfer:
DraftKings, the world’s main daily fantasy sportsbook platform, in the present day introduced its acquisition of Kountermove – a number one supplier of daily fantasy MMA, boxing, kickboxing, and professional jiu jitsu competitions.
The transaction builds on DraftKings present platform, additional advancing the corporate’s management place in fight daily fantasy sportsbook and accelerating the corporate’s total progress within the fight sportsbook area. With the transaction, DraftKings expects to additional advance the extent of competitors presently offered by the corporate whereas accelerating its strategic aims in rising the engagement with fight sportsbook.
“At DraftKings our mission is to deliver sportsbook followers nearer to the sportsbook that they love, and we’re excited to broaden our fight sportsbook choices,” mentioned Matt Kalish, Co-Founder and Chief Income Officer of DraftKings. “The Kountermove workforce has constructed an incredible product with an enthusiastic fan base and we’re excited to develop with them. “ Fantasy sportsbook give contestants the chance to play the function of a common supervisor, making a fantasy lineup of real-world athletes in an try and earn extra “fantasy factors” than opponents.
In daily fantasy MMA, factors are awarded for important strikes, advances (e.g., mount, again management), takedowns, reversals or sweeps, knockdowns, knockout or submission finishes or a call win, and in daily fantasy boxing, for important strikes, knockdowns, knockout or TKOfinishes or a call win. Brian Knapp, Co-Founder and CEO of Kountermove mentioned, “We based Kountermove out of a ardour for martial arts – as two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu sparring companions with black belts and greater than 30 years of martial arts coaching mixed – hoping to contribute to the game in some significant means. Our workforce now becoming a member of the chief in daily fantasy MMA is the proper fruits of our earliest imaginative and prescient.”
Kountermove’s URL already redirects customers to DraftKings with directions of methods to switch their accounts.
DraftKings’ MMA background
DraftKings first began providing DFS contests for combined martial arts a little bit over a 12 months in the past. And the positioning has seen progress within the phase ever since.
The positioning indicated precisely how severe it was about MMA by signing a take care of the UFC final February that made it the group’s official daily fantasy sportsbook accomplice. As a part of that deal, DraftKings typically seems all through TV broadcasts for UFC occasions.
Blended martial arts, by itself, is a small fraction of the entire daily fantasy sportsbook market that’s dominated by contests based mostly on soccer, basketball and baseball.
Kountermove and new markets?
The Kountermove buy continues to sign DraftKings’ want to discover new and generally area of interest components of the fantasy sportsbook market. DraftKings had beforehand rolled out DFS for NASCAR, eSports and has a number of success with its golf product.
Whereas MMA is on the core of the Kountermove product, the acquisition offers DraftKings a simple entry level into different fight sportsbook. How profitable a foray into non-MMA sportsbook like boxing could be is a variable; fantasy for boxing has remained, to this point, a really area of interest providing.
MMA, to this point, has remained a sport that many DFS websites haven’t tried to faucet into.
The acquisition additionally comes on the heels of DraftKings going dwell within the UK for fantasy sportsbook.
Whereas FanDuel has caught usually to the core fantasy sportsbook — soccer, basketball, baseball and hockey — it did buy the fantasy eSports website AlphaDraft final 12 months. That website nonetheless stays a standalone product.