Amaya Gaming Plans To Use Victiv As New DFS Platform

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Friday, August 21st, 2015 | Written by Adam Brown

As you may be aware, Amaya Gaming group recently purchased the Texas daily fantasy sports service ‘Victiv’, which it will soon re-brand under the admittedly better sounding new name of ‘StarsDraft’. Very shortly, StarsDraft is then expected to link up with the PokerStars platform and initially launch in a select number of U.S. markets, which has a number of individuals pretty excited, as this basically means that StarsDraft will actually become PokerStar’s daily fantasy sports unit. Commenting on the recent development, Victiv CEO Matthew Primeaux, said:

“We intend to capitalize on what we believe is strong crossover between online poker players and daily fantasy sports. PokerStars is the most-trusted brand in online gaming and brings unmatched security, customer support and technical infrastructure that we believe all players can rely on.”

More About StarsDraft

StarsDraft is expected to launch in the next few weeks, with many believing it will be ready in time for the 2015/2016 NFL season. This means that StarsDraft needs to be up and running by the 10th of September. Despite the fact that the NFL only has 16 games per season, it is still considered the main generator of profits in the entire DFS industry, so no wonder they’re pushing for a 10th of September release.

PokerStars iGaming License

Daily Fantasy Sports occupies a unique position in the US in that it is a type of internet gambling that is legal throughout the nation, except in an extreme minority of states. But what about PokerStars? Well, currently the online poker operator is in limbo awaiting on a New Jersey iGaming licensing, which it hopes to receive by the end of 2015. This is especially relevant as New Jersey is the most amenable state for PokerStars in the entire US market. Pennsylvania and California, on the other hand, are seriously considering enforcing a “bad actor” ban on PokerStars, if they ever get round to approving online poker legislation.

What Next For StarsDraft?

The plans for StarsDraft is for it to combine the experienced and innovative DFS team behind Victiv, with Amaya Gamings’ expansive customer base, and wealth of online gaming experience and knowledge. It will be a strong crossover that basically provides the best of both worlds. They intend to provide customers with fantastic customer support, innovative gaming technology, a great infrastructure, and top of the range security to provide the ultimate online gaming and betting experience.

What About The Competition?

The DFS market is extremely lucrative, and for this reason, competition is fierce. Both Yahoo and CBS recently launched their own DFS services a few months back, both of which started out pretty strong. With over a decade in the business, both these DFS databases will take some beating. Despite this, however, FanDuel and DraftKings continue to lead the industry, with the companies valued at $1.5 billion, and $900 million respectively. After this, there is a sharp drop-off in business, with a number of DFS sites jockeying for market share, including DraftDay, Fantasy Aces, and Victiv, all of whom can make a claim to the number three spot.

Impressively, Victiv has only been in the DFS market for less than twelve months, having decided to try its luck back in September of 2014. Despite this, it has quickly been able to establish itself as the big guns in the DFS market, beating numerous competitors, which is quite a feat for a company just starting out in the market. Needless to say, even the number 3 spot would prove incredibly lucrative, as analysts have predict the DFS industry will be worth around $2.5 billion annually by the year 2020, a figure worth almost as much as the USA’s regulated internet gambling market. However, don’t be surprised to see the Amaya Gaming owned StarsDraft ruling the DFS roost in the near future.

Taking The Acquisition Route

Commenting on PokerStars’ purchase of Victiv and the operators forage into the DFS market, Eilers Research’s Adam Krejcik explained:

“Amaya’s entrance into DFS sector is more or less what we expected. Specifically, the company went the acquisition route versus building a product out organically, the latter would have been nearly impossible with the ‘deadline’ they set for themselves, and they will not be engaging in any type of sales and marketing war with the likes of FanDuel and DraftKings.”