Mark Cuban Acquires Interest in DFS Analytics Company

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Tuesday, January 12th, 2016 | Written by Shane Larson

Mark Cuban is one of the USA’s most successful businessman, with a large chunk of his estimated $3 billion fortune having been amassed through his knowledge of the tech industry. When Cuban speaks, others take note, and recently the 57 year old entrepreneur signaled his thoughts on the future of the daily fantasy sports (DFS), after investing in a company which specializes in producing analytical software which helps DFS players improve their overall performances. Commenting on his investment in Fantasy Labs, Mark Cuban explained:

“The explosive growth of fantasy sports, and its involvement with new categories of competition like eSports, increases the need for high-end resources like the platform offered by Fantasy Labs.”

Last year, Cuban also invested in eSports betting company Unikrn, with the billionaire’s bullish views about daily fantasy sports coming despite the recent setbacks facing the industry in the US. Nevertheless, the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks owner sees a promising future for eSports gambling companies stateside, in addition to the NBA’s position in that emerging market.

DFS Industry Shaken in 2015

Last year, DraftKings and FanDuel saw their popularity soar in the US, with the two DFS companies having poured millions of dollars into advertising and promotions in order to better market their products. Their advertising blitz campaigns, however, subsequently attracted the attention of authorities, who then started investigating their activities, and questioning whether their product should be considered a game of skill, or simply a luck-based gambling game.

Since then, Nevada has stopped accepting bets from state residents, while New York has been following a similar path, with NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman also seeking to retrieve monies earned “by the fraudulent and deceptive acts and the repeated fraudulent acts and persistent illegality” of DraftKings and FanDuel. Other states in the US have also launched investigations of their own.

Cuban Bullish about DFS

Despite the current setbacks, Mark Cuban remains upbeat about the prospects of DFS betting stateside. His investment in a company which produces third-party software enabling users extra research in selecting their team rosters thus allows him to indirectly enter the market without having to expose himself to the contentious issues currently surrounding DFS contests. Cuban also had some harsh words to say to DFS opponents, such as Schneiderman, stating the following:

“It (DFS) has made watching our games on TV more fun. Hopefully, the stupidity and hypocrisy in a few states will be cleared up in the courts shortly.”

DFS Not Gambling

According to the outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner, those people who believe that daily fantasy sports is gambling are idiots, and have either never played the game before, or “have other political agendas.” Illustrating his point, Cuban said that his latest business acquisition, Fantasy Labs, thrives by doing analytical research for daily fantasy sports, and that “If it was gambling like the lottery, you wouldn’t need to do that. You would just play the game and take your chances.”

Whilst acknowledging that any drive towards legislation will take time, especially with the “grandstanding” position currently being taken by “a few district attorneys”, Cuban says that the spread of gambling across the USA is inevitable. Keenly aware that a lot of ground still has to be covered before DFS betting is accepted in the US, Cuban highlights the fact that currently more than 100 countries across the globe permit sports betting, and that even if the US is slow on the uptake, the rest of the world still presents a wide open and lucrative market for his various related businesses.

Investing in Gambling Growth

Mark Cuban has not just been investing in the DFS industry, but the entrepreneur has also been acquring interests in a number of other gaming companies, including Virtuix Omni and Magic Leap. Despite the legal challenges facing eSports gambling expansion in the US, Cuban is convinced that the gambling markets is well positioned for growth, and that in the near future Americans will be permitted to gamble on more than the traditional sports allowed today. As Cuban explains:

“The explosive growth of fantasy sports, and its involvement with new categories of competition like eSports, increase the need for high-end resources like the platform offered by Fantasy Labs. I’m excited to be involved with a company that is working to advance an industry that is poised for huge growth.”