Phil Ivey and Boom Fantasy Ready For DFS Launches

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Monday, February 8th, 2016 | Written by Stephen Smith

The future of daily fantasy sports betting is uncertain. Last year, questions about ethics arose related to the operations of DraftKings and FanDuel, and many states either are in the midst of evaluating the legality of daily fantasy sports betting, or are currently investigating the sites. New York’s Attorney General has even filed charges against DFS sites for fraud and is threatening to levy fines in the amount of $3 billion against them. With the possibility that many US states may end up banning daily fantasy sports because they feel it constitutes gambling, it may seem like an unwise time to be investing in the industry; however, a number of new daily fantasy sports betting ventures are slated to launch soon amongst all of the controversy.

Phil Ivey and White Label DFS

One of the most talked about new names in daily fantasy sports betting is PhilIveyDFS, a new daily fantasy sports betting venture owned by Phil Ivey. Those who are familiar with poker have no doubt heard his name before as he has won a total of 10 World Series of Poker bracelets. Now, Ivey is hoping to profit from daily fantasy sports betting with his own site, which is a part of the iTEAM network.

iTeam is a white label provider of daily fantasy sports betting. What this means is that the company provides the sites and resources for operators to launch their own daily fantasy sports betting sites. PhilIveyDFS will be a branded site that will operate off the iTeam system. Reportedly, the site will have $20,000 pro basketball daily fantasy sports betting weekly competitions once the site goes live in February. Commenting on the latest arrangement, iTEAM CEO Gabe Hunterton said:

“We are always looking for quality brands and partners in the world of fantasy sports. There is no elite-level individual that fans want to follow and learn from more than Phil Ivey. Adding the Phil Ivey brand will substantially increase network-wide player liquidity and prize pools.”

iTEAM is not the only company that offers white label daily fantasy sports betting services. Star Fantasy Leagues, which provides services for Monmouth Park in New Jersey, and DraftDay are two others in the space. These white label companies are meant to do business only in places where daily fantasy sports betting is state regulated or approved.

Boom Fantasy

Boom Fantasy is another new daily fantasy sports betting venture that recently raised $1.4 million in funding from private investors, including Zynga CEO Mark Pincus. The format of Boom Fantasy is slightly different than what players are accustomed to with DraftKings and FanDuel. To win in a tournament, players must answer 7 to 50 questions, such as deciding whether or not players will be able to score a certain number of points in an upcoming quarter.

The format of Boom Fantasy makes it harder for people to win just by crunching numbers and using statistics. It is meant to level the playing field and ensure that true football fans with knowledge of the game are the ones who walk away winners. As Boom Fantasy CEO Stephen A. Murphy explains:

“Just as DraftKings and FanDuel improved upon the old fantasy sports model, we are doing the same with daily fantasy sports. At Boom, we cater to real fans who actually want to watch the games – not necessarily the number-crunchers who use complicated algorithms to outperform other lineups.”

In this way, Boom Fantasy hopes to avoid being stuck with the “gambling” label that is causing problems for other providers. Still, some people argue that there is still a large amount of chance involved with making the predictions that the questions ask. Only time will tell how government regulators will perceive the site.

The Future Of DFS in the US

2015 saw an unprecedented rise in the popularity of daily fantasy sports betting stateside, but it also turned out to be a double-edged sword as the industry soon attracted the attention of gambling lawmakers. As a result, a number of states subsequently ruled DFS wagering as a form of gambling, and banned the pastime pending the introduction of any future legislation and licensing regime. These states currently include Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Nevada, and Texas.

On the other side of the coin, a number of other states are seriously considering regulating fantasy sports, with front runners vying to become the first US state to do so including Pennsylavia, and California, with Virginia also having recently joined the fray after approving a DFS bill, HB775, in its State House subcommittee.