The Barclays Premier League got underway at the weekend and an estimated 300,000 Irish fans of its official Fantasy version will have been anxiously checking on the performance of obscure Bosnian centre backs signed during the summer as well as the more predictable ascent of Man City and Man United to the first published League table.
Sport for Business is running a League this year with scoring starting from week three and we will have prizes for the overall winner as well as for those who perform best each month from September. If you want to enter a team you can do so here.
The fantasy games market is still dominated by US Sport but over 2.6 million have already signed up to the Premier League version, which is free to play, and many more to other variants of the idea, some of whom come with six figure prizes.
Another free to play version with a difference has been launched from a company based out of Dublin City University.
Available for Google Android and awaiting approval on Apple iOS, Beat Your Manager is the brainchild of Padraig Doolan, an eminent biostatistician who operates the business out of DCU’s Innovation and Enterprise centre, INVENT.
The game focuses on managing a particular club and comparing your team selection against that of the actual club manager such as Jose Mourinho or David Moyes, as well as against fellow players and fans of the same club.
Doolan uses an advanced statistical scoring method based on 100 performance metrics and the app gets around the problem of scoring players who don’t play in real life, by predicting their most likely score for that game.
Speaking to Silicon Republic last week Doolan said “I’m not looking to make money from the users, at least not initially. I’m looking to sell the consumer data. Broadcasters could use the data to generate greater engagement with fans before, during and after a game.”
“Betting companies could set up their own fantasy football leagues and competitions. Drinks and sports companies could use it to further promote their brands to a target market. There’s even the chance of in-app purchases for jerseys or other additional features in the long run.”
The firm is part of the Enterprise Ireland sponsored New Frontiers Entrepreneur Development Programme.
Sport for Business and Accenture will host a Round Table event on Data Analysis in Sport and Business in November. To find out more contact us today.
Sports Tourism Seminar at Croke Park (September 19th)
Sport for Business 20/20 at Ulster Bank HQ (October 8th)
The Business of Youth Sport Seminar (November 28th)
