-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
ESPN investigates the implosion of Draftkings & Fanduel (Fantasy sports betting)
- Thread starter Tripon
- Start date
- Status
whitemex88
Member
Wow. At least we won't have to tolerate all those fucking ads in literally every medium this football season.
whitemex88
Member
You have those reversed
shira
Member
The same 10-15 ex-poker/math savant people were winning 99% of the money
Which should be proof enough that it's a game of skill rather than a game of chance. Though I'm not sure if that's really a distinction that really holds weight in these legal battles.
whitemex88
Member
Don't forget the employees at one point we're using their"insider" information to play on the competitors site making a killing there too
It's still gambling, same as poker.
outunderthestars
Banned
Good. Can't wait for them both to vanish.
old
Member
While true, they intentionally misrepresented the actual "battles". The commercials presented it as two regular joe schmoes making bets off their gut feelings.
When in reality, you were competing against an ex-commodities trading expert who has hundreds of spreadsheets fed through custom software to generate thousands of bets a day.
aussiedude08
Member
well lasted longer then i expected after some states banned them.
didnt ESPN and Fox both put like $300M each into one of them.
didnt ESPN and Fox both put like $300M each into one of them.
I hate those commercials.
Betting on the metagame wasn't profitable before. Now there's enough people interested that it is, so companies have started moving towards that in order to improve.
Squirrel Killer
Member
How in the world do you run a gambling business and lose money?
Betting on the properties of the game instead of the game itself. It's really just a dodge since it's just gambling on a collection of some stats (i.e. I bet the stats of players A, B, C, etc... will beat the stats of your players X, Y, Z, etc...)
Probably the advertising arms race between the two.
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
First post nails it again.
This is wrong in a pretty major way:
Except... DraftKings just did raise money from a major investor.
And the fog bank of the industry's uncertain future has made it nearly impossible for either company to raise new money. (FanDuel's auditors have raised "significant doubts" about the company's future if more states do not declare daily fantasy sports legal.)
Except... DraftKings just did raise money from a major investor.
Squirrel Killer
Member
So just up the rake. Sure there's a back and forth to find a profitable equilibrium, but you'd think such a stat-heavy company could work Excel enough to find it PDQ.
Surely, these guys weren't dumb enough to buy their line that this wasn't gambling and couldn't see that this was going to get regulated in due time. Worst. Forecasting. Ever.
Acerac
Banned
I never gambled online, but always found this strange as well.
Violence Jack
Member
I had almost forgotten it was fantasy football time since I'm so used to hearing their annoying "DAMN!" ads all over the radio.
xDUMPWEEDx
Banned
Yep, the whole thing was a scam. Joe Sixpack isn't the smartest guy in the world, and is slow to catch on. But after losing a bunch of money it looks like he finally did.
The great Jon Oliver segment on this topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq785nJ0FXQ
Okay that's what I thought, but I'm a little confused cos I thought betting on meta games IS illegal, and hence some Draft Kings, etc recent legal issues.
Squirrel Killer
Member
Their argument is that since you're choosing which stats to use to make up your bet, it's a game of skill and therefore not subject to gambling laws.
casinoman921
Member
Yep. The big-money tournaments are heavily stacked against the casuals since the rich people max out their entries using their simulations and spreadsheets. Plus, you don't really win much in those unless your in like the top 10. Last year in a $1 tourney, I placed 2,254 out of 172,500...and only won $5. And it's REALLY hard to get up that high.
Casuals are better off playing the cheap $1 head-to-heads and 50/50s to build up their bankroll.
I'm convinced they wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place if their heavy marketing didn't piss everyone off.
whitemex88
Member
I was just thinking about this. If only they just kept the ads the way they were before last year, they could have enjoyed a few more years of a happy business.
It's all almost ironic
I played on DraftKings *very* casually last football season... started w/ $15 and ended up w/ $71... definitely in the big time there!
What really shocked me was how many free entries they gave out to players like me trying to entice me to play more. I think I got just under half a dozen free entries into the Millionaire Maker contest. One other entry I did have to pay for, but for buying that one I got free entries for the $3 tournament I had been playing for the last six weeks of the season.
Between the professionals taking the top prizes and the rake being high to throw out so many freebies, they had to have been taking J6P to the cleaners on a weekly basis.
Squirrel Killer
Member
How much do the freebies really cost them though? I've never played, so I don't know the exact structure, but they're surely not going to match up two free riders 1-on-1. They've got the stats to know who's likely to win, so they can match free riders up to poor performers to minimize how much they have to pay out. I would imagine tourney payouts are based on paid entries, so adding a few thousand free riders costs them only CPU time.
Same but with fan dual. Made a whopping $18.00 by end of the nfl season.
As a casual I would just play 2-3 $5 head to head games and an occasional top half payout 40 group games.
Was more or less enjoyable- kept me tuned into games on Sunday's.
Easier for me than a full fantasy league. Looking forward to this year. Shrugs.
Generalpsyduck
Banned
Didn't espn have a contract with one of those sites?
Nearly every company that is remotely connected to sports had a deal with them. Even individual teams from NBA NFL etc. The fact that they went in so hard on advertising was ultimately their downfall because they caught the governments attention quick. Looks like not much came of it though.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
ESPN is investigating a company that paid them millions in annoying ads?
Yeah this. Who cares what happens to them as long as those ads are gone too.
Basileus777
Member
Huh? It's severely damaged the entire industry and the effects of legal and legislative action are very much in their infancy.
I made a couple hundred bucks playing in the league of legends, and NHL 50/50s, and the normal one (cant remember what its called) last year. the $1 50/50s are hella boring and time consuming to win compared to the payout, and the normal ones are basically just throwing money away unless you are a pro.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
No more podcast ads!
- Status