Malta-based DFS firm beats six other finalists

Oulala, the daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator and B2B provider, clinched the ‘Best DFS Product’ award for the second year in a row at SBC Awards ceremony in London.

Hosted by former footballer Luis Garcia and sports presenter Matt Lorenzo, the event featured a full 28 award categories this year – 11 Operator/Affiliate awards and 17 Supplier awards.

Oulala was represented by Oliver Niner, the company’s Business Development Director. ”I would like to congratulate the SBC team for organising this splendid event as well as to express my sincere gratitude to the judges for showing their appreciation for our hard work,” said Niner after accepting the award. ”We are constantly striving to improve our product offer in order to provide our partners with the best Daily Fantasy Football platform on the market. Our latest deals with Marsbet, Safaribet Kenya and Bravio Gaming prove that we are moving in the right direction.”

A panel of 57 judges, most of whom are top executives in the business, selected Oulala as the best in class among seven finalists.

2017 has been another eventful and successful year for the Oulala team ‒ the company’s CEO, Valery Bollier won the ICE VOX Prophet award at ICE, while Oulala was also selected as a superfinalist at the World Football Summit StartCup Challenge by GSIC and the KPMG Game Changers Global Startup Competition. Additionally, Oulala was also nominated for ”Skill Games Supplier of the Year” at the EGR B2B Awards 2017 and for ”Fantasy Sports Operator Award” at the EGR Operator Awards 2017.

About Oulala

Oulala, a B2B-licensed fantasy sports provider, is the company behind an award-winning daily fantasy football management game launched in August 2013. Its highly innovative and advanced scoring system in fantasy football uses 70 different statistical criteria, which are then converted into fantasy points in real time accordingly. A monetised version of the site, launched at the end of 2015, is now used as a case study to present the efficiency of the game to future B2B partners. The latter may opt for a fully customised solution with API, Iframe and Turnkey delivery.

FanDuel has announced that Nigel Eccles has stepped down as chief executive, with former chief financial officer Matt King to move into the role.

Eccles led FanDuel since he co-founded the daily fantasy sports (DFS) company in 2009, but will now exit the business and also depart its board of directors in order to “focus on his next venture”.

King was chief financial officer at FanDuel from 2014 until 2016 and will now take up the position of chief executive and join the board with immediate effect.

Most recently, King served as president of regional operations and corporate development at Cottingham & Butler and, prior to his time with FanDuel, was also a director at Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts and Co., as well as a consultant at McKinsey & Company.

“With his strategic vision, range of experiences, and broad skillset, I cannot imagine a better individual to steer FanDuel forward,” Eccles said.

“With tremendous legislative strides in the past two years and the business moving into profitability in Q4, FanDuel is in a great position; I know Matt is the leader to capitalise on the momentum in the sports technology space to take FanDuel to the next level.”

The FanDuel Board also said in a statement: “Nigel achieved something remarkable, he completely redefined an existing industry; his passion, intelligence, and focus have been the bedrock of FanDuel’s success.

“We would like to offer our sincere thanks as he leaves to pursue his next venture.

“We are excited to work with Matt again; he is an exceptional executive who knows the business intimately, and has a clear vision for its next phase of growth.”

Speaking about his return to the company, King added: “Over the past eight years, Nigel has built one of the most disruptive companies in the sports world.

“I look forward to working with our talented team to make FanDuel the place for fans to engage with sports they love in new and exciting ways.”

Meanwhile, FanDuel has also confirmed the appointment of Carl Vogel as its new chairman of the board, while David Nathanson will now join the company as an independent director.

Vogel was previously vice-chairman and president of US satellite broadcaster Dish Network Corp., and also spent time as president and chief executive of Charter Communication.

Nathanson served in various senior roles during an 18-year spell with US media company 21st Century Fox, recently as head of business operations at Fox Sports Media Group.

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator DraftKings has claimed a market-first after expanding its partnership with Euroleague Basketball to begin live-streaming events to players in North America.

Customers in the region will be able to view coverage of Euroleague basketball games via the DraftKings mobile application, switching between the action and daily fantasy sports contests.

Euroleague Basketball organises and runs various continental club competitions in Europe, including its showpiece Euroleague tournament.

DraftKings said the streaming service should be available to players in the US and Canada from the first quarter of next year, with customers able to stream one free game per week or watch multiple games by playing in a $3 (€2.60) or above DraftKings fantasy sports contest.

In addition, DraftKings plans to create a variety of original content to support the new Euroleague DFS product.

“Our goal is to become the one-stop destination and mobile companion for sports fans globally,” DraftKings co-founder and chief executive Jason Robins said.

“Adding a live streaming component allows us to provide the best and most seamless product for our customers; this is what the future of sports looks like.”

Jordi Bertomeu, president and chief executive of EuroLeague Basketball, added: “Combining fantasy with live-streamed games is a perfect match, not only for the countless passionate Euroleague fans we have already, but for the many new ones who will now discover our unique brand of basketball through DraftKings.”

DraftKings’ Euroleague fantasy contests will be made available on a global basis for the first time from November 14.