EEG: Hi Kristoffer and thank you for this interview, firstly we would like to get a deeper overview of your profile in the igaming industry. How long have you been involved in this activity and why Fantasy sports?
Kristoffer: I just joined Fanteam.com recently after over ten years in the igaming industry, focused on traditional sports betting. Fantasy betting is intriguing to me as the market outside of the US is rather untouched and there are endless opportunities for development.
EEG: Fantasy sports have been around for a while now in the US, but it’s relatively a new product in the Europe countries. Currently each country has a different vision regarding licensing for it, however most countries allowing fantasy sports have already included fantasy sports in their traditional igaming licenses. How are you dealing with licensing in Europe and what is your opinion about DFS being regulated? Where can you operate?
Kristoffer: Since both UK and Malta have included Fantasy betting in their pool betting licenses we operate with these and are able to reach every country that are not themselves regulated. We are yet to explore the possibilities in such countries as Spain and Italy, but we are definitely looking in that direction. What is now happening in the us has been long overdue, their view on Fantasy betting has been ridiculous as there is, in my opinion, very little differentiating it from traditional sports betting.
EEG: Fantasy sports are starting to gain traction in the industry and it’s certainly starting to get a better appeal to customers. We are certainly intrigued by the looks and feel of FanTeam, where do you think it stand in the market currently?
Kristoffer: I think we are in a good position, we are obviously not in the same league as the US giants, but in Europe we have a pretty decent market share. We are keeping up with the competition and in our target markets, such as Russia and Finland, we are definitely growing to be the go-to fantasy product. I believe we are above most in terms of offer and technology, which is of course a great advantage.
EEG: Competition is good, it keeps brands on the edge and always wanting to innovate. Which are the key elements for which users love and rate the experience spent on your portal?
Kristoffer: Obviously our continuing growing offer is the key part that initially attracts our customers. We are currently in the midst of updating all front end design but we are already by far the easiest-to-use fantasy site in my opinion. With a dedicated mobile app around the corner we cover a big need and step up our focus on customer experience even further. One step we took to address this was to launch our site in six languages, we are the only operator that offers Russian, German, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian sites and support.
EEG: Do you think the DFS can become a complementary product for the larger sport betting operators?
Kristoffer: This is definitely my firm believe. We are finalizing our work on becoming B2B-ready and hope to deliver our game to our first operator in Q1 of 2016. The fantasy set-up is very similar to poker and I have always vied it as complementary product to traditional sports betting, not competition.
EEG: Fantasy Sports in no doubt can offer richer experience, have you guys managed to attract many players that have become loyal players and maybe advocate for the niche with friends?
Kristoffer: We do see that loyalty is much higher in our product compared to traditional sports betting, but at the same time we must be realistic and understand that this is partly because we are the only operator facing our target markets. Anyhow, the entire fantasy concept is usually a little less fast-paced than other products and I believe this helps the customers form a bond with their provider as they spend more time playing around with their teams.
EEG: What is your opinion about the Eastern European markets for DFS? Are you guys looking to expand in these markets in the near future?
Kristoffer: Depending on what you define as Eastern Europe the answer is a bit different. We have our site in Russian language and promote towards Russia and Ukraine currently. We are not yet viewing other parts of Eastern Europe actively but with our B2B product in the works, we hope to see further cooperation in those areas.
EEG: Where do you see FanTeam.com and of course Fantasy Sports in 5 years from now?
Kristoffer: Five years is a long time. I would say that we maintain and develop our position as the leading provider in northern and hopefully Eastern Europe as well. At the same time I believe we will deliver our fantasy product to several platforms and standalone operators as a complementary product to their offer. Fantasy sports will continue to grow steadily but I do not foresee a new poker boom, this product will develop at a steadier pace.
