Yahoo today announced the launch of a new Yahoo Daily Fantasy game in the UK, offering sports fans one-day and one-week fantasy contests for big daily cash prizes. Available on desktop and via an app, Yahoo Daily Fantasy covers all top flight Premier League and Champions League football fixtures, with additional leagues coming soon.
Yahoo is already a leader in the fantasy sports market and the game exists in the US, where users spend 30 billion minutes a year playing fantasy sports on Yahoo. The only technology company of its scale to offer its own Daily Fantasy experience, the UK rollout expands its immersive sports experience for fans.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy allows football fans to use genuine knowledge of the game to pick a new squad of 11 players for every Premier League and Champions League match-day. Players can compete in contests every match day, rather than tinker with one or two changes a week and hope they pay off. This enables users to dip in and out of various types of contests throughout the season, without being at a disadvantage if they miss a ‘game week’.
There are several types of contest players can choose to enter. Group contests are the traditional option, competing against everyone else in the pot, whilst 50/50 and head-to-head contests offer an exciting alternative. A 50/50 contest allows players to get their hands on a share of the winnings by finishing in the top half. Or if players are looking for more direct competition, head-to-head pits one competitor against another in a straight battle where the most points wins.
A new free-to-enter Yahoo Cup format with cash prizes totalling £25k will also offer a more traditional way of playing fantasy as players’ daily totals are accumulated throughout the rest of the season. Launching on the 4th February, the 15-round competition will see a whopping 125 winners win a share of £1k each week. In the final week 250 winners will share £10k between them, with a top prize of £5k up for grabs.
The Yahoo Daily Fantasy Football game will also serve as an indispensable companion to users, notifying them of any late injuries or omissions, and giving them the ability to make changes right up until kick-off and see their points total update in real-time.
Whilst the Daily Fantasy Sports sector can be a very serious pursuit for some, Yahoo aims to ease users in, offering beginner-only contests, allowing players to find their feet, playing for small cash prizes or just for practice. However, the game also caters for those who do operate at more of an expert level, playing for bigger prize pots in veteran contests, whilst the free-to-enter Yahoo Cup will pit all abilities together as players bid for a cash prizes.
Nigel Clarkson, UK MD, Yahoo said, “For nearly two decades, Yahoo Sports has entertained fans around the world with the most engaging content, news and fantasy experiences. We are thrilled to be launching this new Daily Fantasy game to the UK market. The industry has been thriving in the US and we thought it was about time that fans on this side of the Atlantic were given the chance to get involved. Premier League Fantasy games are already a huge business, but with daily play and real money up for grabs at Daily Fantasy Sports, there’s even more to play for.”
Josh Holman, Director of International Product, Yahoo adds, “We’ve created a game that we think encompasses everything fans want in a fantasy game. Everyone dreams of creating teams of their favourite players, but this brings in a tactical element too with money on the line, that’s where being able to switch players in and out daily for different games is so important. The different modes of contest also ensure that there is always variety in your game-playing experience.”
Daily Fantasy Sports games have been a major part of sport fandom in the US for over 20 years now, with nearly 60 million regular active users. The UK too, has seen an increase in popularity for fantasy sports with around 15 million people regularly playing some form of fantasy game.
