- The NFL Los Angeles Chargers have announced ThriveFantasy as a daily fantasy sports partner.
- As part of the new relationship, ThriveFantasy is donating $25,000 to the Chargers Impact Fund charitable effort.
- ThriveFantasy offers player prop type DFS games in 32 US states and throughout Canada.
While many NFL football teams have enjoyed a significant financial windfall from sports betting they’re not all so fortunate. Pro football teams that are unfortunate enough to be in backwards states such as Texas and Florida have been forced to find creative ways to enjoy even a small revenue stream from sports betting. One of the most common methods is to sign on ‘daily fantasy sports’ partners in much the same way that other teams have ‘sports betting’ partners. This is a good deal for the DFS companies–not only do they get new business in the short term but they get to add to their player marketing database and gain brand awareness. It’s not lost on them that two of the biggest players in the US sports betting market started life as DFS platforms (FanDuel and DraftKings). NFL teams are happy to take all of the sponsorship revenue they can get their hands on and for the time being DFS sponsorships are better than nothing.
The Los Angeles Chargers are one such team. They’ve just announced a partnership deal with ThriveFantasy who will become an official ‘daily fantasy sports partner’ of the NFL team. ThriveFantasy offers player prop based DFS games in 32 US states and throughout Canada with markets in all of the major pro sports and e-sports. They haven’t officially announced any plans to get into the sports betting business but you have to think that every DFS company is entertaining that scenario. ThriveFantasy is one of a number of new companies that is built on the premise that more people don’t bet on sports and/or play fantasy games because they’re ‘too hard’. This premise is extremely flawed and there’s so far been scant evidence that the ‘DFS but dumber’ business model is viable. Here’s how they describe their platform:
ThriveFantasy is a Daily Fantasy Sports and Esports App for Player Props. Thrive offers contests for traditional sports such as the NFL, NBA and MLB, as well as Esports contests in CS:GO, Dota 2 and League of Legends with more titles coming soon. Thrive eliminates the countless hours of research by focusing on only the top-tier athletes that have the biggest impact on the game.
They even explain in detail what a ‘player prop’ is. Regardless, they’re one of several companies looking to build a business in states currently without sports betting. The problem is that even states without regulated sports betting options aren’t *really* without sports betting. The reality is that since the early 1990’s any bettor in any US state that wanted to wager on sports has been able to do so with little effort. You’ll occasionally hear political types talk about ‘pent up demand for sports betting’ in states in the process of launching their own regulated market but that’s complete nonsense.
ThriveFantasy also made a $25,000 donation to the Chargers Impact Fund, a charitable effort to help low income and needy residents of the Los Angeles community. Adam Weinstein, founder and CEO of ThriveFantasy, led with the charitable angle in his press release quote though he did get in some ‘fan engagement’ points for good measure:
“The Chargers are a great organization in so many ways. This partnership allows us to both give back to those who need it most, at a time when so many are hurting, as well as offer creative ways to help the Chargers engage their fanbase.”
From the sound of it, ThriveFantasy will be offering contests involving only Chargers players:
ThriveFantasy was created, said the firm, to give everyday fans a “better chance at winning” by challenging them to pick Chargers-only contests within its app to offer fans the chance to win tickets to Chargers Games at SoFi Stadium.
The notion that dumbed down contests give ‘everyday fans’ a ‘better chance of winning’ is an erroneous one–whether you’re betting on sports, playing DFS or investing in stocks if you’re not willing to put in the work and do the research you’re not going to be very successful. It doesn’t matter how ‘top tier’ or ‘high profile’ the market you’re dealing with might be. That being said, in a perfect world there would be companies that serve every viable sports betting and/or DFS niche. I’m just not sold on this one but I’ve been wrong before.
AG Spanos, Chargers President of Business Operations and the Chargers Impact Fund, is happy to have a new sponsor:
“We’re excited to welcome ThriveFantasy into the Chargers family, especially as fantasy sports continues to grow in popularity.”
“We also thank them for this wonderful donation to the Chargers Impact Fund which will truly help so many in the Los Angeles Community.”
“Thrive will give our fans a unique and engaging way to interact with their favorite team and, in this case, win cash prizes and tickets to Chargers Games at SoFi Stadium.”
ThriveFantasy is not the first gaming and/or ‘quasi gaming’ sponsor the Chargers have signed on. They have an existing sponsorship deal with the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California. More recently, they’ve brought in Esports Entertainment as their ‘official esports tournament platform provider’. Esports Entertainment is also in the online gaming/sports betting business as well as the esports industry. They’ve been looking to pivot into a more betting focused business as their NASDAQ ticker symbol ‘GMBL’ strongly suggests.
