Fantasy sports startup awards million dollar prize

US-based fantasy sports startup DraftKings has awarded Los Angeles resident James Tran the $1 Million grand prize in its Fantasy Football Millionaire final, the top prize in a $3.1M prize pool available to daily fantasy football contestants.

Alan Zeidenfeld, also from Los Angeles, was the runner-up, winning $350,000.

The win was determined by the NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons earlier this week that saw Tran ultimately win by less than one point.

Tran plans on using the prize money to pay off his mortgage, take a holiday and make a donation to charity.

“DraftKings is thrilled to have hosted the largest fantasy football contest in history. Congratulations to James for his million dollar win, and congratulations to Al for winning the runner up prize of $350,000. Both had an unbelievable showing, and it was just amazing to watch this come down to the final plays of Monday Night Football. We could not have asked for a more exciting event,” said DraftKings chief executive officer, Jason Robins.

DraftKings closed a $24 Million Series B round of funding in November led by Redpoint Ventures and said in its two years of operation it now boasts over a million users across its mobile and online properties.

Related and similar