The Australian online daily fantasy sports and betting company TopBetta has secured valuable publicity and advertising opportunities through a deal with media giant Fairfax giving access to its Australian Community Media network of 140 websites, which serve 3.4 million readers.
Analyst Morgan Stanley estimates there are around 1.4 million fantasy players in Australia.
TopBetta chief executive Todd Buckingham said the concept of compiling a fantasy team and betting for a real jackpot was attractive to local punters. The company has 2,800 active users but plans to grow this to 10,000 or more users following the agreement with Fairfax.
Buckingham said that daily fantasy sports is popular in a world where players do not have the time to compete over a whole fantasy sports season.
The deal with Fairfax will see TopBetta offering million dollar prize pools across selected sports, with free rolls and A$10 fees that allow players to compete for tournament prizes of up to A$10,000.
TopBetta will launch the first Fairfax tournament in March to coincide with the start of the NRL and AFL seasons, and expects to sign more deals covering Sydney and Melbourne later this year. The company has also revealed that it is negotiating possible broadcast collaborations with Seven West Media.