New daily fantasy sports game unveiled by NBA
News on 23 Dec 2016
News on 23 Dec 2016
The National Basketball Association in the USA has launched a new fantasy game based on NBA games. Titled InPlay, it appears to be a development of FanDuel Turbo, a product that was developed but never launched.
Collaboration between the two organisations would not be unrealistic – the NBA has an equity interest in the daily fantasy sports company.
In a launch statement Thursday, the NBA’s digital media chief, Melissa Rosenthal Brenner, said:
“We are always looking at ways to enhance the viewing experience, drive people to tune in to our broadcasts and increase the time spent watching live games, NBA InPlay has the potential to meet these objectives while offering our fans an engaging, new way to experience the game.”
The NBA calls InPlay a “new real-time mobile fantasy game that uses cutting-edge technology powered by FanDuel to synchronize with the live national broadcasts of NBA games.”
It will be available for all NBA games broadcast on national networks, and each NBA game telecast provides the opportunity for players to launch the app and compete with others.
The user selects one player per quarter and accumulates points based on that player’s performance. Each quarter, users can strategically activate four “turbo boosts” which last 48 seconds and exponentially multiply point totals for the selected players. Success is directly related to viewing live NBA games and making in-game, real-time decisions in order to win.
However, the tetchy issue of gambling in the USA means that InPlay is not based on real-money entry fees – but prizes will be awarded, with some as high as a $35,000 Autotrader credit from one sponsor, or tickets to top NBA games.
