South Dakota punter wins a million online
News on 18 Dec 2013
News on 18 Dec 2013
FanDuel, the one-day fantasy sports betting site for real money, has announced that one of its players has turned a $10 bet into a million dollars playing in its one-day fantasy football championship.
Player Travis Spieth of South Dakota says in a Fanduel press statement:
“I qualified as a finalist after my first week playing on FanDuel, and was thrilled to be able to put together the winning team during the championship this weekend!”
Between September and November 2013 FanDuel held a series of championship qualifier tournaments where nearly 57,000 players submitted more than 226,000 teams to the FFFC for the chance to win the grand prize of $1 million, or a share of the $2 million in consolation prizes along the way.
The 48 finalists from across the United States and Canada were flown to Las Vegas for the competition and a luxury VIP weekend which included private parties, the opportunity to meet football hall of famer Jerry Rice and a Sunday football viewing party in the sports capital of the world, Lagasse’s Stadium, to determine the winner.
“With more than 35 million Americans participating in fantasy sports leagues, we created FanDuel as a place for fans to put their knowledge to work with the opportunity to win real money in a one-day fantasy contest, with no season-long commitment,” said Tom Griffiths, Co-Founder and VP Product, FanDuel.
“This year’s FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship marks a huge milestone for FanDuel as we award the first ever one-day $1 million payout.”
The FFFC tournament is part of $150 million in payouts by FanDuel in 2013, more than tripling payouts from 2012. Since its 2009 launch, FanDuel has paid out close to $200 million in winnings, and today averages more than $6 million in weekly payouts.
