FantasyLife – a rapidly growing fantasy sports and sports betting media company founded by Matthew Berry – recently announced the closing of a $2 million dollar friends and family round from strategic investors, including:
— Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills, fantasy football superstar
— Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals, fantasy football superstar
— Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals, fantasy football superstar
— Roger Ehrenberg, Co-Owner of the Miami Marlins and Real Salt Lake, Founder Eberg Capital, 2021 Forbes Midas Touch List as Top Tech Investor
— Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers, fantasy football superstar
— Chris Grove, Partner of Eilers & Krejcik Gaming
— Chad Hurley, Co-Founder and former CEO of YouTube
— Tony Khan, Owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Fulham Football Club, All Elite Wrestling, and TruMedia Networks
— LRMR Ventures, the family office of global icon LeBron James and entrepreneur and CEO Maverick Carter
— John Legend, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award Winner
— Kip Levin, CEO FoxBet, former CEO of Flutter’s US business, former President/COO FanDuel
— George Pyne, CEO of Bruin Capital
— Alec Scheiner, Founder of Otro Capital, former Partner, RedBird Capital, former President, Cleveland Browns
— Jason Stein, Managing Partner of SC Holdings
— Casey Wasserman, Chairman and CEO of Wasserman Media Group
Fantasy Life – which is named after Berry’s New York Times Best-Selling book – started as a daily email newsletter that informs over 350,000 subscribers what they need to know about fantasy and sports betting in a five-minute read. The company launched FantasyLife.com, an industry leading website with over two million unique monthly visitors, that offers 100 percent free tools and content like Projections, Free NFL Bets, Prop Tables, a suite of Data Tools, the first robust Best Ball Hub, NFL Player and Team Pages, and a new fantasy league punishment generator. And all of that plus Rankings from a team of analysts that have won independent accuracy challenges give users the ultimate fantasy and betting experience.
Co-Founder and CEO of The SpringHill Company Maverick Carter, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, and Wasserman Media Agency Chairman and CEO Casey Wasserman will also be joining the Advisory Board to guide Fantasy Life in becoming a top sports media brand. And the Board is comprised of 15 industry-leading business and media executives, including:
— Ryan Detert and Chris Detert, CEO and CCO of Influential
— Matthew Hiltzik, CEO of Hiltzik Strategies
— John Kosner, four-decade sports media veteran, former head of ESPN digital, advisor to Apple News
— Dave Nemetz, Co-Founder of Bleacher Report
— Geoff Reiss, Launched ESPN.com and ESPN Fantasy; former Yahoo Sports GM
— Austin Rief, Co-Founder and CEO of Morning Brew
— Adam Ryan, CEO of Workweek & former President of The Hustle
— Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of theSkimm
The media company produces content for a number of large media partners such as SiriusXM (a 5 day a week show from 11am ET to 1pm ET on their Fantasy Sports Radio channel) and Meta, where almost 600,000 people play Fantasy Life Pick n’ Play on Facebook.
Fantasy Life is thrilled to announce major partnerships for this year with industry-leading brands such as Webex by Cisco as Official Technology & Collaboration Partner, Buffalo Wild Wings, Epic Seats, and the return of key partners BetMGM and Underdog Fantasy. The company is focused on developing strategic, long-term partnerships through its content and dedication to its users.
KEY QUOTES:
“One of the primary reasons I came to NBC Sports was their promise to allow me to continue to operate Fantasy Life, and they’ve been incredible from the start. Going from working with and in some cases, actually drafting to my fantasy teams some of the most respected entrepreneurs and superstars in the world of sports and entertainment to now having them invested in my life’s mission of helping people win their leagues and bets is truly incredible. I have loved every second of the last year with the Fantasy Life team, bootstrapping our way to profitability and can’t wait to continue to build on that success.”
— Fantasy Life founder Matthew Berry
“Fantasy Life sits at the intersection of three mega trends that drive our investment thesis: live sports; sports betting; and social engagement. Matthew is a social media savant who has built a rabid community and is poised to take advantage of how people engage with and consume nextgen sports media.”
— Roger Ehrenberg, Fantasy Life investor and Managing Partner of Eberg Capital
“We are providing the world’s biggest brands access to some of the most loyal and highly engaged audiences. With sponsorships, brand integrations, and custom tools, Fantasy Life is focused on developing strategic, long-term partnerships through its content for all users. We are proud of the work we have accomplished and look forward to other A-List brands joining the Fantasy Life family.”
— Fantasy Life CEO Eliot Crist
