Stepping further into the sports fantasy game arena, Yahoo! Inc. signed a
deal with SportingNews.com (TSN) to distribute its content and co-promote
both free and pay-to-play fantasy games covering professional football,
basketball, baseball and hockey.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo!said fantasy baseball will
launch in mid-February at fantasysports.yahoo.com and on the
Web site of St. Louis-based SportingNews.com. Financial
arrangements were not disclosed, but the move further diversifies Yahoo!’s
revenue stream.
Yahoo!’s fantasy sports area already features free auto racing, college
basketball, soccer and golf, as well as some pro football and basketball
games.
Within both parties’ for-pay fantasy games, players can access tools and
services that provide a competitive advantage, including TSN Draft Kits which
include extensive notes, player rankings, scouting reports, expert columns
and weekly lineups. In addition, players of the Yahoo! Sports fantasy games
can incorporate the real-time StatTracker application that shows current
stats standings and game scores.
“Fantasy sports have moved online at a phenomenal rate, illustrating how
perfect the Internet is for this skyrocketing business,” said Brian Grey,
director of business development at Yahoo! Sports. “We feel this relationship
with The Sporting News arms fantasy sports players with one of the most
competitive sets of games, tools and analysis available anywhere.”
Yahoo! and SportingNews.com already have an existing relationship whereby TSN
provides editorial coverage through daily “Expert Columns” on Yahoo! Sports’
front page, as well as notes, analysis and coverage that appear on league,
team, player and event-specific pages.
The Sporting News is a Wired World Company and part of Vulcan Ventures Inc.,
a company owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.