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Draftea, which considers itself the first daily fantasy sports firm in Spanish-speaking Latin America, is bringing fantasy football to the area through a new agreement with the National Football League (NFL) and the NFL Players Association, which is a workers organization representing the league’s athletes.
Prior to entering Stanford University to earn his MBA and establishing Draftea, Draftea’s creator, Alán Jaime Misrahi, was a professional soccer player in Mexico’s third level. According to what Jaime Misrahi said to TechCrunch, Mexico is the second-biggest market worldwide for the NFL.
He went on to say that everyone in Mexico supports their own local soccer team, European team, NFL team, NBA team, and baseball team, making for an unusual cultural phenomenon.
He also stated that there are fans of all four major American sports in Mexico. Sports are something that the Mexican populace cares deeply about.
Discreet Beginnings with a Different Approach
The company came out of hiding in January of this year with a daily fantasy sports (DFS) platform on which Mexican fantasy soccer tournaments could be played.
In contrast to more typical sports betting companies like Grupo Caliente in Mexico or Betcris in Costa Rica, Draftea’s DFS product distinguishes out since users may participate in contests on a daily basis, much like in real life.
Draftea is a different kind of sports betting platform from Betcris and Grupo Caliente in that instead of pitting players against a central bookmaker, it pits them against each other in head-to-head contests.
Draftea’s local origins and the social character of the platform have served to separate it from other participants in an area where sports allegiances run deep.
According to Jaime Misrahi, this marks a unique international collaboration for the league and is one of the reasons why the National Football League (NFL) decided to work with the business to establish its own “NFL by Draftea” program.
Users will be able to pick their lineups for the next NFL season this autumn thanks to the launch of “NFL by Draftea,” which has already begun.
Draftea is aware of the importance and potential value that players may bring to the realm of fantasy sports.
Terése Whitehead who is the vice president of consumer products and strategy at NFL Players which is also the marketing and licensing arm of the NFLPA, mentioned it to TechCrunch that the global appeal of NFL players is at an all-time high, and the company is excited to reach more fans throughout Latin America.
This unprecedented level of appreciation is due in large part to the unique characters and remarkable athleticism of NFL players.
Big Investors Back Draftea
Draftea, which was Sequoia’s initial investment in a Mexican firm, attracted a round of fresh capital from both new and existing backers. This is in addition to the new collaboration that was just announced.
It raised a total of twenty million dollars for its Series A, with participation from its previous backers Sequoia, Kaszek, Bullpen, and Courtside Ventures. The Series A was led by a new investor called Stepstone Group.
In addition to the venture capital firms, a number of professional athletes, such as the basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets, Kevin Durant, legendary soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese soccer agent Jorge Mendes and the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce, invested as angels in the round.
Steady Growth Ahead
Jaime Misrahi stated that since the company’s seed round in January, Draftea’s team has expanded from 34 people to a total of 70 employees, the majority of whom work in engineering and product.
Although he would not disclose the current number of users on the platform or the money generated by the firm, he did state that the number of players that use Draftea is increasing by “double digits” every week. He went on to say that he has witnessed a revival in GMV as the number of lineups per user has increased.
Lucrative Payouts
According to Jaime Misrahi, the winnings for games on Draftea will be different and can be anywhere from a few thousand pesos to even millions of pesos every week, depending on how many people are participate in the game.
He went on to say that the platform already provides a variety of various game formats, such as head-to-head battles and games in which the top 20% of players receive payments, and that it has plans to continue creating extra kinds of competitions in order to keep up with the demand from players.
The business is looking at the upcoming FIFA Globe Cup in Qatar, which will take place in November and is anticipated to be the largest live sporting event to take place anywhere in the world this year, as a significant potential to gain traction.
According to Jaime Misrahi, the cooperation between Draftea and the NFL in Mexico is only the beginning of the company’s future growth into all Spanish-speaking nations.
Jaime Misrahi concludes by stating that although the company’s primary focus right now is on strengthening their position in the Mexican market, they are already looking ahead to the next thing and the next locations where they can connect with even more people who are passionate about sports.
They want to establish themselves as the platform that sports fans all across the Spanish-speaking world turn to first and foremost.
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