RotoHog Takes Aim At The Fantasy Sports Goliaths

The fantasy sports business is becoming enormous. I believed that portals like Yahoo and the sports site majors would have more or less a lock on this business. They have the eyeball prospects literally in their sites. Arr Arr.

Sorry about that little bit of attempted humor.

But the lock I imagined is like all forms of hegemony -- it cannot last forever. The web is miraculous in that it can truly operate in a David and Goliath manner. Because everything is just a click away, little guys can put a rock in their electron slingshots, take aim at the giants -- and win.

But you need a great idea. And Rotohog, a website focused on fantasy sports, is taking aim with a sports celeb strategy that I think holds a ton of promise.

Today they signed Colts Running Back Joseph Addai to a deal that creates an Addai Fantasy Football League that people can join for free. Addai is the fifth celeb assigned for this purpose.

What's more, the announcement comes on the same day as the launch of the Rotohog Trading Floor, where fantasy players are bought and sold auction style. Addai's IPO price? $56.

The Trading Floor is part of their premium paid service. A free service is also available on the site.

In our celeb culture, this strategy seems like a great gambit for attracting thousands of new members. While the strategy is not entirely defensible in that others, including the Goliaths, can follow suit, the correct selection of star athlete partners can help this David win his fight.

Hey. If you don't understand how fantasy sports works, read this lifted from the Rotohog site:

The RotoHog Stock Exchange game is a lot like other fantasy football games where you manage your own team and try to score as many points as possible each week based on real-life NFL games. The difference is the trading floor, which is a lot like a stock market where player prices move up and down based on supply and demand.

You start out with a budget of 300 RotoHog dollars used to assemble your team at fixed prices on the pre-season trading floor opening August 3rd. Player prices will stay at their IPO price until August 29th, when the market goes live and fun really starts.

Everyone who plays the RotoHog Stock Exchange game is automatically entered into the global contest, dubbed the 2008 RotoHog Stock Exchange Fantasy Football Championship. To win the championship (and the $25,000), you need to score the most points over the entire season. There are also weekly prizes and dozens of other leagues and contests to play in. Make sure to check out all the leagues as well as set up a private league to play against your friends.

I am by no means a big sports fan, but this stuff can be quite addictive. I have played Fantasy Baseball and the action was completely entangling. Baseball is by its nature a stats obsessed game, and fantasy takes that to a logical extreme while making the tracking of scores and ratings and rankings, and and and all automatic. I am not a football fan so I won't be using the service, but I'd be blind not to be able to see the business potential here.

But this stuff can also mean big money for the site providing a great platform. I cam going to print RotoHog's price list to show you how many revenue streams a site like this can offer.

Game Basics
2008 RotoHog Fantasy Football 101: Introduction to the Game

RotoHog Premium Service
Take advantage now of Pre-Season pricing on all Draft Kits and Premium Service.

RotoHog Stock Exchange Premium Service $7.99
Live Stats & Scoring · Entry in Premium-only Weekly Contests · Live Rank

RotoHog Stock Exchange Platinum Service $9.99
Live Stats & Scoring · Entry in Premium-only Weekly Contests · Live Rank
PLUS: RotoWire NFL Draft Kit & RotoHog Pricing Guide

RotoHog Championship Service $19.99
· Live Stats & Scoring
· Entry in Premium-only Weekly Contests
· Live Rank
PLUS: RotoWire NFL Draft Kit & RotoHog Pricing Guide AND 50% off RotoHog League Manager

RotoHog Draft Kits & Pricing Guides
Be in the know when the market opens with insights from RotoHog and Rotowire experts.

RotoHog Pricing Guide $4.99
IPO pricing for all over 200 players and the market maker notes.

Rotowire Draft Kit $9.99
The best in the business with in-depth analysis. Sells elsewhere for $19.99 and more.

RotoHog Stock Exchange Cash Leagues
Entry fees from $25 to $500. Win up to $5,000. Best payouts in the industry. Learn more about the different leagues below.

Workin’ Man’s League
$25 Entry12-Man ChallengePayouts: $200/$50/Free ’09 Entry
Date: 9/4-12/29

Money Maker League
$50 Entry12-Man ChallengePayouts: $500/$50/Free ’09 Entry
Date: 9/4-12/29

All About the Benjamins
$100 Entry12-Man ChallengePayouts: $1,000/$100/Free ’09 Entry
Date: 9/4-12/29

High Roller League
$500 Entry12-Man ChallengePayouts: $5,000/$500/Free ’09 Entry
Date: 9/4-12/29

Week 1 Points Race
$25 Entry 12-Man ChallengePayout: $250
Date: 9/4-9/9

Week 1 Points Rally
$50 Entry 12-Man ChallengePayout: $500
Date: 9/4-9/9

Half-Timer League
$100 Entry 12-Man Challenge Payout: $750/$250/$100
Date: 9/4-10/28

RotoHog Stock Exchange Jackpot Leagues
Low entry fees and big payouts. Play for a week, or all season long.

Week 1 Smash & Grab
$10 Entry Payout: $1,000
Date: 9/4-9/9

Full Season Jackpot League
$25 Entry Payout: $2,000/$400/$100
Date: 9/4-12/29

All for electrons, people! Electrons!

Anyway, while y'all know I shill for Yahoo all day long because I love them so, I also have a soft spot for a feisty David and his virtual slingshot. Let the rocks fly, RotoHog!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.