Online gaming engagement and conversion solutions provider SharpLink Gaming has partnered with SB Nation, Vox Media’s collection of fan-centric sports team communities, to create a new free-to-play survivor-style fantasy game for the 2023/2024 NFL football season. The game is set to go live Friday, September 1st, and will be available across SB Nation’s slate of team-centric NFL sites.
The game will feature a unique ‘Second Chance’ function, whereby users may reenter the game after Week 5 of the NFL season should they be ousted prior. SB Nation will be offering cash prizes to each NFL site’s survivor for the Full Season competition and the Second Chance competition.
Rob Phythian, CEO of SharpLink, said: “Free-to-play games are one of the most underutilized assets for US sports companies looking to offer a more robust experience to its fan base, increase revenue, and drive traffic to its monetization partners. In keeping with SharpLink’s core key performance indicators – audience aggregation, engagement, conversion, and monetization, our solutions go well beyond a game that simply collects email addresses and drives repeat visits.”
He added: “We are able to capture individualized user data within the game, which in turn reveals opportunities for creating smarter retention and monetization strategies for our clients. We are confident that this experience, designed specifically for SB Nation’s network of sites, will help Vox Media meet the goals it has set for fan engagement, new revenue generation and enhance its partner relationships.”
SharpLink will also use its C4 sports betting conversion technology to provide players with live betting opportunities from SB Nation partner DraftKings. For instance, a game player picking the Steelers to beat the 49ers in Week 1 could also be presented with betting opportunities for that specific game, and then be routed directly to DraftKings to place a bet, if desired.
David Fucillo, head of sports betting and partner content for Vox Media, said: “We’ve been looking for ways to creatively maximize our partnerships while increasing user experience and expanding our subscriptions. After seeing the one-of-a-kind solutions SharpLink built for the NBA, PGA Tour, and Turner Sports, we knew free-to-play games opened a new window of opportunity for us at SB Nation.”
“SharpLink’s ability to manage and develop the entire process and leverage its proprietary technology to integrate uniquely customized betting opportunities through our partnership with DraftKings created a true win-win scenario for all parties,” he added.