Fantasy Sports Site RotoHog Scores $6M
By Ty McMahan
8/8/2007
Sports Composite DE Inc., which operates fantasy sports site RotoHog.com, has scored a $6 million Series A round of funding that will be used to expand the site into new sports.
The round was co-led by DFJ Dragon and Mission Ventures, with participation from Allen & Co. and SCP Worldwide.
RotoHog's hook is that it offers a completely different trading model than traditional fantasy sites.
"We eliminated the traditional way of trading players and created this trading floor that eliminates a lot of the unfair practices in the game today," Chief Executive David Wu said. "Instead of a traditional draft, we have a draft that allows hundreds of people to participate at the same time. We create this stock market feel of people on the trading floor when the opening bell sounds."
But Wu stressed that the RotoHog platform is not a trading game. He said it still holds true to the traditional goals of fantasy sports.
"It's a fantasy sports game where making the right pick and playing the right player each week is most important," Wu said.
Currently, RotoHog offers platforms for football and baseball. The recent round of funding will be used to expand into new sports, Wu said. The site generates revenue through advertising and premium memberships that provide players with additional research tools.
Wu said Los Angeles-based RotoHog was created in 2006 as he looked to legitimize his hobby.
"I've been playing fantasy football for ages," Wu said. "It got to the point where my wife was threatening me because I was spending so much time on it. My wife was not happy. I thought a way around this was to start a company for fantasy, so she would have to be supportive."