Fantasy sports app Champions Round raises $7M to build new content creator feature

techcrunch.com:

Champions Round, a fantasy league startup that caters to Gen Z sports fans, announced today that it raised $7 million in new Series A funding.

The funding round will go towards developing a new “Creator Rooms” feature, which gives sports content creators the opportunity to engage further with younger players by creating content and fantasy sports games, whether that be hosting a combined two-week NHL and NBA snake draft, creating polls and more.

The Series A was co-led by Point72 Ventures and Goodwater Capital, with additional investments from Pipeline Capital, Quest Venture Partners, Mana Ventures, Band of Angels and Gaingels. To date, the company has raised $10 million.

Users, particularly Gen Z users, are moving away from traditional fantasy sports, where leagues are tied to entire seasons. Instead, many users are opting for daily fantasy sports (DFS), a subcategory of fantasy sports games, where players compete over short-term periods rather than an entire season. The Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association (FSGA) reported that over 30 million people in the U.S. participate in DFS, up 12% from 2019.

Champions Round offers a version of this that it has dubbed “micro fantasy sports,” which are short-form games users can play daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly. For instance, users can draft and manage a team around a single event like the NFL draft, removing the need for a season-long commitment.

FanDuel and DraftKings currently dominate the daily fantasy sports industry. However, the majority of DFS games require money to play. Meanwhile, Champions Round offers two options– free or buy-in.

“Fantasy sports historically demand lengthy commitments, seldom reward their players, and can be very tricky and cumbersome to play,”