Sportsbiz Product Analysis: SportAI Fantasy Sports
According to statista.com, there were 62.5 million people playing fantasy sports in North America in 2022 (“Number of fantasy sports”). U.S.-based players are over 80 percent, with 50.4 million players (“Number of fantasy sports”). Additionally, the global Fantasy Sports Market size was valued at USD 27.20 billion in 2022 and is poised to grow from USD 30.95 billion in 2023 to USD 87.07 billion by 2031 (source). Similarly, the global Daily Fantasy Sports value is expected to rise at an 8.95% CAGR(compound annual growth rate) from $9.19 billion in 2022 to $15.38 billion in 2028 (“Daily Fantasy Sports Market”). Given the rise in popularity of fantasy sports in recent years, it’s important to understand the best tools and platforms available that you can leverage to win your fantasy sports leagues. Unfortunately, most fantasy sports tools are blocked by paywalls and require hefty subscriptions that outweigh their benefits. That’s why today I’m excited to dive into a free application called SportAI, which is focused on helping you upgrade your fantasy sports strategy.
Fantasy sports is usually played in a daily or season-long format. Players have to assemble imaginary teams that they believe will score the highest based on real-time performance. Prominent sports, such as baseball and football, offer fantasy options, which can be played on several platforms, such as ESPN and Yahoo Sports. Some leagues also have a prize funded by an entry fee, increasing the stakes. These platforms offer leagues, where people draft players to their team and choose a scoring system, such as Head-to-Head points and categories. Wins are calculated based on real-time performance, so players optimize their lineup through research, trades between other players, and other methods.
SportAI is an app that can help players enhance their lineups by comparing possible lineups, spot trends quickly, and maximize the score earned within a budget if applicable. They currently only support the NFL and NBA in their app but plan to add support for additional spots in the future. The app also offers a unique statistic called Score+, which projects future value compared to other players using their in-house algorithms. The number also accounts for game-to-game fluctuations to project the most realistic score. SportAI also uses modeling techniques from other industries and a myriad of data to capture a player’s performance nuances.
The home interface is simple for both leagues, providing a clean experience for users. Daily updates help people understand relevant historical data to decide on over or under-betting lines. The application also has a component that lists the top players by Score+, sorted by position and salary. Another compelling feature is the Trending Players section, which showcases if the usage rate of players is increasing or decreasing. This is similar to features on ESPN and Yahoo which also provide the percentage of leagues that have the player rostered. Also, ESPN and Yahoo showcase the percent change rostered to capture the player’s current value to other players. However, SportAI has five other tools mainstream fantasy sports platforms do not offer, two of which are free and the other three can be accessed through their SportAI+ subscription.
The two free tools offered are Compare Lineups and Start or Sit. Comparing Lineups allows people to create possible groups and see which projects a higher score. These lineups can save and load quickly to avoid unnecessary repetition. On the other hand, the Start or Sit option lets users utilize the SportAI algorithm and see which of the two players is better to start.
There is also a paid tier called SportAI+ ($15/month or $65/season), which offers three additional tools: top players by value, salary optimizer, and edge finder. The top players by value option makes searching for the perfect player effortless to fit your position and salary needs. The salary optimizer is tailored towards Daily Fantasy Sports, allowing players to enter their salary and players, and SportAI will create the lineups for you. Finally, the edge finder lets users choose a topic and position, and their AI finds the best players and betting lines on all major platforms. If you want an edge over your competition, the SportAI paid tier leverages unique features and data at a reasonable price to help you do just that.
These paid features are perfect for a competitive Daily Fantasy Sports player. However, I would not recommend purchasing the premium tier if you are a season-long format user because there are few helpful perks compared to other websites. Still, SportAI is much more user-friendly than other Daily Fantasy Sports like dgfantasy.com, which is much more complicated and three times the price. Overall, SportAI+ is easier and cheaper to use compared to other websites while still offering three unique features.
One key aspect to call out is that SportAI is currently focused on daily fantasy sports betting on gambling platforms such as DraftKings and Fanduel. However, millions of fantasy sports players play in season-long leagues that do not utilize salaries. Instead, they start the league with a draft, so a new tool to help with drafts would be exceptional. Thus, a new area SportAI could invest in is supporting season-long formats for fantasy sports to appeal to an expanded customer base. Another feature idea that could benefit all fantasy sports players is a tool to help you make savvy trades based on current perceived value versus future projected value to find undervalued players. These ideas may help SportAI appeal to a wider fantasy sports audience, and capture a larger portion of the Global Fantasy Sports Market.
Overall, SportAI is a helpful app that can be useful to all fantasy sports players with its unique tools. Still, the application is currently more geared toward daily betting than season-long formats.
SportAI is available now on the iOS app store. They also have a newsletter you can sign up for on their website: Sportai.io.
