CBSSports.Com has tossed the gauntlet to app developers focused on fantasy football as well as just app developers in general in an effort to create a contest aimed at delivering top apps for the fantasy football space with the introduction of its Fantasy Football Developers Challenge.
The winners of the effort will not just get a laurel and hearty handshake but will receive cash prizes as well as access to CBSSports’ large fantasy football customer base. This effort builds on the network’s push last year to open its platform to third-party developers and was announced at the 2012 Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) this week.
The Fantasy Football Developers Challenge starts today and will run until the opening of the official NFL season in the first week of September. The contest will feature these categories: Draft, Roster Management, Results (live scoring, schedule, standings), Content, Administration, and Communications/Social.
There is a team of judges that will include Paul Charchian who is the founder of Fanball, LeagueSafe and current President of the FSTA, Geoff Reiss who is the CEO of the Professional Bowlers Association and former ESPN executive who managed the launch of ESPN.com and the fantasy sports products on ESPN.com and Rick Wolf, the founder & CEO, Full Moon Sports Solutions. Also included are two CBSSports officials, Dave Richard a Senior Fantasy Football Writer for CBSSports and Tony Fernandez, Vice President of Technology for CBSSports.com.
All apps will be judged by this team on a set of five criteria, each with an equal weight towards the total. The five: Originality of concept, design and visual appeal, utility, fantasy value, and market potential. The prizes are:
1st place: $60,000
2nd place: $10,000
3rd place: $5,000
If you are curious about how large a market the fantasy space has grown to be here are the numbers provided by the FSTA: There are currently 32.8 million fantasy sports players in the United States and of that figure, 24.3 million (74%) play fantasy football. For the full rules head over here
Speak Your Mind