Champions Round Raises $7M Series A to Expand GenZ Fantasy Sports App

Champions Round is a fantasy league startup catering to Gen Z sports fans. Today, it announced that it has raised $7 million in Series A funding.

This funding round will be used to develop a new feature called “Creator Rooms”, which allows sports content creators to interact with younger players through creating content and fantasy games.

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.

Many users, especially Gen Z, are shifting away from traditional fantasy sports where leagues are tied for entire seasons. Many users prefer daily fantasy games (DFS) instead.

This is a subcategory within fantasy sports games where players compete for short-term periods of time, rather than a whole season. The Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association reported that DFS is being played by more than 30,000,000 people in the United States, a 12% increase over 2019.

The short attention spans of GenZ and the changing viewership in sports are fueling this trend.

Champions Round offers a “micro fantasy sport” version. These are short-form games that users can play daily or weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

Users can create and manage teams around one event, such as the NFL draft. This eliminates the need to commit to a long season.

Eventually, Champions Round will automatically pay creators within the platform for “engagement, sign ups, cosmetic items sold within their rooms, revenue share and ad revenue,” – CEO Carter Russ.

Champions Round has also received backing from professional sports players, according to the company. This includes former NBA point guard Baron Davis, Kansas City Chiefs running back Melvin Gordon, New Orleans Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu, and basketball player Zaire Wade (the son of former Miami Heat shooting guard Dwayne Wade), among others.

Industry Trends & Analysis

The future of sports delivered to your inbox 2x a week.

Related Articles

Industry Research & Analysis

Trends, news, & companies shaping the future of sports delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

Industry Research & Analysis

Trends, news, & companies shaping the future of sports delivered to your inbox 2x a week.