“Fantasy Sports will quickly become far more complicated and expensive to operate”

What is JetBet all about? What is your primary focus?

JetBet is a free to play, play by play entertainment experience that greatly enhances watching your favorite sport.  Our goal is to give players a way to more deeply engage in their sport and teams without requiring lots of homework and statistics.  JetBet players compete against their friends in tournaments, or play solo, to predict the outcome of each play, possession or game.  They can join the fun at any time during the game and there is no preparation necessary.  All they need is a connected mobile device, phone or computer to play on jetbet.com.

Controversial discussion has arisen regarding the nature of Daily Fantasy Sports. Is it gambling or skill-based gaming? How do you see the future of both Daily Fantasy Sports and sports betting?

There is a strong argument that Daily Fantasy Sports is a skill based activity.  The vast majority of the winnings are from a very small number of players which argues heavily that luck has very little to do with long term success.  Additionally, each match is in effect a tournament, which brings another level of skill into play as tournaments are a meta-game with their own layer of strategy.  It is up to the regulatory bodies, in each territory that have them, to determine if Fantasy Sports is Gambling under their laws.  

Fantasy Sports for real money will continue down the path to regulation in many jurisdictions, while retaining the non-regulated status in some.  Fantasy Sports will quickly become far more complicated and expensive to operate, which will likely result in many companies closing down.  Sports betting is sure to continue it’s world-wide popularity.  Where you can bet on sports, and what types of betting are allowed, will be up to the lawmakers and regulators in each jurisdiction.  In the US it seems unlikely a national, consistent and clear decision on sports betting will happen any time soon.

What new products are you developing?

At JetBet we love making entertaining experiences where you lean in to watch the game.  We are currently adding features to our American football and world-wide football (soccer) offerings; responding to player feedback and data.

What are your business targets for 2016? Are you considering to expand your business?

Our Key Performance Indicators have to do with retention, length of sessions and customer satisfaction.  In addition to the JetBet consumer facing offering, we offer a business to business solution and expect to announce new partners over the coming months.  Each partner expands our business and gives us new insight into features we should be adding to our products.