Kerry Stokes’s Seven West Media "teamed up with News Corporation’s Fox Sports Australia and the James Packer-backed CrownBet in their fantasy sports joint venture," according to Jake Mitchell of THE AUSTRALIAN.
Seven has taken a 33% stake in Draftstars, "which was founded in March by CrownBet," of which Crown Resorts owns 67%, and Fox Sports, wholly owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Seven "was in advanced talks with Fox Sports and CrownBet this month." Draftstars participants "pay an entry fee before assembling a team of players for a given match or round to form their own fantasy team, with winners receiving a payout from the contest prize pool." The company retains a fee known as a "rake." Seven CEO Tim Worner said, "Our investment builds on our strategy of leveraging the power of our media assets to scale early-stage businesses." Seven "moved to increase its exposure to the gambling industry, which is free-to-air TV’s fastest-growing advertising category." Draftstars "plans to launch tournaments compatible with the English Premier League and international cricket," which would complement its existing Australian Football League, National Rugby League, NFL and NBA contests (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/14).
