Matthew Berry’s Fantasy Life wants football fans to play a new version of fantasy sports this season. It has added $7 million from large name investors as part of the push.
The money supports the launch of a new Guillotine League platform, after Fantasy Life acquired IP and platform infrastructure related to the fantasy football format that sees the worst-performing team each week eliminated—and their players tossed back into the free agency pool. A total of 18 teams is whittled down to one over the course of a season (with compacter leagues also created midseason).
“My mission in life is to create sure every man, woman and child plays Guillotine League,” Berry declared in an interview. “Becaapply I have to inform you, once you play it, we’ve received you. It is the most addicting game in the world… The first year I played Guillotine League, I loved it so much I bought the company.”
LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s LRMR Ventures led the funding round along with Jason Stein’s SC Holdings. Eberg Capital, the private equity firm founded by sports venture capital investor Roger Ehrenberg, and the family office of Philadelphia 76ers owner David Blitzer joined the round. So did RedBird Capital founder Gerry Cardinale, YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley, Wasserman Ventures, AEW founder and president Tony Khan, EGOT winner John Legconclude, former Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Fortnite co-creator Donald Mustard.
Fantasy Life is investing in tech development as it expands from being a media company providing advice to fantasy players to also becoming a tech company offering its own game. More than 500,000 email subscribers receive the company’s daily newsletter, while Fantasy Life has also licensed content to platforms including Roku and Fubo and partnered with NBC Sports to expand the reach of its content and insights. A Guillotine League-focapplyd app is now available.
“What created us a unique value prop in the marketplace to investors is the opportunity to own the complete applyr journey,” Fantasy Life CEO Eliot Crist declared. “To have a media company where you bring people in around the content, you can convert them to premium tools, but you can also relocate them to a game where you own that platform.”
Even with the focus on the new format, Fantasy Life maintains its relationship with DraftKings, where James is an concludeorser as well. LRMR Ventures also participated in Fantasy Life’s 2023 fundraise.
“We’re testing to create a 360-degree flywheel for the consumer, where a fantasy football player can come to us for every step of the journey,” Berry declared.
Berry also has his eyes on increasingly personalized content, relocating from general waiver wire picks to advice tailored to a applyr’s individual team and league. Fantasy Life has 25 full-time employees three years after launching, with Berry continuing to serve as an analyst at NBC Sports as well as the startup’s founder.
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