NFBC To Be Included At Sports Media & Technology Conference

[Greg Ambrosius]

Each November the well-respected Sports Business Journal puts on an industry conference at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan called the Sports Media & Technology Conference. This is one of SBJ's biggest conferences as it draws 500+ industry executives to the Big Apple for two days of interesting panel discussions.

This is the 14th annual SMT and fortunately the fantasy sports industry has had a strong presence at most of these over the last decade. SBJ first started creating fantasy sports panels about 10 years ago and the Fantasy Sports Association even became the title sponsor for three years, which allowed fantasy sports to have an even greater presence in the main ballroom. Now that fantasy sports is such a hot topic to media executives, it has its own panel even though FSA no longer sponsors this show.

I've spoken on fantasy panels each of the last two years and I've been invited back to speak next Wednesday afternoon in Manhattan. This one should interest NFFC members as the panel is all about the High Stakes Fantasy Sports market. Here's the look at the panel:

Wednesday, Nov. 7th, 3:45 pm ET
Fantasy Sports: The Future of High Stakes Games
The most competitive and accomplished fantasy sports player can often be found in high-stakes leagues, a small but fast-growing segment of the multi-billion-dollar fantasy sports industry. High-stakes leagues are rather low-margin businesses, so operators rely on managing a lean operation and the loyal and recurring fan base. Many of the dominant fantasy sports companies have steered clear of this niche market and focus on reaching the mainstream fantasy players. During this session, you will hear from Greg Ambrosius, General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games, Stats; Emil Kadlec, Vice President, Tournaments, Fulltime Fantasy Sports; Alex Kaganovsky, Co-Founder, Fantasy Football Players Championship; and Stacie Stern, General Manager, Head2Head Sports, as they explain how they manage high-stakes gaming, their plans to grow this segment by capitalizing on its passionate fan base and how high-stakes gaming can become a lucrative part of the fantasy industry.

Anyone want to be a mouse in the room? It should be a fun discussion and the goal is obviously to get major media executives to learn about new areas of the market. I have a feeling that several executives will be surprised by the growth of the pay-to-play market and surprised why some of the major media web sites have stayed away from this market. I look forward to the discussion.

[KJ Duke]

That should be an interesting panel discussion. If I was in Manhattan on that date I'd certainly want to attend.

[HardEights]

Any way they are going to webcast this by any chance?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Any way they are going to webcast this by any chance?

I don't think they do. The cost of attending is like $1600+, so they don't webcast these. David Stern is the opening speaker. It's a big-time conference and the fantasy sports industry is just fortunate to have a panel each year.

[HardEights]

Interesting. Do you think maybe you could post some details on this thread about the panel discussion?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Interesting. Do you think maybe you could post some details on this thread about the panel discussion?

I most certainly will.

[HardEights]

How was the panel? Any information about how this discussion went would be appreciated. Thanks!