RT Sports Addresses WCOFF Situation

[Greg Ambrosius]

I know this is a forum about the NFBC, but anything that happens in the live events space affects the NFBC and our customers. So I have a duty to cover what is going on that is obviously affecting our events and this entire high-stakes fantasy baseball space. Plus, I'm a reporter at heart and I don't let up when facts are being covered up by those in charge!!! So I stay on the story.



Thankfully, RT Sports has addressed what I've been talking about with the back-end provider situation at the WCOFF and eventually how that will affect payments to WCOFB players. This is very, very, very important because without a back-end provider it's very tough to run a HSFF game. And honestly, RT Sports likely needed to clear the air because consumers were saying things about them possibly being the reason for lack of a sale, or other inaccurate accusations. So this statement was released today and hopefully it clears the air for everyone involved in that very, very unfortunate situation over there. Here is the official statement:



August 17, 2011

An Open Letter to WCOFF Fans and Players



To those members who have participated in the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) and World Championship of Fantasy Baseball (WCOFB) high-stakes contests the past few seasons:



As you probably already know, RealTime Fantasy Sports Inc. has powered WCOFF for the past 4 football seasons (2007-2010) and WCOFB since its inception in 2010. As usual, we began negotiations on a new contract with GridIron Fantasy Sports (which owns WCOFF and WCOFB) to power WCOFF for 2011 promptly after the 2010 football season ended (RTSports is currently under contract to run WCOFB until the end of this baseball year.) While in the process of renegotiating the contract, we understood that GridIron was recapitalizing its business to address payout issues for the 2010 season. Because we have not learned that those issues were addressed, we have been unable to reach closure of the renegotiation of our contract with GridIron and those negotiations have been suspended. For that reason, we also suspended the online satellite sign-ups at that time. (We have no control over the Main Event or other sign-ups because those were conducted by GridIron, not us.)



Finally, on last Friday evening, August 12th, we received an e-mail from GridIron claiming that "the WCOFF restructuring had been completed and an announcement would be made on Monday." GridIron requested we re-open registration to their online satellite leagues, in their words, "so we can roll these leagues out to our diehards who we will be communicating to on the Message Boards prior to our formal announcement on Monday. We want to give our diehards a feeling of 'knowing before anyone else' as a way to thank them for their patience." We decided to re-open registration only on two very specific conditions: 1) They made a public announcement, as promised, to their customers on every possible message board explaining the company restructure and how their indebted customers will be compensated and 2) they delivered a fully-signed copy of the restructure agreement to us so that we can be sure the announcement was legitimate. Failure to do both by then end of the business day on Monday, August 15th would result in registration being closed for good and all negotiations regarding any future contracts between RealTime Fantasy Sports, Inc. and GridIron would cease. Again, as I am sure you already know, no formal announcement was made and no fully-signed agreement was delivered to us. On Tuesday morning, August 16th, we formally notified GridIron that we would no longer pursue any contracts with them.



Let me make a few important points:



We have had a great relationship with the GridIron folks. I consider Dustin, Jesse and Jill to be very good people. Trust me when I state that our decision to end our relationship with GridIron was not an easy one. It is my sincerest hope that GridIron can right their ship and continue running a successful business in the future.



We have no other relationship with GridIron except that we power their games. There is no partnership, we are not owned in any way by them (nor are they owned by us), there are no shares of stock involved, etc. Although our offices are both located in the same city, there is no commonality of our businesses whatsoever. RealTime Fantasy Sports, Inc. has no connection with the operation of the games.



We do not know the details behind the negotiations between GridIron and their perspective buyers. In fact, I am certain there are others in this industry that know more than we do. Maybe they were, indeed, very close to a deal several times. Maybe not. If you have any questions you will have to direct them to the GridIron folks, not us.



Above everything else, we value our relationship with the customer the most.



To our customers: We do not run any contests with the payouts as large as WCOFF or the other high-stakes companies, but be assured that all our prize money is immediately kept aside and not touched. In the future we will consider using an escrow account of some kind as additional reassurance to our pay-to-play customers. I strongly suggest all other companies with pay-to-play contests do the same.



Finally, let me make one more important point: If you are someone who is happy to be witnessing these developments with WCOFF and WCOFB because you believe it will somehow help you in the long run, then you are not seeing the big picture. Everyone is hurt by these developments, as well as what happened with RapidDraft, SportsBuff, AFFL and other pay-to-play sites that have gone out of business. Of course the people who will never get paid are damaged, but so are other legitimate companies who run pay-to-play games as they will come under much more scrutiny. Those customers who like to partake in high-stakes contests will become more hesitant to sign up for those games. Fantasy software companies (like ours) will become more hesitant to power high-stake games, not because they are afraid of legal action, but because they do not want the stigma of being associated with companies that do not pay their winners as promised. There are no winners.



Lastly, a little perspective is in order. We can understand the frustration anyone would have if they were not paid their prize money as promised, but before you wish too much ill will on Dustin, you should know that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma and is currently undergoing extensive treatment to fight the disease. Please keep him in your prayers.



Thanks,



Mark Hanna

President and CEO

RealTime Fantasy Sports Inc.

[DOUGHBOYS]

A sad, sad situation.

I feel for all who were bilked out of their money by those at WCOFB. It's not right.

Unfortunately, this crime is becoming more prevalent during recession times.

Any time a customer is forced to hand over moneys to any business in lieu of future use, 100 percent trust should be the barometer.



Investment companies are taking moneys without investing. Insurance folks are taking premiums in hopes there will not be claims.

In turn, fantasy operators take moneys earmarked for prizes.



At some point, these folks KNOW that the customer will never see their money again. Some, have sinister intentions from the get go. Some realize during the contract, that their end of the agreement can never be fulfilled.

This, seems to be what happened to WCOFB.



In all cases, it is still a crime. Not just too bad for the customer. This case doesn't have the ramifications or renown or the scale of the Bernie Madoff deal. But, that doesn't lessen the hurt anymore for the folks that had depended, rightfully, in being paid their prize money.



Maybe in the future, fantasy operators will need to have a Price-Waterhouse guaranty as too where all the prize money is being held and that it won't be touched till it is time to divvy up prizes.

WCOFF/WCOFB, or persons connected with them, have enjoyed the benefits of their customers money while only giving promises of major announcements or suggesting that the future holds a promise.



The jig is up. It is time for straight talk. Something that has been sorely lacking at WCOFB.

If straight talk is not forthcoming, criminal actions should proceed.