USA Today Buys Big Lead Sports

[Greg Ambrosius]

This is an interesting development that honestly will provide the fantasy sports industry with a mainstream publication providing even more content to their platforms. I really think this is good news for our industry and good news for all of our industry companies who were acquired through the years to form Big Lead Sports (formery Fantasy Sports Ventures). Good for all. Here's the news story:

USA TODAY fantasy family gets a major addition
By Steve Gardner, USA TODAY

USA TODAY's Sports Media Group announced Tuesday the acquisition of Fantasy Sports Ventures and Big Lead Sports in a deal that will bring a significant collection of fantasy resources under one umbrella. USA TODAY's parent company, Gannett Inc., already owned a 30% stake in Big Lead Sports and this deal just completed the purchase.

Fantasy sports players will recognize many of the sites that are part of Big Lead, including BaseballHQ.com, KFFL.com and Baseball-Reference.com to name just a few.

While we don't know just yet how our sites will all fit together, we do know that we've already established great working relationships with many of those sites. The deal seems to indicate there are bigger and better things on the horizon.

"(T)his gets us into the fantasy business in a meaningful way," USA TODAY Sports Media Group President Tom Beusse told Sports Business Daily. "Quite frankly, there's an awful lot we can do with this."

For those who visit Fantasy Windup and USATODAY.com for their fantasy sports news, the news can't be anything but positive. As BaseballHQ.com founder Ron Shandler told his subscribers today:

"Since we have already forged strong bonds within the USAT organization -- through our regular in-season contributions to the daily newspaper and Sports Weekly -- we have set a foundation to give BaseballHQ.com more visibility and growth potential," Shandler wrote.

"While that might not be good news to those who consider us their 'secret information source,' much of our work went mainstream a long time ago. This new relationship will give us the opportunity to break more new ground and continue to pioneer new and better ways to play and win at fantasy baseball."

I'll echo what Ron says (and why wouldn't I -- he was just inducted into the Fantasy Sports Writers Hall of Fame). This is great news for everyone who plays fantasy sports. We look forward to the opportunity to put even more fantasy resources at your fingertips.