Building a Decade of Fantasy Sports Innovation: The Rise of PlayerProfiler and FastDraft
By Matthew Kelley (The Podfather)
PlayerProfiler Is Born
RotoUnderworld was founded 10 years ago as nothing more than an underground flicker in a crowded fantasy sports industry. Fast forward to today, and that small idea has grown into a thriving enterprise, housing two incredibly successful brands: PlayerProfiler and FastDraft.
In 2014, PlayerProfiler launched with a simple mission: to provide advanced stats and information to NFL football fans and fantasy gamers for free. It was a time when metrics were trending, and Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) were capturing the imagination of every fantasy gamer, yet something was missing. Data was everywhere, but it was often inaccessible or incomprehensible to the casual user. Enter PlayerProfiler.
We built PlayerProfiler with a focus on clean and inexpensive stats for users. The timing couldn’t have been better. DFS was hot, and advanced metrics were becoming a must-have in every fantasy sports enthusiast’s toolkit. Our goal was to make our stats as digestible as possible while maintaining the depth and insight that serious players craved.
We didn’t stop there. As podcasting became the next big content platform, we decided to launch the PlayerProfiler Podcast. The trifecta was complete: a clean site, rich data, and excellent programming. The results followed. We were riding a wave of growth, but in the start-up world, you don’t stop to enjoy the scenery; you keep paddling.
By 2022, PlayerProfiler had become more than just a stats site—it was a multi-faceted fantasy sports information powerhouse. We rolled out a suite of products and apps, each designed to offer expert advice, rankings, and advanced data. We introduced the “World Famous” Draft Kit, Dynasty Deluxe, DFS Dominator, the Breakout Finder app, and the Injury Finder app. It was a dream come true: 10,000+ online subscribers, a mobile app install base of 25,000+, and over 1,000,000 unique visitors annually. Our revenue was climbing toward $1M, but something was missing.
The Pivot Point
In 2022, I had what you might call a founder’s dilemma. PlayerProfiler was stable and profitable. It was the type of business most entrepreneurs dream of. But I couldn’t help feeling restless. I thrive on building, on pushing boundaries, and the thought of plateauing filled me with an unsettling itch.
Unable to sit back and enjoy the fruits of PlayerProfiler’s success. I had to go bigger. I started talking to analysts, influencers, and fantasy gamers across the industry, trying to figure out what was missing. The answer: A place where people can actually play fantasy football.
Best ball represented the future of fantasy football. While Underdog, FFPC, and DraftKings offered great best ball products, the more I listened, the more I realized that a key component was missing: Speed.
The best ball format, where users draft teams they don’t have to manage during the season, was ideal for high-volume fantasy players. The problem was a “fast” draft could take over an hour, and don’t even get me started on slow drafts—they could drag on for weeks. There had to be a faster way. That’s when the concept for FastDraft was born.
The FastDraft Revolution
From Blitz Chess to Fast-fold Poker, I’m obsessed with speed and wanted to create a fantasy drafting platform that would be lightning-fast without compromising the depth and fun of fantasy sports. The idea was simple: Cut down the time it takes to draft while giving users complete roster flexibility.
In the early simulations, we were shocked to see drafts completed in under 10 minutes. As we refined the platform, we pushed the limits even further. Some drafts, under optimal conditions, could be completed in under five minutes. Think about that for a second—five minutes to draft a team in a fantasy football tournament. Then came Turbo Mode.
Turbo Mode was a game-changer. It is a batch team builder that allows users to customize rankings and create teams with maximum efficiency. This wasn’t just fast; it was revolutionary. Turbo Mode allowed users to create multiple draft rankings permutations and draft up to 150 teams per tournament without setting aside hours to grind through drafts.
The key to FastDraft’s success was in the types of contests we offered. Our data from PlayerProfiler showed that users gravitated toward two types of players: Rookies and superstars. So, we leaned into that. We created two initial contest types:
Flex 4: Draft any six RBs, WRs, or TEs, and each week, the top four performers automatically enter your lineup.
Origins: Draft six rookies, with the top four entering your lineup each week.
We are taking the best ball format to a new and exciting place.
The Building Blocks of FastDraft
Scaling PlayerProfiler was hard enough. Building FastDraft, a full-blown fantasy contest platform in a regulated industry, was a monumental task. No other fantasy sports information service had ever ventured into building a fantasy contest app. We were charting new territory.
To make this happen, we needed two things: partners and funding. Instead of going the traditional friends and family fundraising route, we reached out to our most passionate users—our subscribers. Many PlayerProfiler subscribers also happen to be smart money investors in the gaming sector. They knew mobile gaming had become the strongest app vertical in North America, evidenced by a 27.9 Growth Score and studies showing 42% of American adults play mobile games for at least an hour every week. We went on to raise $1,525,000 in our pre-seed round.
Navigating the fantasy sports industry as a start-up comes with its own set of challenges. This is where Billy Muzio, FastDraft's Head of Operations, was invaluable. From compliance to payment processing, the road was challenging, but Billy never wavered. Big finance companies like Stripe and JP Morgan Chase were not ready to partner with fantasy sports operators. But we made connections, attended Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association (FSGA) conferences, and Billy learned that upstart vendors such as Approvely and XPoint had launched cost-effective payment processing and geolocation products specifically for fantasy sports operators.
By Summer 2024, we secured licenses in 11 states including Arizona, Maryland and New Jersey, with applications pending in major markets like New York and Pennsylvania. We plan to be live in 37 states by the end of 2024, with plans to expand into Canada.
The Real Challenge: Building a Live Draft Platform
Fundraising and compliance were the easy part! The most challenging aspect of this entire journey was building a live mobile draft experience. Live drafts are the heartbeat of any fantasy platform and creating a synchronized experience where 10 users draft from a pool of hundreds of NFL players in real-time is no small feat. Our CTO, Frank Lakatos, took a stack of whiteboard drawings and architected a step-by-step action plan to build a mobile application that could support thousands of concurrent users. Lead mobile developer, Lucas Parra, and designer, Jon Gibbs, then went to the mattresses to build a clean, fast user experience.
It took 50 live test sessions, led by quality assurance guru, Richard Goldstein, who helped bring NASCAR's signature mobile app to market, to get the draft engine and user experience dialed in. We threw ourselves at the live draft problem until we nailed it, but as usual, no one was fully satisfied. We wanted the draft experience to be even faster.
Enter Turbo Mode, which allows users to create multiple draft rankings permutations and draft up to 150 teams per tournament. Turbo Mode delayed our release by three months, but it was worth it. This groundbreaking multi-entry innovation allows live drafts to complete in under five minutes.
Theo Gremminger and I launched FastDraft at the Fantasy Football Expo in August. It was not the ideal month to introduce a new platform—most fantasy gamers were locked into their leagues—but the reception was fantastic. By the end of the month, we had 1,100+ registered users and completed over 800 live drafts with $75,000 in prizes scheduled for distribution.
However, we are not resting on this initial success. We see great potential to engage users year-round. We will soon roll both cash and GPP-style DFS contests as well as a defensive player-focused contest called D-UP, where users draft six individual defensive players. IDP is the most underrepresented group in fantasy football, and we plan to fix that.
Synergy with PlayerProfiler
While PlayerProfiler played a minor role in FastDraft's early success, the synergies between the two properties is palpable. By integrating PlayerProfiler’s advanced stats into FastDraft, we’re helping users make more informed decisions. At the same time, FastDraft’s ADP (average draft position) data will eventually be accessible on PlayerProfiler. The cross-pollination of these platforms creates a feedback loop that benefits both users and the business.
The Road Ahead
Launching FastDraft has been the most exhilarating, frustrating, and ultimately rewarding experience of my life. It’s been two and a half years in the making, and I’ve learned more about myself, my team, and this industry than I ever thought possible.
There’s still a lot of work to do. FastDraft isn’t profitable yet, but we’re staying lean. We’ve shied away from costly customer acquisition campaigns, relying instead on earned media and grassroots marketing, led by social media whiz, Jason Allwine. It’s been working, and I’m confident that by 2026, FastDraft will not only be profitable but also the premier mobile fantasy sports experience.
To anyone reading this, dreaming of starting something big: Do it. Yes, the road is rough. No, there is no map. Looking back, I would have done 100 things differently. And as I stand here watching our place in the fantasy sports history books be written, I can say with absolute certainty that the journey was worth it. PlayerProfiler and FastDraft are here to stay, and the best is yet to come.