FanDuel is a daily fantasy sports company that allows users to play fantasy games and win cash prizes. It started in 2009 and has grown significantly, with revenues increasing from $57 million in 2014 to $170 million in 2015. FanDuel addresses the market need for accessible and engaging fantasy sports. However, the company has faced public scrutiny over concerns about employees winning money and whether daily fantasy constitutes gambling. To improve trust, FanDuel emphasizes transparency and self-regulation.

1. Christopher Paul

2. Introduction
FanDuel is a wonderful company to
work for. We want to give our
customers everything they need in
order for them to have fun and have a
great experience. In order to do this,
we need to make a change in the way
we handle our customer service with
our customers. This proposal tells you
everything there is to know about our
company and the industry we work for
and how we can make our company
better then any other company out
there.

3. The business I work for is FanDuel. FanDuel started out as a backyard Texas brainstorm
between five cofounders. With the prohibition of sports betting, it paved the way for daily
fantasy sports. Today FanDuel is a driving force in the multibillion-dollar industry. We
started out at the 2009 SXSW interactive festival when our founding team decided to focus
their efforts on changing the game in fantasy sports. This was a new way to play fantasy.
This is fan VS. fan in a test of sports knowledge and fantasy knowhow where winners can
taste victory on any day (FanDuel, 2009-2018).
FanDuel incorporated operates an online fantasy sports platform that enables users to
play fantasy games and win cash prizes. It operates as a subsidiary of FanDuel limited. As
of July 10, 2018, FanDuel Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Paddy Power Betfair Inc.
(Bloomberg, 2018).

4. External & Internal Business
Environment
As of now FanDuel is not a
publicly traded company. We
are in talks to hit the public
markets but not in the
traditional sense with an initial
public offering (IPO). We are
trying to participate in a reverse
merger with Platinum Eagle
Acquisition Corp. (Delventhal,
2018).

5. External & Internal Business
Environment
FanDuel is a DFS industry. DFS stands for Daily Fantasy Sports (4for4, n.d.). the
biggest threat to FanDuel is a threat to the DFS industry as a whole. The U.S.
Supreme court might lift the federal ban on sports betting. Sports betting being
illegal is what made DFS possible in the first place. This threatens the industry
because anyone can go to the tracks or casinos and place bets. We are remained
focused on our current daily fantasy business, but all options are on the table. We
are considering running our own online sports books, partnering with other
operators, and selling access to our customers. We will move at the pace required
to win the market faster (Boudway, 2018).

6. External & Internal Business
Environment
With FanDuel there are so many different contest types and game styles to choose
from in every sport there is. There are tournaments that are high-paying contests with
guaranteed prize pools. There’s beat the score, which are tournaments where the
prize pool is shared evenly across all winners. There’re multipliers which double your
money or play for more. There’s head to heads, which compete against a single
component and winner takes all. There’re also 3-100 plays. This is where you
compete against fewer players with multiple payout structures. Another one is 50/50’s
which is finishing in the top half means you win. There’re also the beginners only.
This is where beginners compete against other FanDuel beginners with no
experienced players allowed. Another is the satellites and qualifiers which you win to
gain entry to another contest. Lastly, there’s friend’s mode. This is when you play in a
private league with your friends for the entire season (FanDuel, 2009-2018).
The pricing in the industry for this type of service is average. Its all based on salary
caps and the amount you pay per contest determines the amount you win. There
aren’t membership fees for any of the companies including FanDuel.

7. External & Internal Business
Environment
FanDuel is a DFS company that originated because of the prohibition of sports betting. It’s
being threatened by the possibility of sports betting becoming legal. There are many
ways to play daily fantasy sports and to make money. There is no membership fees and
you choose how much to bet and ultimately win as well.

8. Strategic Scanning
Daily Fantasy Sports or DFS is 95% male,
white, age 25-35 and typically analytical
and/or a sports fanatic (Roberts, 2017). About
2/3 of DFS customers say they play because
it makes watching sports more enjoyable
while 60% say they watch games that involve
teams they don’t normally watch because
they are following a fantasy player (DOT
Magazine, 2017).
There are twenty states that allow FanDuel.
Texas is the only state that other DFS
companies are allowed but we are banned. In
New York, the State Attorney General
announced action against DFS sites in
October 2015. There was an almost year long
legal and legislature battle that ultimately
resolved in favor of DFS when the state
legislature passed a last-minute bill to
regulate the activity that was signed into law
by Governor Cuomo (Grove, 2018).

9. Strategic Scanning
The amount of people playing Fantasy Sports between 2014 and 2015 has increased by
20% in the U.S. There was a 206% increase in spending on materials to help fantasy
teams from $15 in 2012 to $46 in 2015. 53% of players use their mobile device for fantasy,
with 9 million new daily fantasy players entering the market between 2013 to 2015. 4.7
million players exclusively playing daily fantasy sports, and 4.2 million players playing both
daily and traditional season long fantasy games. 54% of fantasy players are aged between
18 and 34 (STATS LLC, 2016).
FanDuels revenue has increased from 57 million dollars in 2014 to 170 million dollars in
2015. In 2015, DFS companies spent over 500 million dollars on advertising to try and
bring users to their sites. 200 million of that was spent in smartphone and app downloads,
a rise in ecommerce, and an increase in the availability of better internet connections
(Anderson, 2016).

10. Strategic Scanning
The top three competitors of us are DraftKings, Fantasy draft, and Stars draft. There are
many different DFS companies. There is DraftKings, Fantasy draft, Fantasy acres, Star
street, Yahoo Sports, Fan throwdown, Draft Ops, and Fantasy Feud
(DailyFantasySports101, 2018).
Some strengths of DraftKings are they allow MMA and Esports, whereas FanDuel does
not. DraftKings is available in Texas and the UK, Germany, Malta, Austria, Ireland, and
Australia as well. DraftKings is currently the biggest DFS operator in terms of guaranteed
prize pools. DraftKings has more funding, more pro team sponsorships and is based in
Boston. A weakness of DraftKings is they don’t have a sportsbook yet but are working with
Kambai group to create its own sportsbook. Another weakness is they have MLB and NHL
major league partnerships while we have NBA (Gouker, 2018).

11. Strategic Scanning
FanDuel is second when it comes to DraftKings and the DFS industry. DraftKings has
excellent VIP opportunities and extensive league options. We give the chance to play with a
salary cap format with your football leagues. However, DraftKings cap is higher at $60,000.
DraftKings also gives more bonus points (PlayingLegal, 2016).
With FanDuel Guru, it’s easy to play Daily Fantasy Sports. Our Guru tool helps making your
rough choices easier. Guru combined with the many different types of games and contests
gives you every possibility to win.
Matt King is the CEO and use to be the president of reginal operations and corporate
development at Cottingham and Butler and the director at KKR. Robin Spira is the CTO. He
was formally the CTO at Play.Com and Chemist Direct. Christian Genetski is the CLO. He
used to be the general counsel of Entertainment Software Associates; partner at ZwillGen
Law Firm; and prosecutor with the US Department of Justice. Andy Giancamilli is the CFO
and formerly the VP of pricing at Toys R Us. Mike Raffensperger is the CMO and the former
head of marketing at Amazon and director of DirecTV (FanDuel Inc, 2009-2018).

12. Solving a Need in the Market
FanDuels homepage has the mission
statement right on it. “FanDuel is more
than just fantasy sports. It’s the best
way to watch the games, win real cash,
and bring the action right into your
living room.” (FanDuel, 2018)
According to reviews on Glass Door,
FanDuel is a great company to work
for. The company has great
opportunities to work in many different
departments. Employees have good
attitudes, it’s a relaxed environment,
and mostly everyone is passionate
about their job and the company
(Glassdoor, 2018).

13. Solving a Need in the Market
According to Fantasy Sports Trade Association, FanDuel is taking measures to ensure
corporate transparency. We want to do whatever it takes to maintain the trust of the fans.
We have assembled a world class team of independent advisors and are providing a level
of transparency that will be noted and appreciated by sports fans everywhere (Fantasy
Sports Trade Assocition, 2018).
Daily fantasy sports is being capitalized on. Companies like FanDuel, DraftKings, and
many others are taking advantage of the current trends. Right now, there are more people
playing fantasy and according to Legal Sports Report, there are more women playing
fantasy sports in a larger number. “About a third of the fantasy sports-playing population is
female, a huge increase from an 80%-20% split from the last time the gender split was
researched.” (Gouker, 2015)

14. Solving a Need in the Market
At one point the public scrutinized our industry. An employee of our competition
accidentally released information online and then went on to win $350,000 in one of our
tournaments. Even though we proved that there was no way he cheated or knew any
insider information that helped him win, fans still distrusted us. We made a new policy that
banned employees from playing on any fantasy sports sites (Bercovici, 2018).
The public also feels we should be considered a gambling website. Civic Science did a
survey on the daily fantasy sports industry in America. When asked if daily fantasy sports
should be regulated as a form of gambling, 49% of Americans believe it should be treated
like any other form of gambling (Dick, 2015).

15. Solving a Need in the Market
Customer reviews vary by each customers experience. Most of the time someone only
takes the time to write a review if something really good or really bad happens. Most of
FanDuels reviews say they have great customer service and they really take the time to
listen to you, however, they take forever in responding to you (Trust Pilot, 2017).
Most of DraftKings reviews are about issues with accounts and their apps. Customers
have problems logging in and problems withdrawing funds from their accounts. There are
other reviewers that say they have been members of DraftKings for a long time and they
have never had any issues so far. They accuse the other reviewers of being fake or spam
to hurt the company (Customer Service Board, 2018).

16. Solving a Need in the Market
The biggest issue with our company, FanDuel, is reaching our customers in a timely
manner. If we can work on getting this issue resolved, and quickly, then we will be doing
very well. We should work on getting more customer service agents, and train them on
being great agents that also answer as soon as possible to our customers. We should also
work on getting a twenty-four-hour live chat right on our website and on our mobile
applications. This will allow our customers to reach us at any time with any problems they
have. Our agents will be able to respond immediately and help them resolve the issue.
After the chat has finished the customers can follow a link to answer a question asking how
their service with the agent was and how they are liking our company and its service as a
whole.

17. Implementing Innovation
Our company can benefit from a 24/7
live chat on our homepage. In order to
do this, we need to hire more customer
service agents. We need to have our
current website developer set up the
live chat software for the company.
Finally, we need to train our agents on
proper customer service skills and the
live chat software.

18. Implementing Innovation
The main concern of our customers is the delay in customer service when they have an
issue arise. This can cause us to lose customers since they are trusting us with their
money. Having 24-hour live chat will allow quick response time even on holidays such as
Thanksgiving. Customers will get nice and polite customer service and get whatever issue
resolved quick and easy.
The cost to get this project going will bring us more money in the long run. Our website
developer gets paid a salary, so we won’t be paying him any extra money to start the
software on the website. Using the software called Live Chat will cost $149 a month, or
$1,788 annually. This is the best software to use when researching the reviews and
services offered. With this product they have increased customer satisfaction to 99.4% in
other companies. They offer constant communication with a dedicated account manager,
product training, and knowledge and best practices specific to our company (Live Chat
Enterprise, 2018).

19. Implementing Innovation
We will also need to hire our customer service agents. We would need to start out with 150
new agents to get the Live Chat going. We can hire more if we need to down the line. We
will pay each agent $10 an hour. We will also need to have training courses, so we can
ensure our agents are properly trained. We will have 25 trainees to a class, so we will need
6 trainers. The trainers will be paid $16 an hour.
This will help the company save money. About 70% of our customers will be using Live
Chat and that will increase over time. The most popular package customers buy is the
$100 package. Most do this every week for the games. So that’s $400 a month per
customer. This plan will save us $4,800 per customer every year by keeping our
customers.

20. Implementing Innovation
The first strategy is to get the live chat software up and running on the website. We want to
take a month to get it running with no issues. This should be done and running by October
25, 2018. The resources for this plan are to purchase the Live Chat software.
The next strategy is to hire 150 new agents. The hiring process should take about two
weeks’ time and should be done by October 10, 2018. In order to hire new agents, we
need our management team to determine which applicants would be the best fit.
The final strategy is to train our agents on proper customer service and on the live chat
process. This training course will take a month to complete. This gives two weeks training
on proper customer service skills and two weeks on the live chat process. We will complete
this strategy by November 10, 2018, so we can have this going by Thanksgiving for when
there will be the NFL games all day. The resources for this strategy will need our trainees
and computers to train the new employees.

21. Implementing Innovation
This is the optimal time to take a risk. Our customers are complaining and that will cause us to
lose current customers and potential new ones. Taking the risk now will ensure we have live chat
up and running by Thanksgiving.
By making this recommendation we are going to lose money in order to get it started. However,
we will be gaining so much more. We will gain customers and our customers trust in us. We will
also be making more money because they trust us and will recommend us to future customers.
I would give up on the idea only if I thought it would cost us more money then what we would gain.
This will not make us lose money or hurt the company, so we should proceed with it. I will have
Mike Raffensperger as my mentor on this project. He is our current CMO and the former head of
marketing at Amazon and director at DirecTV (FanDuel Inc, 2009-2018).
I will keep Mike updated by having daily email correspondence and weekly meetings on the
progress of the project. Any suggestions that my mentor makes I will weigh heavily and will
implement if they will benefit the project and the company. He is known for his marketing and
director skills, so I am sure that his suggestions will greatly improve the project.

22. Conclusion
I hope that after reviewing this business proposal you will see that our company is
deserving of this project. We will use our best resources to have our company come out on
top and beat all other competitors in the business. Right now, we are lacking, but soon we
will be at the top.

23. References:
4for4. (n.d.). Daily Fantasy (DFS). Retrieved from https://www.4for4.com/fantasy-football/daily-fantasy-
dfs-glossary-terms
Anderson, K. (2016, November 30). FanDuel And DraftKings Are Dominating The Daily Fantasy Sports
Market [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton/2016/11/30/fanduel-and-
draftkings-are-dominating-the-daily-fantasy-sports-market-infographic/#5812306b7c4f
Bercovici, J. (2018, July/August). The fantasy sports site needed to enforce strict regulations if it was
going to make a comeback. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/magazine/201607/jeff-bercovici/nigel-
eccles-fanduel-fantasy-sports-industry.html
Bernard, Z. (2018, July 9). FanDuel Founders. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/fanduel-
founders-likely-to-lose-out-from-paddy-power-acquisition-2018-7
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https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=113801327

24. References:
Boudway, E. N.-W. (2018, Janurary 17). Gambling Laws Created Daily Fantasy Sports. Now It
Could Cripple Them. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-
17/spread-of-legal-sports-betting-could-upend-daily-fantasy-sports
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http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/DraftKings
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25. References:
Dick, J. (2015, October 7). Public Opinion About Fantasy Sites is Crystal Clear. Does Anyone
Care? Retrieved from https://civicscience.com/public-opinion-about-daily-fantasy-sites/
DOT Magazine. (2017, November). How Daily Manager Games are Changing Sports
Consumption. Retrieved from https://www.dotmagazine.online/play-with-me/work-like-
everybodys-watching/how-daily-manager-games-are-changing-sports-consumption
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26. References:
Fantasy Sports Trade Assocition. (2018, August 16). FANTASY SPORTS TRADE ASSOCIATION
APPLAUDS FANDUEL TRANSPARENCY MEASURES . Retrieved from https://fsta.org/fantasy-
sports-trade-association-applauds-fanduel-transparency-measures/
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Points To Positive Trends. Retrieved from https://www.legalsportsreport.com/1993/fantasy-sports-
research-shows-upward-trend/
Gouker, D. (2018, July 1). FanDuel Vs. DraftKings – Who’s No. 1 In Daily Fantasy And Sports
Betting? Retrieved from https://www.legalsportsreport.com/3832/fanduel-or-draftkings/
Grove, C. (2018, August 1). What Are The States Where You Can Play Daily Fantasy Sports?
Retrieved from https://www.legalsportsreport.com/daily-fantasy-sports-blocked-allowed-states/
Investopedia. (2018). Static Budget. Retrieved from
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27. References:
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