FantasyAces is trying to keep the ball rolling with a new live event championship. On December 5th they announced a follow up to their successful football championship this time taking on the NBA. On April 4th, 2015, FantasyAces will have a NBA $100,000 prize pool live tournament in Newport Beach, CA. The NBA has been very welcoming to the daily fantasy sports scene being one of the first to allow endorsement on their courts. This was also a opportune time to make the announcement at this years peak of NFL million makers and the announcement comes in between the DraftKings and Fanduels fantasy football live championships. These type of live events are great for the industry as well as they provide a platform for the best players to showcase their skills in high stakes live match ups. There are great payouts to be had and a ton of recognition through the daily fantasy scene. As of right now it is the only NBA live final that has been announced for next year. It’s not like daily fantasy sports doesn’t have it share of live events but the gap grew a bit when DraftKings started buying up a few of its competitors. Now FantasyAces is bringing back to back finals to the industry and there will be more to buzz then just MLB being back in the mix in early April. Pushing for growth and player acquisition is what daily fantasy sites are looking for and giving it’s players a final to shoot for is a great move to put yourself in the spotlight and attract new players to your site. Neither of the two mega sites have put a live basketball event on the table for this season but let’s face it, they are paying out $30k on a random Wednesday in a $25 buy-in GPP and Aces GPP’s top payouts are around $200-$300 on similar nights, so this kind of exposure is key for brand recognition. Here’s what the co-founders of FantasyAces, Trent and Bryan Frisina, had to say:
(We) decided to create the $100,000 FABC contest due the recent success of the their live FantasyAces Football Championship on November 23, 2014, when John Lee (tipandpick) won the $40,000 top prize in a heated battle that went down to the final quarter of the last game of the day. “The energy at our live NFL final was just incredible,” says Trent. “Everyone had a great time hanging out and getting to know each other during the yacht party, but when the championship started the next morning, it got serious. There was definitely a playoff-type atmosphere and with the huge prize money at stake, every point mattered. Before the FAFC final ended, Bryan and I had already decided to do the same thing for our NBA players. Our goal is to build upon the FAFC event and make this upcoming championship even better”
The Tournament
It seems that FantasyAces found their home at the American Junkie Sports Bar in Newport Beach California. Based on the area, I don’t doubt that it is the perfect fit for this growing company. The stakes are the same as the FAFC, $100,000 prize pool with $40,000 going to the first place finisher. The 13 finalists will also be treated to a stay at the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach and a party on a 100 foot yacht (The Mojo) the evening before the event. There is a 10 game NBA slate that evening so the player pool will be large for such a small amount of entries. The game schedule that day is:
76ers @ Hornets – Sat 7:00pm EST
Heat @ Pistons – Sat 7:30pm EST
Celtics @ Raptors – Sat 7:30pm EST
Nets @ Hawks – Sat 7:30pm EST
Wizards @ Grizzlies – Sat 8:00pm EST
Magic @ Bucks – Sat 8:30pm EST
Warriors @ Mavericks – Sat 8:30pm EST
Clippers @ Nuggets – Sat 9:00pm EST
Jazz @ Suns – Sat 10:00pm EST
Pelicans @ Trail Blazers – Sat 10:00pm EST
The payout structure for the tournament is here:
| Grand Prize | $40,000 |
| Runner-Up | $20,000 |
| 3rd Place | $10,000 |
| 4th Place | $6,000 |
| 5th Place | $5,000 |
| 6th Place | $3,500 |
| 7th Place | $2,500 |
| 8th Place | $2,500 |
| 9th Place | $2,500 |
| 10th Place | $2,500 |
| 11th Place | $2,000 |
| 12th Place | $2,000 |
| 13th Place | $1,500 |
With games starting late in the evening this event should shake out like the FAFC did coming down to the wire, credit to the nature of FantasyAces pricing and draft layout. As long as I have played on Aces I know their site to be very tight on salary and you get to be very creative with roster building. Qualifiers for this tournament begin this Friday, December 12th, with the same $109 Buy-in that the FAFC had. FantasyAces will most likely be running daily satellites to this contest in almost all sports formats for as low as $5 so go qualify for as low a price as possible. Right now you can get in on NBA games for FABC qualifier tickets at many different buy-in levels. You want the recognition of the industry and one of those really cool big checks we are all dreaming about you should try to win you trip to California and the chance to be the first ever FantasyAces Basketball Champion.
