ALISO VIEJO, CALIFORNIA–(Marketwired – Dec. 6, 2016) – Fantasy Aces Daily Fantasy Sports Corp. (the “Corporation” or “Fantasy Aces”) (TSX VENTURE:FAS) (OTCQB:FASDF) is pleased to provide shareholders with a summary of their third quarter financials as well as an outlook for the future.
Q3 Results:
During the quarter ended September 30, 2016, Fantasy Aces continued to expand the depth of its user base and user retention into the ever-growing daily fantasy sports (“DFS“) industry. During the period, the Corporation increased its net revenue as a percentage of gross profit, lowered its operating expenses, and ended the month of September with a modest operating profit. The Corporation has remained the number three site through the end of August for the MLB season, behind industry leaders DraftKings and FanDuel and in front of Yahoo amongst others. Also during this period the macro industry issues surrounding state-by-state regulation are rapidly being resolved, with New York as the most recent state to legalize DFS while stating it is in fact a game of skill, not chance.
HIGHLIGHTS Q3
- Gross Revenue of $454,689, 170% increase over Q3 2015
- Prize Payouts of $5,315,133, 169% increase over Q3 2015
- Overlay remained consistent at 39% of gross revenue
- Game Entries: 494,254, 168% increase over Q3 2015
- Site Marketing Expense reduced 235% for the same period
- Operating Gross Margins continue to improve over past quarters
HIGHLIGHTS Q2
- Gross Revenue of $514,984, 280% increase over Q2 2015
- Prize Payouts of $5,649,000, 240% increase over Q2 2015
- Reduced overlay to 34% of gross revenue
- Game Entries: 655,270, 230% increase over Q2 2015
- Operating Gross Margins continue to increase when compared to Q2 2015
HIGHLIGHTS 1ST HALF
- Gross Revenue of $877,796, 283% increase over 2015
- Game Entries of 1,043,731 101% increase over 2015
- Prize payouts of $9,000,000 243% increase over 2015
The Corporation generated $121,000 Q3 net revenue as compared to 2015 Q3 where the site marketing expense leading to positive net revenue was ($452,000). This statistic is a reflection of the Corporation continuing to carefully manage its gross and net revenue accumulation during 2016, in each category and quarter compared to 2015. Smartly constructed tournament creation and carefully managed site operations are echoed directly in these statistics.
However, potential revenue and net revenue growth was limited during Q3 due to the absence of the Corporation’s industry leading and highly recognized MLB “Live” final, which was held during August, 2015 on the field at the Anaheim Angels baseball park in Southern California near the end of the MLB season. The Corporation was unable to hold the same event this year due to a lack of capital during the period to underwrite this event. Our even bigger NFL “Live” Final has also been postponed for Q4. Prudent operational cash management during this period is manifest, and will continue until adequate capital is raised to underwrite an accelerated growth curve of which the Corporation is capable of achieving.
As announced in Q3, the Corporation acquired certain participants of Fantasy Feud, the number six site in Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) for a purchase price of C$454,250 by way of C$25,000 in cash and the remainder in common shares of the Corporation. The approximate 51,500 participants in the Fantasy Feud database are now included in the Fantasy Aces database, bringing our total to just below 100,000.
The Corporation continues to see a measurable spike in all key participation metrics due its mobile App being available to our members and the fast growing DFS user base.
The App is available to all for downloading at: https://appsto.re/us/zKjC_.i
Tom Frisina, Chairman and CEO of Fantasy Aces comments: “Quarter over quarter, our team continues to show tremendous growth in our business. With more and more States defining our game as a game of skill, we foresee our business exceeding expectations over the coming months. With the overall industry gaining more and more traction around the Country, I believe we’re at an inflection point that could easily take our business to the next level and I’m excited to update our shareholders with our progress over the coming months.”
OUTLOOK
The Corporation’s momentum continued into October and November as compared to the same period in 2015, notably in two critical areas: Overlay expense as a percentage of gross revenue was only 41% in October and November 2016 compared to 179% during the same period in 2015.
This statistic is one of the most important measurements of future profitability in the DFS industry and as the Corporation’s success in capital raising takes place, the resulting increase in both the size and number of its tournament contests, coupled with expanding user acquisition for more active participants, will be reflected in notable revenue increases, and from that profitability should result.
The second area worth noting is game entries; with only a very modest marketing budget, Fantasy Aces increased game entries during the quarter by 200,000 to a total of close to 500,000 entries. Game entries reflect on momentum, and if marketing expenses are diminished as they have been during the latter half of 2016, it shows the continued devotion of our organically grown user base and the value brought with the Fantasy Feud acquisition.
As reported in Q2, the Corporation applied for listing on the OTCQB Exchange in the U.S. and in November 2016, our common shares begin trading on the OTCQB under the symbol FASDF. As the industry expands and Fantasy Aces continues to remain a top five DFS site, it is expected that this new listing will accrue expanded trading volume and additional new shareholders.
The regulatory status in the U.S. continues to move forward on a state-by-state adoption of laws allowing DFS to achieve a wide reaching legal status among most states.
In the last quarter, New York, Tennessee, and Massachusetts have been enacted into legal status bringing the total to eight for 2016. The total through Q3 and into Q4 has grown to 11 and, as reported by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA), it is expected that another 15 to 18 states will succeed in passing laws in 2017, and with an additional 16 to 19 states in 2018, bringing the total to over 40 states.
Fantasy Aces in particular, and the industry as a whole, continue to move forward on this positive regulatory track within the U.S. and for the Corporation’s prospects going forward.
We expect that the recently announced merger of FanDuel and DraftKings will accrue benefits to Fantasy Aces and its shareholders. It has been proven that DFS players play on more than one site, sometimes as many as three. With an expected combined FanDuel and DraftKings site and our performance relative to Yahoo, Fantasy Aces anticipates that it will becomes a top three DFS site, which will be extremely important as our industry moves forward at an even faster pace in 2017.
Additional information relating to the Corporation can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
About Fantasy Aces
Fantasy Aces is a leading DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports) site focused on everyday skill-based fantasy sports games. Fantasy Aces has developed proprietary software which allows users to create fantasy teams from the player rosters of actual sports leagues and then use their teams to compete against other users in various categories such as points scored, yards gained, goals, assists or home runs registered, depending on the specific sport. The FantasyAces.com website currently offers daily and weekly skill based fantasy sports games for six major North American sports, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, College Football and the PGA. Fantasy Aces also offers a variety of entry fee contest options for its members to play, in addition to free roll tournaments to attract new members to the site. Fantasy Aces charges a management fee from all entry fees collected on the website.
Reader Advisory
Certain information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements or information (“forward-looking statements”). By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the Corporation’s control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, currency fluctuations, operational risks, competition from other industry participants, stock market volatility, and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, its forward-looking statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. Risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could affect actual results are discussed in our public disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, the Corporation does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The offered securities mentioned in this press release will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of U.S. persons except in certain transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act.
This new release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction.
Trading in the securities of Fantasy Aces Daily Fantasy Sports Corp. should be considered highly speculative.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
Chief Executive Officer
(805) 565-7850
tom@fantasyaces.com
Jerome Cliche
Corporate Communications
(514) 815-8799
jerome@fantasyaces.com