Special Announcement: NFBC/NFFC Acquired By Greg Ambrosius

SS · Post by SS » Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:20 pm

Congratulations Greg, glad you landed on solid ground. I know we are all behind you!

In regards to bringing back Fantasy Sports, when can we expect the first issue and how can I subscribe to my favorite magazine

SS

RoadKing · Post by **RoadKing** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:38 pm

Of course? I must have missed his name in the prior posts. Sorry

Route Collectors · Post by **Route Collectors** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:12 pm

Greg that's awesome man. It's like you've finally been given your child after hours of labor. What a journey it's been so far. Can you believe it...I've been talking to you for going on 8 years now and never seen you in person

Do you have new contact info..e-mail etc ? I'll catch up with you in a couple of weeks. I'm off to Honduras to do another medical mission with my daughter. Once again I got majority sponsorship from my NFFC buddies. What a great group of people.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:46 pm

I answered a question from NFFC veteran Larry Schechter on our NFBC boards and thought I'd copy and paste it here since it pertains to everyone in the NFFC. Hope this helps:

Originally posted by Larry Schechter:
Greg,

When you say Stats is a "majority" partner, does that mean they own more of this new venture than you do? Or are you the majority owner?

Also, does Tom have a new title?

Will you ever let him go to Vegas? (just kidding, I know you'll never let him go there.) Yes, it's important to note that there are two transactions here: I acquired the assets to these events/contests from Liberty Sports Interactive and then STATS bought a majority ownership in us. I wanted it done this way for a couple of reasons:

1. It was important to have a major company backing these events. I felt it was important for customers to know that their prizes are guaranteed each year by a very stable company in the industry and one that you knew year in and year out would be around for the long term. Again, I know you folks trust Greg and Tom, but we needed and wanted the stability of a major company and we are now part of that company in more ways than just the NFBC and NFFC. It's good for us and good for STATS, which is now invested in this space and incentivized to do everything possible to grow the events/contests. We couldn't grow this the way we want to alone.

2. And most importantly, I learned a very hard lesson last year that technology is the key to keeping these contests moving forward. No matter how well we sell the events or provide customer service or pay prizes on time, without a stable back-end commissioner product or easy-to-use web site we are nothing. I never want to go through what we went through early last baseball season and my first call was to STATS to see if they would return to work with us. When they agreed that this was a space they really were excited about, we quickly got on the same page on how to do that and expanded our thoughts. I'm thrilled to be back with the IT team I always got along with and a management team that is more excited about this partnership than I am. I've been to Chicago a couple of times now to work at STATS and I'm extremely impressed with the setup of the company and the people involved. I have no concerns about the technology we have in place to run the NFBC in 2011 and I know that we will continue to enhance the site, enhance the draft software, innovate on the technology side and improve the live drafts.

We don't have a wide window to do things this baseball season and in fact we are pressed for time to incorporate everything we just received yesterday into a working solution right away, but we will get it done. The back-end for the game is already dusted off and ready to go, but there's a lot of past historical data, logins, etc., that need to be addressed as well. But we'll get there, so be patient with us. Once we have all of these pieces in their new home, they won't go anywhere and we can again unveil Lifetime Standings, Mid-Season leagues and other staples we had before and start doing some unique things like Draft Slot Championship and Second Chance Leagues.

And finally, I think the connections STATS has within the industry and within the major media circles it works with will lead to some great promotional opportunities for us. I think the weekly article that ran yesterday with the Associated Press is a good example of how we can use NFBC data, create a solid fantasy article and spread the news to the masses through an internal editorial department. We'll continue to do that and reach out to some of the radio, newspaper and TV contacts they have and keep spreading the word about the NFBC and NFFC. We are now part of a major, major company within this space that is totally behind what we're doing here. It feels good. It feels refreshing.

I hope this helps explain our ownership question now and it's something that sets us up perfectly for today and the future. And it's exactly what Tom and I both wanted. It secures our futures and secures the futures of these contests in a very positive way. Tom is definitely on board with us and his status can be addressed starting on Monday. We'll discuss that when he's officially on board.

Thanks all. It's a new day. It's a good day. A very good day.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:48 pm

Originally posted by RoadKing:
Of course? I must have missed his name in the prior posts. Sorry Sorry, I didn't mean that in a condescending way. I just meant, of course Tom and I will remain a team. We're in this together for the long haul and I wouldn't have it any other way. We'll update his role and contact info on Monday when he will officially join the new team.

paus · Post by **paus** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:02 am

Congrats guys! Looking forward to the new / old combo of NFFC and Stats. Now we just need a season.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:28 am

I posted this on the NFBC boards and wanted to post it here too:

Way back in December of 1999, I was ending my time as a beat writer covering the Packers and looking for a different job. I interviewed at Krause Publications and Greg and Rocky Landsverk (who some of you may remember) took me to lunch at a place in Iola, Wisconsin called Little Norway. Nothing fancy about the place. Your regular small bar with small bar food.

Anyway, I must have dazzled them with my resume and my enthusiasm for the job. Either that or they were really desperate and were willing to hire the first person to say yes. Twelve years and a lot of interesting twists and turns later Greg and I are about to take our events and propel them forward in a way that we previously had only dreamed we could do. We've taken some big steps in recent years but the opportunities presented to us now are things Greg and I have talked about doing for quite awhile and many things we had never even contemplated before. That's the power of the STATS company and the potential our new jobs will present to us. It's definitely very exciting.

The STATS crew are great guys. We've known them and worked with them for years. We know they can run our games because they ran them at a high level before our move to Fanball. We trust them and more importantly, YOU trust them. That's huge going forward for all the obvious reasons.

So while this is a great opportunity for Greg and myself, I also believe it's a great opportunity for all of you who play in our games and everyone out there who currently does not. The future is very bright and hopefully all of you enjoy the ride as much as Greg and I are looking forward to it.

Oh, did I mention that I'm currently unemployed? My last day at Fanball was yesterday so I'm jobless. It's possible that could change starting Monday but can I get a reference or two in case I need one? Thanks in advance.

Atlas · Post by **Atlas** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:38 am

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
[QB] I posted this on the NFBC boards and wanted to post it here too:

Anyway, I must have dazzled them with my resume and my enthusiasm for the job. Either that or they were really desperate and were willing to hire the first person to say yes.

..or the coronas were flowing a bit too freely??

Just kidding!!

Congrats!!

Hey Greg..are you taking suggestinos for Tom's new title? Can we all vote on one???

How about "Grand Master of Auctions and Satellites" ?? Sort of has a ring to it...don't ya think?

Ted's Cracked Head · Post by **Ted's Cracked Head** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:48 am

Congrats! Sounds like a win for all of the parties involved. Great to hear!

pizzatyme · Post by **pizzatyme** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 11:29 am

Congratulations Greg! You and Tom deserve a break after the year from hell.

I'm cautiously optomistic for a great future for the NFFC. I can't wait to read all of the details of what's to come.

All the best! Congrats to Tom too.