Fanball.com Acquires NFFC, F+W Fantasy Products

[ultimatefs]

Originally posted by BillyWaz:
quote:Originally posted by GK:
...also, (and The Serpent thinks that he echos the sentiments of most. if not all here), SNAKE is sincerely hoping that no one messes with a GREAT thing (14 team format, KDS, 3RR, great customer service, competitive payouts, etc.) because as the old adage goes; if it ain't broke...


...SNAKE I was just about to ask this myself, Glenn.

Taking away all that makes the NFFC unique (see above) would be a major step back IMO, also. [/QUOTE]wow...didn't see any mention of changes.. only mention that nothing is changing...

The only change I see is a loss of 2% of the customers from fanball

Charlie is the greatest. This is good news for all. Increased stability...

[Greg Ambrosius]

Originally posted by Raiders:
Congrats Greg and Tom!

I just hope as KOTRAX said you guys are the 'Point Men' and we always be for NFFC.

Does Fanball.com also own FFOC?

So again Congrats,

John Great point John. Yes, we are still the Point Men and always will be. This is not a situation where we check out after this event or in one year and spend our millions on ourselves. First of all, I think Tom and I between us got enough in this deal for a Happy Meal, so we're not ready to quit our day jobs just yet!!

We're here to stay and you can't get rid of us so easily.

Fanball does NOT own FFOC. They just run the back-end for that game and are promotional partners for them. I'm sure we'll get to know them better and have some fun together. Heck, maybe there will even be some cross promotions.

Fanball.com does co-own Snap Draft and trust me I have some good NFFC Weekly game ideas for this season. Stay tuned. Could be fun.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Originally posted by GK:
...TK & Greg, SNAKE is happy for you guys if you are happy and has but TWO Q's (the former is dead serious and the latter is in jest) here;

1) will you still be calling the shots (REALLY)?

2) will you be making more loot because of this?...


...thanks much......SNAKE Thanks much Glenn. You've been around for the full football ride, so you know how bumpy things have been. Smooth roads lie ahead.

1. Yes, with LOTS of help from guys who have been in the fantasy space almost as long as me!! Brian, Carol and Charlie entered two years after me with Carol's Fantasy Baseball!! They were among our first advertisers in our magazine. A stinkin' 1"x1" ad!!! Love ya Charlie.

2. Yes for both of us. And even better yet, we're incentivized to grow this event and all of our events. If you think we worked hard before for gratis, wait until you see us work for bonuses!!!

[Raiders]

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:
quote:Originally posted by Raiders:
Congrats Greg and Tom!

I just hope as KOTRAX said you guys are the 'Point Men' and we always be for NFFC.

Does Fanball.com also own FFOC?

So again Congrats,

John Great point John. Yes, we are still the Point Men and always will be. This is not a situation where we check out after this event or in one year and spend our millions on ourselves. First of all, I think Tom and I between us got enough in this deal for a Happy Meal, so we're not ready to quit our day jobs just yet!!

We're here to stay and you can't get rid of us so easily.

Fanball does NOT own FFOC. They just run the back-end for that game and are promotional partners for them. I'm sure we'll get to know them better and have some fun together. Heck, maybe there will even be some cross promotions.

Fanball.com does co-own Snap Draft and trust me I have some good NFFC Weekly game ideas for this season. Stay tuned. Could be fun. [/QUOTE]Sounds Great. Hope that there will always be a 14 team League,KDS and 3rr as GK(Glenn) said.

Don't ever forget your "Bread and Butter".

John

PS. That's why I joined, all 3 are Great together!

[ August 14, 2009, 02:47 PM: Message edited by: Raiders ]

[Greg Ambrosius]

Originally posted by Captain Hook:
Greg - what happens to the NBC/Rotoworld participation? Our partnership with NBC Sports unfortunately ended before this football season and continues through the end of the NFBC season. Fortunately, Fanball has a great relationship with Rotoworld as they co-own the Snap Draft product and I think the NFFC is getting a little promotional push on that site right now. I'd love to find a way to work again with Rick Wolf and Rick Cordella at NBC Sports as we all feel bad that that partnership didn't work out better.

But I'm happy with the way things have worked out now.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Originally posted by BillyWaz:
quote:Originally posted by GK:
...also, (and The Serpent thinks that he echos the sentiments of most. if not all here), SNAKE is sincerely hoping that no one messes with a GREAT thing (14 team format, KDS, 3RR, great customer service, competitive payouts, etc.) because as the old adage goes; if it ain't broke...


...SNAKE I was just about to ask this myself, Glenn.

Taking away all that makes the NFFC unique (see above) would be a major step back IMO, also. [/QUOTE]I don't see any reason for us to mess with the 14-team format in football, KDS, 3RR or current prize payouts. As long as Tom and I are involved, I don't see why the customer service would change or even the payout schedules would change.

What I can see happening is adding more sports, more ways to play NFFC style games, more promotional might, etc. Fanball already likes what we've built here, so nobody is going to try to change that. They just want to build on it.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Originally posted by KOTRAX:
JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY GREG, YOU AND TOM PLAN ON BEING WITH US FOR THE LONG HAUL CORRECT?


I KNOW WITH THE WCOFF LENNY AND EMIL SLOWLY BUT SURELY WALKED AWAY FROM THE WCOFF.


THIS IS NOT IN YOUR GUYS'S PLAN? RIGHT?


I CERTAINLY HOPE NOT!! This is a great question Ormond and I GUARANTEE you that Tom and I are not leaving anytime soon. The difference between WCOFF's situation and ours is that Lenny and Emil were private owners of that entity and they as businessmen sold it to a new company. The new company obviously wanted to work with them through the transition period of that season, but then had their own ideas for the growth of the event and no longer needed their services.

We, on the other hand, owned NOTHING!! We were just employees who worked like we did own it all, but always knew we were just doing a job. We are now being employed by a new company that appreciates our skills in this job and is rewarding us with higher salaries and better opportunities to grow with this company. We own no equity in this venture and we aren't rich enough to hit the beaches yet. Trust me, we didn't get rich in this transaction, so we're NOT retiring into the sunset.

The two situations couldn't be more different, which I assume, is good news to your ears, right?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Okay, this is the Live Chat thread if you have any questions. Ask here. I'll be around through cocktail hour as my wife and kids left me this week to get away from the stress!! They went up north to a cottage to relax and enjoy the beach before school starts and will be home later today. I'll stay on this thread for a few more hours and make sure I've answered everyone's questions and then be stress-free when they come home tonight!! And then my kids can help me move my belongings to my new office this weekend.

[renman]

Greg/tom,

As a member of the NFFC from day one I want to congratulate you on your success and I am happy to see your efforts being rewarded. I am confident that as long as you guys are involved with the NFFC the product will remain the premier fantasy football contest in the market. I am interest to see how this leads to growth for our the event and our "14 teamer family." I am wondering if the time will come, through support from bigger and other entities, that we can see prize funds grown through revenue streams other than solely participant entry fees, ie sponsorship support.

Keep us posted on all the news!

[Greg Ambrosius]

Originally posted by JohnZ:
quote:Originally posted by BillyWaz:
quote:Originally posted by GK:
...also, (and The Serpent thinks that he echos the sentiments of most. if not all here), SNAKE is sincerely hoping that no one messes with a GREAT thing (14 team format, KDS, 3RR, great customer service, competitive payouts, etc.) because as the old adage goes; if it ain't broke...


...SNAKE I was just about to ask this myself, Glenn.

Taking away all that makes the NFFC unique (see above) would be a major step back IMO, also. [/QUOTE]wow...didn't see any mention of changes.. only mention that nothing is changing...

The only change I see is a loss of 2% of the customers from fanball

Charlie is the greatest. This is good news for all. Increased stability... [/QUOTE]Thanks John. Yeah, you, me and Charlie are graybeards in this industry and I think you know that me, Charlie, Ryan and Tom will make this work. It is stability and definite growth.

For the record, Krause Publications was ahead of its time in this industry and all of the credit goes to Bob Lemke. He created Baseball Cards Magazine in 1981, the first national newsstand publication for the baseball card industry, four years before Beckett ever published its price guide. He led the growth of KP through his foresight into the baseball card boom and in 1989 he determined that the next big hobby boom was fantasy sports, so he created Fantasy Baseball Magazine. Bob and Steve Ellingboe hired an aggressive, young newspaper sports editor to spearhead that debut title in the winter of 1989 and the magazine almost was terminated two years later.

We were saved by an incredible sell-through of a fantasy football issue in 1992 and then had many good years of sell-throughs before the Internet hit. The company never got online in this space and so we've been a bit of a dinosaur since 1996.

We did a good job of surviving through custom publishing, the creation of the Fantasy Sports Trade Conference and then the NFBC and NFFC, but honestly we are still a print publishing company in an Internet world. The sale to an Internet/games company with a major media company as its owner, makes perfect sense. I'm glad the sale with F+W went through, even though 20 years of employment here brings back a lot of good memories. But things change for a reason and I'm ready for that change, as is Tom.