RotoGrinders Expands into Sports Betting & Online Poker with Creation of RG Network
The Fantasy Sports Rankings Authority sets its sights on regulated gambling verticals with the acquisition of PocketFives.com and the creation of SharpSide.com.
RotoGrinders, the central community for Daily Fantasy Sports, today announced the creation of RG Network, which aims to establish player rankings systems in all online gaming industries. At its launch, RG Network includes newly-acquired PocketFives, previously-acquired Fantasy Insiders, and RotoGrinders brand new platform, SharpSide.
By launching RG Network with these four sites (RotoGrinders, SharpSide, Fantasy Insiders, and PocketFives), RotoGrinders will leverage its existing fan base to rapidly expand into the sports betting, season-long fantasy, and online poker markets. Identifying and celebrating the best gamers has always been at the heart of both RotoGrinders (DFS Tournament Player Rankings) and PocketFives (Online Poker Tournament Player Rankings) and will remain a focus with SharpSide, which will feature a variety of leaderboards for sports bettors.
“With legalized sports betting and online gaming set to rapidly expand across the U.S., RotoGrinders is thrilled to announce this strategic investment in our future,” said RotoGrinders CEO Cal Spears. “RG Network will offer sports bettors more of the high-quality media and tools that the RotoGrinders community has come to expect, but most importantly we will focus on ranking and identifying the best sports bettors. We’re also thrilled to bring PocketFives, which our group founded during the online poker boom 13 years ago, into the RG Network fold. Online poker is positioned to make a comeback as regulated states pool liquidity and tournament prize pools become more attractive.”
Overview of RG Network’s Four Sites:
1. RotoGrinders: RotoGrinders is a web-based daily fantasy sports (DFS) player rankings, community, and media website. Founded in 2010 by Cal Spears, Riley Bryant, and Cameron MacMillan, RotoGrinders has been at the forefront of DFS since the industry’s beginnings. Now a one-stop resource for the DFS community, RotoGrinders provides daily fantasy news, tools, and analysis sourced from players ranked at the top of its leaderboards. For more information, visit RotoGrinders.com.
2. SharpSide: Created from the ground up by the RotoGrinders team, SharpSide is RG Network’s sports betting property for the regulated US market. SharpSide’s App allows community members to track picks, read or contribute crowd-sourced advice, and get insight from top-ranked sports bettors. The company will source picks made in its app to create a variety of leaderboards ranging from “Best NBA Spread Bettors” all the way to “Best Tom Brady Yardage Prop Bettors.” For more information, visit SharpSide.com or download the Sharpside app for iOS or Android!
3. PocketFives: Founded in 2005 by RotoGrinders co-founders Cal Spears and Riley Bryant, along with Adam Small, PocketFives 175,000 member community has long been the leader in online tournament player rankings. Small will join RG Network as Director of Business Development. “The PocketFives team is excited to join the RotoGrinders family and help launch RG Network,” said Small. “With its unique combination of online platforms, RG Network is poised to become the leading online gaming community in the United States. We look forward to bringing PocketFives strengths and community to this new venture.” For more information, visit PocketFives.com.
4. Fantasy Insiders: Fantasy Insiders is a season-long fantasy football media website focused on helping users with their seasonal, best ball and dynasty fantasy leagues. With over 50,000,000 season long fantasy players in the US, Fantasy Insiders is a critical “Top of the Funnel” property for the network. After Fantasy Insiders was acquired in 2017 by RotoGrinders, co-founder David Kitchen stayed on to help transition the brand from daily fantasy sports to season-long fantasy. “The traditional fantasy sports market is still growing, and with the wider range of contests now offered, we’re excited about bringing new ideas and data-driven tools to help users with their seasonal leagues,” said Kitchen. For more information, visit FantasyInsiders.com.
