NOOBdrifter

Hello everyone, my name is Matthew, and I want to share a business idea that I have with you all for feedback and constructive criticism.
It’s not an AMAZING MINDBLOWING next-gen Facebook/Uber platform. It’s a simple idea that I think people would appreciate and love to participate in, especially since it would appeal to the drift community/JDM enthusiasts/motorsports fans of which I am a part of.

The simplest way to describe what I want to do is create an online sport betting platform for drifting. Think Draft Kings or Fan Duel - these are daily fantasy sports sites that are dedicated to online betting on a fantasy team, except I want to create the same thing for the races/athletes that are held in Formula Drift (the largest drift motorsport championship currently in the world).

Watch this short 1 minute video of how eSports is played on Draft Kings.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHoPa9_KzU0

We would emulate it to work out exactly like the above video mentions, except it would consist of motorsport athletes found in Formula Drift.
Picking out a team would be done the same way - choosing 8 players (the # can be changed) and placing the selections under a salary cap.
Player 1 would be a “Top Player” - someone that finished in the top 5 spots in last years championship.
Player 2 would be a “Top Player”
Player 3 would be a “Mid Cap Player” - someone that finished from 15th to 6th spot.
Player 4 would be a “Mid Cap Player”
Player 5 would be a “Low Cap Player” - someone that finished from the 16th spot to the 25th
Player 6 would be a “Low Cap Player”
Player 7 would be a “Rookie” - someone that has entered the Formula Drift championship for the first time
Player 8 would be a “Rookie”

For example, if I were to create a team I could select Aasbo and Forsberg as my Top Players.
Next I could choose Forrest Wang and Daigo Saito as my Mid Cap Players.
For my Low Cap Players I can pick Mad Mike Whiddett and Patrick Goodin.
When it comes to the Rookies I would choose anyone that is new to the 2016 year championship.


Company Description
Our company will allow users to enter monthly fantasy drift sport related contests and win money based on individual player performances in Formula Drift.



Operations
When it comes to operating this company, web development would be needed to create the website and to maintain it - updating the tournaments, announcing winners, transferring money wins, creating new games, etc.


Marketing/Advertising
My plan to market a service like this would be to use Facebook ads, find potential brand ambassadors on Instagram/Facebook/blogs/sites and have them promote the company, reach out to Youtube channels (Car Throttle, Mighty Car Mods, etc).
I even want to contact Formula Drift and see what we can work with them.


Competitor Analysis
As far as I can tell there are no direct competitors with betting on drift motorsports.
There are however, indirect competitors such as DraftKings, FanDuel, BetDSI, Pinnacle - all of these sites and more offer a form of motorsports betting that involves Nascar, Formula One, and others. Even though they are not covering drifting directly, they would potentially draw motorsports enthusiasts away from our service to their platform.


Target Market
People who are involved in the drifting community, people who love JDM car culture, motorsports fans, people looking to make money off of online betting.
Our platform would allow anyone from around the world to enter our contests - a drifter in Japan, a fan of Formula Drift from Norway, or a JDM fanboy from South Africa - it doesn’t matter. It’s the internet where anyone can participate in the contests.
It helps that drifting is a worldwide sport where there are fans from around the globe, and anyone can enter and play to win.


Contests/Pricing Structure
For the time being I want to copy the format of the way DraftKings does their tournaments - Head to Head, 50/50, Beginner, Multipliers, and we could create some of our own as well.
The entry fees we would start out with would be not be big at all - $1, $3, $5, $15, and if takes off we would implement higher entry fees for larger contests for bigger wins.


Legal Issues
Some of you reading this may know that online betting platforms are illegal.
You’re probably wondering why sites like Fan Duel and Draft Kings are even allowed to operate. They are legal because of a loophole in the law.
It’s also because fantasy sports is considered a "game of skill.”
In 2006, the federal government passed a law called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that established fantasy sports as a "game of skill" and not a "game of chance."
In fantasy sports, users put together their own teams using real-life players. The outcome of the game is determined by how each player on a user's team performs, accumulating points based on real-game performances. The law is classifying this as a form of game in which actual skills matter to win.
(Business Insider)
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-d...e-legal-2015-4

Online Betting’s Hottest Trend
For the time being fantasy sports under today’s laws are still legal and fantasy sports sites will continue to flourish. Right now the next biggest thing in online betting is eSports such as games like Dota 2, Starcraft, CS:GO, and League of Legends - which is the biggest online video game right now. League of Legends (LOL, the acronym for the game, not the other popular definition) even has a World Championship that thousands of people from across the world travel to visit and millions of people stream the event on their computer/devices at home.
For 2015, the US Super Bowl had around 110 million viewers, the 2015 LOL World Championship had around 32 million viewers.
Say what you want about how pathetic and sad that eSports is gaining traction and that nerds are taking over, it’s a movement that is growing and is here to stay, and people are making serious money on it.
So why not try and start my own eSports betting platform?
Because I have absolutely no passion for eSports and there are already so many platforms for this. Every other online betting platform has incorporated eSports betting onto their existing portfolio of betting options, not to mention sites that are solely dedicated to eSports betting now exist. A popular one being Unikrn, a startup out of Seattle, WA which raised $10 million dollars - one of their investors is Mark Cuban, and yes, that’s the billionaire off of the popular show Shark Tank. He knows sports and how to make money off of them.


Why Drifting?
I like drifting, I’ve been involved in the motorsport for about 6 years now and I’ve followed/attended events in Formula Drift for about 5 years, so I definitely have some background on the sport - not an expert, but I’m not ignorant.
It’s been growing in popularity and I enjoy the community that the sport has created.
It’s obviously nowhere near as popular as sports such as football, soccer, basketball, still not close to even eSports, and not as big as Nascar or has the Americana status of drag racing. Even when just looking at motorsports as a whole, it’s pretty low on the totem pole.
BUT, it is growing and will continue to do so.
I feel like right now would be a great chance to try and create the first online betting platform for drift motorsports (I cannot find one on the web, please point one out to me if there is).
However it would have to be done very delicately because the community has been trying to grow out from its grassroots stage into the professional world and fans have backlashed at drivers who cozy up to big corporate names (i.e. Vaughn Gittin Jr).
One reason why I think something like this would definitely work is because if it were done in a respectful manner and not as a get rich now ploy then fans would embrace it. The community is really tight knit place and I feel like many individuals would participate in it, creating teams with their favorite drivers and hoping their carefully thought-out selections will bring home the gold and put some extra cash in their pockets.
Some people bet on sports/races of all kinds simply to make money, but a good amount do it for the love of the sport. It also increases interest and viewership due to the fact that they’ve placed money down and they want to see how the race/game comes out to. The reason I mention this is because some people feel that betting takes away from the sport. It doesn’t.


Other Issues
One issue/drawback I wanted to mention is the fact that Formula Drift only has seven races so it does have an off-season. So this would not be a making-money-year-round business. The first race takes place in April in Long Beach, California and goes until October where the last race is held in Irwindale, California. The other races in-between are held around the country so fans from around the US can have a chance to see the drivers.


The End/Other Stuff
So there you have it, an idea I came up with due to the popular interest swelling in online fantasy sports sites, the increasing popularity of eSports betting, and using my passion/interests.
Before you rush off to buy domain names that combine the word drift and betting/gambling terms please comment with constructive criticism, feedback, ideas, suggestions, and other stuff.
It would be greatly appreciated.
Some questions I would love to be answered include:
Would you participate in online betting on your favorite drift drivers if a site like this existed?
Have you ever betted online on any sport? (i.e. football, horse races, eSports)
Do you see the car/drift/JDM community welcoming this sort of service?
When you read the 2nd paragraph of this post did you immediately think “Oh that’s neat” or “What kind of crap is this?!” - please be brutally honest.

Cheers.

Goofs

I stopped reading right about here. You are comparing two completely different markets, while expecting the same results. The NFL, which is basically what Draft Kings or Fan Duel revolve around, is ginormous and is arguably America's biggest sport and that is why those websites are successful. They make money off of something that is generating huge amounts of revenue.

You have to take into account that Formula Drift is a joke and not many people outside of Hoonibros and certain groups of car enthusiasts know about it. Hell they can't even have a functioning live stream.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't see this working out. The costs completely outweigh the benefits.

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BossHogg

I honestly don't think drifting is big enough. But you never know. You get enough money, get some stickers on some cars. Maybe get a booth at the events etc. It might take off. But you are already targeting a niche market and out of those people you would have to get the "gamblers". But at the same time, you can go to the horse races and bet all day. A lot of those people don't actually follow horse racing, they just like to gamble. I myself hate gambling.....I never win lol. But that doesn't seem to stop other people. I don't follow drifting at all though. Just throwing out ideas. I like to see people succeed.

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partytron69000

While I think its possible a greater percentage of your target demographic that follows professional drifting may be more inclined to participate in fantasy sports betting compared to the general population, I don't think the target demographic is large enough to sustain this type of business. Of the fraction of a fraction of a fraction of people that follow drifting compared to football, you can't expect to clear very much in revenue based off deposit commissions or advertising. It may be a great hobby for the diehard drift fan to enjoy, but I don't see much growth potential in anything related to the drift industry. Didn't formula drift used to be broadcast on an ESPN station? Now I wouldn't even know where to find it on tv. 7 professional events vs 17+ weeks in NFL, not to mention baseball, hockey, and basketball.

Like I said, I think it could have a small following and be a great resume piece or something you can take a great deal of personal pride in, but it doesn't look like a successful business to me.

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SoundEfx

I think that the group of people who would bet on drifting are drifters themselves and would rather keep their money for 'hooni' parts (or lack there of).
Also, you have to take into consideration what others have said, it's not a huge market.

BUT with that being said, some successful businesses were started because someone took a chance. So IF it's not a financial burden on you or your family, I say go for it and give it a try on a small scale ( maybe start off with your local drift group or something ).

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NOOBdrifter

@Goofs - I did not mean to compare the two markets, I understand that they are vastly different. I mentioned the daily fantasy sports sites to get everyone to understand my idea quicker. Many people have heard of these sites and I want my idea built off of their structure. But yes the NFL dwarfs the drift motorsports market by a great deal.
Last year's live stream on Formula Drift seemed to work fine for me. I watched two events live and in HD, and that was at my university's dorm room using their wifi.
I know it seems unlikely to succeed, but there would not be any enormous startup costs except if serious marketing contracts were made.

@BossHogg - That's what I am afraid of - the drifting market not being big enough to support the service. I am definitely not expecting hundreds of thousands in revenue, I'm realistic. A couple of thousand a month would be good enough for me. In 2014 Draft Kings did 300 million in sales and Fan Duel is estimated to be worth around $1 billion.
Yes, drifting will never be that big. Why am I even mentioning this? Because it gives me hope that if a couple of sites based on sports can do that much in revenue on just gambling, what would stop a fantasy sports drift site from reaching at least a couple of thousand in revenue on betting? And operating the site on a two man team would be what I would aim for and it seems feasible.

@Partytron69000 - I definitely should have mentioned in my original post that I never thought a service like this could even make it anywhere close to the amount that DraftKings/FanDuel/Other sites make in revenue. A couple of thousand in revenue a month, operating the site with me and another web developer should suffice. And if extra work would be needed we would just hire a freelancer for some development work/pr work/marketing help.
And I know the drift fan population is tiny, but here's the thing, drifting enthusiasts live all over the world, and I know people follow FD because of the international racers that drive in it (Daigo Saito, Fredric Aasbo, etc). What I would want to do is find a way to target international people as well. I know, that's a lot easier said than done.

@SoundEFx - I understand people who are into drifting are careful with their money. But the entry fees for the contests we would hold would not be expensive. We would aim them to be around $1, $3, $5, $15. I'm hoping that even the stingiest of drivers could spend $1 or $3 on bets, and the more financially well off can afford the $5 and $15 ones.



I really appreciate everyone taking the time to read my post and making comments on the idea and what their concerns are. It's always benefitting to receive brutal, honest feedback on an idea. I'd love it for more people to write some more comments/opinions/ideas on this concept.

heleilao

there would not be any enormous startup costs except if serious marketing contracts were made.

Silverbullet

awesome idea. I would not charge more than a few dollars though.

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AllThingsGravy

Man I wish you luck in this. I love new ideas.