The son of the co-founder of Irish bookmaking giant Paddy Power is reportedly looking to launch an innovative sportsbetting exchange that will allow aficionados to trade virtual shares in a host of real-life players and teams.
According to a Friday report from the Irish Independent newspaper, the eponymously named Paddy Power (pictured) declared that the coming ‘virtual stock market’ is to be christened American SportZ Exchange and see the value of shares in a particular player or team calculated on their expected performance. The businessman currently serves as a brand ambassador for the successor to his family’s Dublin-based firm, Flutter Entertainment, and purportedly described the forthcoming enterprise as ‘the world’s first sports trading exchange’ that will mainly focus on the lucrative American market.
Tentative talks:
Power, who is the son of Paddy Power co-founder David Power, reportedly stated that the website for his new operation at ASX.ai is currently accepting beta player requests after entering into ‘exclusive’ partnership discussions with a range of American broadcasters and professional sports teams. He purportedly moreover disclosed that some of these include the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and Vegas Golden Knights franchises as well as media giants Sinclair Broadcast Group Incorporated and Rogers Media Incorporated and the online sports subscription video streaming service at DAZN.
Crowdfunding campaign:
Power reportedly furthermore told the Irish Independent that he is currently the main investor in the fledgling business and does not expect to be required to raise ‘serious’ funding for at least a year. However, he stated that American SportZ Exchange soon plans to launch a bankroll initiative via the Spark Crowdfunding platform in hopes of bringing in at least €500,000 ($608,000) to value the embryonic project at approximately €4.5 million ($5.5 million).
Practical possibilities:
The entrepreneur reportedly also proclaimed that he is looking into several business models for American SportZ Exchange including one that would see it run as a standalone exchange for fans alongside a second where it could be offered as a ‘white-label’ solution to partner media firms and sports teams.
Power reportedly told the Irish Independent…
“There are opportunities for teams and clubs to own their fans’ engagement in this type of activity. They’d like to keep [the fans] on their own site rather than see them going elsewhere to do all that online activity.”
Senior sign-ups:
To further aid the future prospects of American SportZ Exchange and Power reportedly divulged that he has recruited the Commercial Director for the Racing Post, Mike Griffin, to serve as the enterprise’s first Chief Executive Officer. He purportedly pronounced that the former electronic foreign exchange technology lead for Banco Santander, Conall Flood, has also joined alongside past Paddy Power and JP Morgan executives and employees.
Power reportedly told the newspaper…
“I’ve been working on this myself for the last couple of years but it has gotten to the stage now where I have to hand over the keys to the grown-ups.”
