A New Kind of Fantasy Sports Sweeps Through Asia with the Launch of Ballr

Sydney, May 16, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - A new kind of fantasy sports game is sweeping through Asia and connecting sports fans to the game they love. Ballr, the sports engagement platform owned by Fantasy Sport Technologies has today announced the launch of its gaming application.

Highlights:

- Launching in India and China; Ballr addresses upwards of 400 million adult sports fans

- Ballr acquires talent from notorious failed Australian tech startup PlayUp

- All mobile, and free to all users. Gamers win experiences, sports equipment, sporting tickets

- Ballr have offices in Delhi, Singapore, Sydney

The news comes in the wake of the $70 million failure of Australian sports technology business PlayUp, with Ballr employing key talent integral to the development of PlayUp's technology. Ballr founder and CEO, Sam Jones, an investor in PlayUp, says he can see clear potential in the concept despite PlayUp's spectacular demise. "The idea of Playup was excellent and it attracted plenty of investors as a result, but the execution was very poor."

The expertise of the key technology staff behind PlayUp will provide a significant boost to Ballr's prospects. PlayUp entered liquidation earlier this year after attracting numerous high profile investors including Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, pokie magnate Bruce Mathieson and former Australian cricketer Steve Waugh.

"We took a long look at the daily fantasy sport arena that has been so popular in USA in recent years. We felt that the game style needed simplifying for the Asian marketplace. That means designing games that last minutes not hours. As such our interface is more like Tinder than it is Fan Duel or Tab. You could call what we do micro fantasy sports." said Jones.

Ballr plans to avoid the continued scrutiny from regulators encountered daily by fantasy sports companies such as DraftKings and FanDuel by offering prizes rather than monetary rewards and unlike it's north American predecessors, Ballr is all mobile, free to play and based on micro fantasy games. Fan's can test their skill at micro games, such as cricket game next over where the player selects the sequence of the next 6 deliveries in 6 quick taps of their phone, 1-2-1-0-6-4, for the very real chance to win prizes such as sports equipment, apparel, cars and tickets to games.

"We've chosen to take a different path with Ballr. Whilst our technology uses the same live sport data as the gambling sites we will never deal in monetary prizes. We want to engage fan's in the sports that they love, but also encourage them to step away from their mobile phones and go out and get active. We are achieving this through awarding prizes such as Nike trainers, golf clubs and money can't buy experiences, such as attending a training session with Liverpool Football Club. We will leave the gambling to the guys who know it best. It's just not who we are." said Jones. The reduction of risk, through the removal of monetary rewards has opened new avenues for global brands wishing to reach communities in emerging markets. Ballr has partnered with a number of global brands; sporting goods manufacturers, start ups in the transportation industry, sports clubs and local brands to be able to deliver prizes and experiences to winners.

Sports growth in Asia over the past few years has been phenomenal and there are no signs that it is slowing. China's current administration, led by soccer enthusiast president Xi Jing Ping, has publicly stated the ambition to build the world's biggest sport economy. 170 million fans watch English Premier League Soccer a week in China.

"With upwards of 400 million adult sports fans in Asia it was clear that Ballr was launching in the right markets". Said Jones. "Asia is just the first stop for Ballr, other markets like South America and Africa present a huge opportunity for our fan engagement platform. Our goal is ultimately to connect the world through live sport."

The Ballr app will launch in Delhi, India this week along side the Indian Premier League (IPL) and in the coming months will roll out games for soccer and basketball in the burgeoning markets of China, Thailand and Vietnam.

To date, Ballr has received $4 million in seed capital and will use this, as well as celebrity athlete endorsements, to pursue a market of an estimated 281 million adult sports fans in China and 93 million in India.

Ballr has offices operating in Sydney, Melbourne, New York, Delhi and Singapore.

Contact

Sam Jones Founder & CEO T: +61-451-896-420 E: sam@ballr.com Clarissa Piriz Head of Brand T: +61-424-491-714 E: clarissa@ballr.com Matthew Wright Investor Relations E: matt@nwrcommunications.com.au