Fantasy Life raises $2m in seed round ahead of football season
NFL stars Josh Allen, Joe Burrow among new investors in Matthew Berry-led media company
Fantasy Life has raised $2m in a seed round as the fantasy sports and betting media company looks to continue its growth ahead of the 2023 football season and beyond.
Launched by longtime ESPN fantasy sports analyst Matthew Berry in 2022, Fantasy Life has put together a formidable investor base that includes NFL stars Josh Allen and Joe Burrow.
Also participating in the seed round are Jaguars owner Tony Khan, LRMR Ventures – the family office of LeBron James and Maverick Carter – FOX Bet CEO Kip Levin, Wasserman Media Group CEO Casey Wasserman, and John Legend.
“I have loved every second of the last year with the Fantasy Life team, bootstrapping our way to profitability and can’t wait to continue to build on that success,” Berry said in a statement.
Fantasy Life began as a newsletter and had over 300,000 active subscribers as of July 2022 when it officially expanded into a full website featuring an expansive array of content, tools, and advanced stats for fantasy managers.
Since then, the company has signed media deals with SiriusXM and Meta as well as sponsorship agreements with BetMGM and Underdog Fantasy, among others.
“We are providing the world’s biggest brands access to some of the most loyal and highly engaged audiences,” Fantasy Life CEO Eliot Crist said in a statement. “With sponsorships, brand integrations, and custom tools, Fantasy Life is focused on developing strategic, long-term partnerships through its content for all users.”
Prior to launching Fantasy Life, Berry spent 15 years as ESPN’s lead fantasy analyst before joining NBC Sports, where he currently hosts a daily fantasy show, writes columns, and appears on Football Night in America, the network’s flagship program.