Yahoo bolsters fantasy sports position with Wagr acquisition

Yahoo, the American multinational technology company, has recently acquired Wagr, a social sports betting start-up located in Nashville. Although the details of the acquisition have not been disclosed, it is believed that Yahoo, now owned by Apollo, made the purchase to expand its position in the fantasy sports market.

Yahoo’s acquisition of Wagr

Wagr, which was founded three years ago, allows sports fans to bet alongside their peers. The platform incorporates a variety of features, including leaderboards, challenges, and smack talk tools to enhance the social experience. The start-up received considerable funding, with investors including New York-based VC firm Greycroft, Seven Seven Six owned by Alexis Ohanian, Justin Mateen, co-founder of Tinder, and Kraft Group, the owner of the New England Patriots.

Yahoo already has a significant presence in the US fantasy sports market, competing with well-known brands such as ESPN and DraftKings. By incorporating Wagr into its business, Yahoo hopes to accelerate its “vision to create and deliver the most compelling fantasy and gaming products” while promoting camaraderie among friends. TechCrunch, whose parent company is Yahoo, covered Wagr at its inception in 2020, demonstrating the start-up’s potential early on.

While we know our fantasy leagues increase fan engagement and give people something to root for, the real value is in keeping friend groups together through competition and camaraderie around the sports they love. Acquiring Wagr creates an immediate opportunity for us to expand into new group formats that can take engagement and friendly competition to the next level – Jon Shaw, Yahoo Sports SVP

In the wake of Yahoo’s announcement of laying off 20% of its workforce from its ad tech business, the acquisition has now been closed, and Wagr will be fully integrated into Yahoo Sports, ceasing to exist as a standalone entity.

According to Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone, the layoffs were a strategic move to strengthen the company’s unprofitable Yahoo for Business advertising unit, rather than being a direct result of the economic downturn. The acquisition of Wagr by Yahoo marks a significant step towards enhancing Yahoo’s presence in the sports betting and fantasy sports industry.

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