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New Site Combines Sports With Stock Market

Posted on: Wednesday, 1 October 2008, 14:10 CDT

A new site debuted on Wednesday giving sports fans the chance to buy shares in their favorite athletes.

OneSeason.com is the brainchild of 27-year-old Michael Sroka, who came up with the idea when he was still in high school in Winnetka, Illinois.

At OneSeason, users can trade real money based on the performance of athletes, teams, leagues and other sports personalities. The goal is to make a profit from trades in a similar fashion to investors on Wall St.

"Daydreaming in my economics classroom, I mashed together my two favorite things, which were sports and trading," said Sroka.

OneSeason allows users to build a portfolio – or "sportfolio" -- of shares in athletes. The shares, or “synthetic ownership interests,” are delineated with ticker symbols, just like real stocks.

A player’s value is determined by his statistics on the field, as well as his behavior off the field.

"People have become much more comfortable with virtual goods and digital assets," Sroka added. "In the past five years, people have also become much more comfortable with financial transactions online."

Robert Boland, professor of sports management at New York University, said OneSeason's creation was not surprising.

"Ultimately, our entertainment, business, viewership and seeking of sports product are all converging," he said. "There are people making tens of thousands off fantasy gaming and this is really just another form of that."

Annual revenue could hit $50 million to $100 million if OneSeason reaches 3 million users after a few years, Sroka said, adding he sees quick profits with modest traction. The ultimate potential for the website is far greater than the $800 million fantasy sports industry, he added.

"If successful, you'd have an exchange trading more issues than the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq combined," said Phil Drayer, chief executive of Dallas investment firm Kalydus Management, which provided Sroka with $250,000 in start-up capital. "I see the marketplace being enormous."

OneSeason's plan is to launch in the United States, using athletes from professional football, basketball, baseball and hockey, as well as college football and basketball. Future expansions will include international sports such as rugby, cricket and soccer.

The timing of the launch may not be the best, however, given a growing crisis in the U.S. financial sector and real stock markets over the last two weeks. But Sroka is confident his website will find its audience.

"The outlook for reasonably priced escapes from normal day to day life appears to be quite strong," he said.

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On the Net:

• OneSeason.com

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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