Hotbox Sports Goes Global

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"It is a landmark occasion for all of us at Hotbox Sports and we are thrilled to be joining forces with FTX Game and its visionary leader John Tang."

New York, NY (PRWEB) November 17, 2009

Capitalizing on the vast untapped potential of the fantasy sports market overseas, Hotbox Sports (http://www.hotboxsports.com)] announced today that it has finalized a deal to become the first and only U.S.-based fantasy sports company officially licensed to operate in China in the Chinese language. Hotbox Sports will partner with China’s FTXGame.com, which will license the product from Hotbox to build, host, and market the progressive Hotbox Sports formatted NBA game across China, solely in the Chinese language.

“It is a landmark occasion for all of us at Hotbox Sports and we are thrilled to be joining forces with FTX Game and its visionary leader John Tang,” said Tarek Bahou, CEO of Hotbox Sports. “We view this partnership as only the first step in our aggressive globalization strategy. Fantasy sports has limitless potential, far beyond its current place as primarily a one sport, one country experience.”

The fervor of Chinese fans made the country a natural destination for Hotbox Sports. More than 200 million Chinese fans tuned-in to watch Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets face Yi Jianlian of the Milwaukee Bucks in their first NBA game against each other. By comparison, last year’s Super Bowl only drew in 156 million viewers worldwide. The Chinese Basketball Association, which regulates basketball in China, estimates that there are 400 million basketball fans in China, while there are only 300 million people who reside in the United States.

Hotbox Sports unveiled its brand in the U.S. in October 2008 to showcase its patent-pending fantasy sports game. Interestingly, the site attracted unique visitors from more than 100 countries across the globe, further reinforcing the idea that its game transcends traditional borders. The company also has plans to build-out sites for burgeoning international sports such as soccer and cricket, where fantasy sports remain, literally and figuratively, a foreign concept.

First conceptualized by avid basketball fan and entrepreneur Bahou in 2005, the primary goal of Hotbox Sports is to isolate the properties that make fantasy football so successful (nearly 80% of the fantasy sports market share) and create a new game that brings the excitement of fantasy football to other sports, starting with fantasy basketball.

The patent pending Hotbox Sports format has identified the elements that make fantasy football so successful: Emotional Appeal - One Player, One Game, One Night; Coaching Aspect - Your decisions determine the fate of your team; Game Day - The ability to get together with a friend to watch a meaningful game; Urgency for real time stats.

The Hotbox Sports format incorporates these successful elements into its game by adjusting the regular season's schedule. The key element is that a game period stretches over three days. Over that three day period, a player can be activated only once even if that player plays more than once in those three days. The choice is yours for which game to activate him, but only the stats from the night you activate him will count. Don't forget that the Hotbox Sports format is head-to-head, just like football, so by the end of the three day period, all of your starters will have played and the results are final.

The release of the Hotbox Sports format, through http://www.hotboxsports.com, was made possible in conjunction with Fanball, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation and a premier provider of online fantasy sports contests, content, strategy and insight. Fanball, whose corporate headquarters are located in St. Louis, MO, will also provide real-time statistics and up-to-date news content.
For more information, visit http://www.hotboxsports.com to experience how the Hotbox Sports format works, join or create a free public or private league or to get up-to-the-minute basketball news and stats.

About Hotbox Sports LLC
Hotbox Sports LLC is a privately owned company based in New Jersey. Created in 2005, Hotbox Sports set out on a mission to change the way Fantasy Sports are played starting with Fantasy Basketball and eventually expanding to Baseball, Hockey, and Soccer. For more information please contact info at hotboxsports dot com.

Media Contacts:
Dave Donovan/Jason Geller
Dan Klores Communications (DKC)
212-685-4300

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