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Fantasy sports games are en vogue - now polo now has its own version
Picking your own team to win the Premiership, Champions League, football and Cricket World Cups as a manager or team owner has become as much a part of sport as watching the biggest events live.
Fantasy sports games are en vogue. Polo now has its own version, Fantasy Polo, the world’s first online fantasy game for polo fans and fanatics.
When debate turns to how polo can be promoted, there are often discussions on why and how to bring more fans to a niche sport which captures the eye once you see it live. Fantasy Polo may just do that - and bring more spectators with a curiosity for the sport.
Fantasy Polo gives its users the chance to pick a 'dream team' from the High Goal and watch them perform throughout real, live polo seasons, earning fantasy points that are based on in depth playing statistics taken live at every game.
Fantasy Polo is a simulation of the high goal season where users battle each other to earn the most fantasy points, updating their team as the season gets into full swing and winning big prizes for their superior knowledge.
It was the brainchild of polo fans and low goal player Katie Vickery. "The idea came from a discussion I had with a non polo friend about the sport and how it was different to other sports. After the conversation I started to think about professional sports and their audiences and fans and I started to think about how it would be possible to generate the same passion in the polo world.
"We’ve all sat on the sidelines thinking 'I wouldn’t have done that', 'I wouldn’t have picked him' or 'I could have done it better'. Well here is the chance to prove it. Fantasy Polo aims to bring more fans to the sport and increase viewership of polo by creating vested interests," says Martín Perez, part of the Fantasy Polo team.
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"Following your chosen players throughout the season means that you aren’t going to the finals indifferent, not really minding who wins or loses. Instead you will be pinned to the edge of your seat cheering every backhand, goal and throw in and lamenting every foul, missed penalty and injury. With Fantasy Polo you have a whole new reason to be passionate to polo."
There is a serious point here, because there are now detailed statistics and data available on the sport, which was not around four to five years ago.
Apart from it being a new concept to the world of polo, they are not only providing a great fun way to interact with the sport, but they are also bringing polo into the technological and statistical world of the 21st century.
There is a simplicity about the concept which may just take off. Based on the fantasy sports model popular in almost all major sporting franchises, they started the business in answer to many spectators, player and official’s queries as to ways to increase coverage, viewership and interaction in the sport.
In my view, it just needs time. Fantasy Polo had some great success in its first month in the Argentine season, reaching 1,000 users in just a week as well as gaining the support of top players as Facundo Pieres, Nacho Figueras, Ruso Heguy and Pite Merlos. That is clearly important.
Perez said: "Everyone wants to help promote polo and we share this objective and hope that Fantasy Polo will be a big step in achieving this. We engaged with a top London digital agency and Fantasy Sports industry experts to help us shape the product and create a fun and engaging game for polo fans.”
The idea was conceived January of this year. They started to develop the game throughout early 2016. As the game developed, the idea grew and they started to realise the potential of such a different approach to polo.
"It seemed like the perfect solution to many of the complaints people have had regarding high goal polo recently," says Perez. "We looked to other sports and it was interesting to see how the audience’s have changed in recent years, fans becoming more engaged and often more interested in the performance of their fantasy teams than the real life teams. This passion is what we want to bring to polo and we hope that Fantasy Polo is the way to do it. We wanted to answer a question that many people are asking… how do we get more people watching and engaging with high goal polo?"
In order to create the game, they developed a method of capturing the live and in depth statistics which drive the game. They tested their in-house Data Collection Tool throughout the season. Once that was applied, they started to develop the game itself and released version one in time for The Argentine Open.
They are already developing version 2 while next stop will be the USA in the New Year. The polo world and its administration is often accused of lethargy in moving into the modern era. This changes that. Right here. Right now. Go Fantasy Polo.