Playmaker, through its wholly owned subsidiary Futbol Sites, is the largest international digital sports media operator in Brazil according to Comscore. The acquisition of Fanáticos by Playmaker took place on June 11, 2021.
“With sports betting soon to be regulated in Brazil, growing our loyal fan base is very important and will allow us to remain a key partner to sports betting companies in Brazil,” said Federico Grinberg, CEO of Futbol Sites and Executive Vice President of Playmaker.
Bolavip Brazil, Playmaker´s first major brand in the region, attracted a record 15.4 million unique visitors in May 2021, making it the highest-ranking sports website in Brazil. Having only launched in the market 18 months ago, Brazil has become the largest audience market for Playmaker in Latin America.
“This acquisition is immediately accretive to Playmaker. Fanáticos adds over 4.5 million new social media followers with nearly one million on Instagram alone, altogether generating more than 33 million interactions every month, with market leading interaction rates. They are profitable and our team is passionate about Fanáticos and their fans. We are very excited to have them join the Playmaker family,” added Jordan Gnat, CEO of Playmaker.
Consistent with the focus on fans as the centre of the Playmaker ecosystem, Futbol Sites will be launching the new Somos Fanáticos (We Are Fans) brand in Brazil. The look and feel is a meaningful refresh and will include hundreds of additional articles per week to continue to build fan loyalty and create additional opportunities to engage with advertisers and sports betting companies.
Playmaker is a digital sports media company that lives at the intersection of sports, gambling, media and technology. Playmaker is building a collection of premier sports media brands, curated to deliver highly engaged audiences of sports fans to sports betting companies, leagues, teams and advertisers.
Fanáticos por Futebol started in 2015 as a Facebook Fan Page and within one year of launch, they had more than 1 million engaged fans. With a major focus on International Soccer content, primarily Champions League and European leagues, Fanáticos is one of Brazil's leading and most engaging soccer news communities, with more than 4.5 million fans across its owned social media channels.
Source: GMB
