On December 15, 2013, the Playboy Mansion was the host of the StarStreet Daily Fantasy Football Championship. The daily fantasy sports gaming site awarded a total of $250,000 with the grand prize winner walking away with $100k!
StarStreet CEO Jeremy Levine founded the daily fantasy site in 2009 and it was launched in May of 2010. The Syracuse graduate and sports lover had one goal in mind, to create a site with real money games for hard-core sports fans. With fantasy sports growing larger and larger, it is only a matter of time for daily sites to gain unprecedented ground. Based in Cambridge, MA, StarStreet has grown 5x this year alone and more than 10x since the site launched. Where did the name StarStreet come from? We asked Jeremy, “The first idea we had was actually a sports stock market.” The name stuck and the rest is history.
The Playboy Mansion was the site of the tournament. Flat-screens, food, cocktails, playmates and a hot tub, never has there been a more suitable location for a fantasy football competition. Thirty competitors were flown in from all over the country. The competitors were awarded a round-trip flight, a 2-night stay at the Luxe Hotel on Sunset Boulevard, a reception, and the ultimate tailgating party at the infamous Playboy Mansion. This is the second time StarStreet hosted an event at the mansion, the first was the Fantasy Baseball Competition on August 24, 2013.
Some of the top competitors in the daily fantasy sports arena were on site to compete for the $100,000 grand prize. Jets fan, Andrew Bryk who has been playing daily fantasy for about a year described his relationship with playing. ” It changed the way I look at sports….Rooting for your team is not really a thing anymore…you just got your players and they better perform.” Twenty-five year old Erik Wardenburg or “Naapstermaan” spoke how he has been playing daily fantasy competitively for three years now. He credited Rotogrinders.com, a site dedicated to the Daily Fantasy community as one of the tools he uses to help put together a winning team.
Making an appearance during the event, was former UFC fighter Tito Ortiz. The 38-year old UFC hall-of famer was there to show his support for StarStreet,”Good times, Good people, Good Acquaintances.” Although he admits he does not play fantasy sports himself, Tito’s schedule is jammed packed these days. He has caught the acting bug, is the CEO of Punishment Athletics MMA equipment and clothing line as well as a new management company that manages fighters called Primetime 360. When asking Tito if he has a favorite team he revealed that he follows players more than teams, but if having to choose he went with the Broncos and Chargers. One of Tito’s favorite players is recently retired TE Tony Gonzalez. “Tony is a good friend of mine since high school.” Tony and Tito attended Huntington Beach High School together.
The afternoon culminated with the winner of the jackpot, Brian Cadwallader (shanksalot). The North Carolina native was one of the last to enter his team for the day, but was the surefire winner halfway through the tournament. Accompanied by one of his best friends, Tommy Galati (TommyG), Brian claimed that, “He got lucky”.
Luck is only half of it, after speaking with various competitors one thing is for sure, research, preparation, and skill is needed to compete on this level with these competitors. The only way you know if you have what it takes is to jump on board. Fantasy sports is now a multi-billion dollar industry and Daily Fantasy is the future of Fantasy sports. Don’t wait too long, StarStreet will be hosting their next event at the Playboy Mansion on March 29, 2014.
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