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Tuesday, March 02, 2010 MockDraftCentral.Com Purchased In Six-Figure Deal By Roto Sports
GRAND RAPIDS – It's every entrepreneur's dream. Build a company with sweat equity, sell it in an all-cash deal. Well now it's the story that Jason Pliml, founder of MockDraftCentral.Com, can tell. Pliml, who started MockDraftCentral.Com in 2002, sold his company in late January to rival Roto Sports of Madison, Wisconsin. The deal was announced Tuesday by Grand Angels, which invested several years ago in Pliml's company. Pliml said it was a "six-figure" all-cash sale. He will remain on the payroll for 18 months as a consultant. "There's been a ton of consolidation the last three years in this industry," Pliml said. "It's hard to remain a niche player. Big companies have started to come into this market. By merging two middle-tier companies, I think MockDraftCentral will survive." MockDraftCentral.Com has been a pioneer in online mock drafts and real-time software to for fantasy sports drafts. Mock Draft Central.Com was honored with multiple industry awards in consecutive years, topping industry giants CBS Sports and ESPN to win the Best Drafting Software and Best Draft Assistance Tool award categories at the 2009 Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference and the Best Drafting Software and Best Specialty Fantasy Site awards at the 2008 Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference. With more than 130,000 members, MockDraftCentral.com is a respected industry leader in the areas of mock drafting services, cumulative draft statistics, and draft technology licensing. In addition to the newly acquired MockDraftCentral.Com, Roto Sports owns and operates RotoWire.Com, an award-winning website featuring 24/7 player news, customized projections, and wireless alerts. Roto Sports also owns DatabaseSports.Com, a premier historical statistics site, and FantasySportsAdNetwork.Com, a comprehensive advertising network for fantasy sports. "Adding the web's leading outlet for mock drafts to our best-of-breed content will give fantasy users increased advantages when preparing for fantasy drafts," said RotoWire.Com president Peter Schoenke. "It's a great fit because both businesses have subscription models that focus on customer service and offering products that are worth paying for to give a fantasy owner a competitive advantage." What really made MockDraftCentral.Com grow, Pliml said, was working with Grand Rapids software developer Atomic Object. Grand Angels' money was used to pay for the software needed to take MockDraftCentral.Com to the next level – as was all the management expertise Grand Angels brought to the table, he said. "Without the advice of my Grand Angel board members and the exemplary software development skills of Atomic Object, we never could have built Mock Draft Central into the profitable business and respected brand that it has become," Pliml said. Pliml said negotiations with Roto Sports began in September. The deal closed in January. The past month or so has been spent working with lawyers to make sure the paper work was wrapped up. Pliml said he plans to stay in Michigan. But he has a 24-month non-compete clause. "I can't do anything in fantasy sports," he said. "I'm trying to figure out what to do next." After eight years living and breathing MockDraftCentral.Com, a former hobby that evolved into a lucrative business, his only regret is leaving his startup behind. "It becomes your baby. It's hard to give it up."
Author: Mike Brennan Source: MITechNews.Com
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