PrizePicks Arena
The 6th Annual Awards
- Best Use of Technology
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
We set out to build on the community-first nature of PrizePicks’ core product to create an innovative game offering that also complies with regulatory requests of an ever changing DFS+ landscape. In just under eight weeks, our team fully built a new version of PrizePicks called PrizePicks Arena.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
What was groundbreaking about Arena was how it expressed the complex concept of a peer to peer fantasy picks game in a way that was both easy to understand and fun to play, all the while staying true to PrizePicks’ product principles of simplicity, accessibility, and community-first gameplay. Arena makes it very clear that you’ll be only paired with people at your experience level so you never feel like you’re at a disadvantage, counter to the predatory, sharks-and-minnows ecosystems of many DFS games. The circumstances in which your picks lead to you winning your group, sharing a prize, and getting a bonus if you have a perfect lineup are clear and transparent. The strong results and positive social feedback we’re seeing tell us that our focus on simplicity and clarity has really paid off in a product that members love, and the strong acceptance from state regulators shows us that we’ve been great partners in operating fun games that sit strongly within the boundaries of regulatory frameworks. We’re thrilled with the outcome of Arena and look forward to continuing to make it even better and more member-friendly.
Objective
We set out to build on the community-first nature of PrizePicks’ core product to create an innovative game offering that also complies with regulatory requests of an ever changing DFS+ landscape. In just under eight weeks, our team fully built a new version of PrizePicks from the ground up, reworking the way entries are structured, creating a unique tournament service to automatically create groups and match members into them based on their experience levels, and ultimately creating a product that users are coming back to just as much as they do PrizePicks’ original game. Finally, we wanted to lay the groundwork for a peer to peer ecosystem with an eventual broad suite of products enabling members to challenge friends, team up against fans of a rival squad, and eventually hold larger tournaments with bigger prize pools.
Strategy & Execution
PrizePicks’ products have always been designed member-first, and Arena is no exception. We focused on making Arena very simple to get into and start playing, with absolutely no friction in getting the member into the product and ready to make picks. The game itself lines up with the way fans think about the game; they build lineups by skillfully choosing whether groups of players will outperform or underperform their projections rather than having to assemble complicated salary cap lineups or understand complex boards of odds. We ensured fairness at all times by putting members in groups with other members of similar experience levels, taking out the sharks vs minnows ecosystem that plagues other DFS products. Finally, our member-friendly reboot and DNP policies ensure that members still have a chance to win even if one of their players is hurt or unexpectedly doesn’t play. Arena is a hot topic of discussion on our 425,000+ member Discord community as well.
Organizations
- PrizePicks
Links
Credits
Brian Huss
VP Innovation
PrizePicks
Brett Nimphius
Director of Product Design
PrizePicks
Casey Chisom
Sr. Product Designer
PrizePicks
Brenden Clerget
Engineering Director
PrizePicks
Jonathan Wallace
Engineering Manager
PrizePicks
Adam Blaschke
Lead Software Architect
PrizePicks
Cole Campbell
Principal Software Engineer
PrizePicks
Sergei Kaznakhovskii
Senior Software Engineer
PrizePicks
Gabe Newbern
Staff Software Engineer
PrizePicks
Joel Jeffrey
Staff Software Engineer
PrizePicks
Will Roden
Senior Software Engineer
PrizePicks
Paul Skersis
Software Engineer
PrizePicks
Jeremy Wood
Software Engineer
PrizePicks
Christopher Paro
Principal DevOps Engineer
PrizePicks
Brendon Cadman
Member Services Content Specialist
PrizePicks
Grant Cloud
VP Data Strategy
PrizePicks
Eric Wong
Sr. Data Intelligence Analyst
PrizePicks
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
