Yahoo! Boosts Fantasy Sports

Stepping further into the sports fantasy game arena, Yahoo Inc. signed a deal with SportingNews.com (TSN) to distribute its content and co-promote both free and pay-to-play fantasy games covering professional football, basketball, baseball and hockey.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo said fantasy baseball will launch in mid-February at fantasysports.yahoo.com and on the Web site of St. Louis-based SportingNews.com. Financial arrangements were not disclosed, but the move further diversifies Yahoo’s revenue stream.

Yahoo’s fantasy sports area already features free auto racing, college basketball, soccer and golf, as well as some pro football and basketball games.

Within both parties’ for-pay fantasy games, players can access tools and services that provide a competitive advantage, including TSN Draft Kits which include extensive notes, player rankings, scouting reports, expert columns and weekly lineups. In addition, players of the Yahoo Sports fantasy games can incorporate the real-time StatTracker application that shows current stats standings and game scores.

“Fantasy sports have moved online at a phenomenal rate, illustrating how perfect the Internet is for this skyrocketing business,” said Brian Grey, director of business development at Yahoo Sports. “We feel this relationship with The Sporting News arms fantasy sports players with one of the most competitive sets of games, tools and analysis available anywhere.”

Yahoo and SportingNews.com already have an existing relationship whereby TSN provides editorial coverage through daily “Expert Columns” on Yahoo Sports’ front page, as well as notes, analysis and coverage that appear on league, team, player and event-specific pages.

The Sporting News is a Wired World Company and part of Vulcan Ventures Inc., a company owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.