Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is looking to make some extra cash by venturing into the online gambling arena.
The company plans to make the move in a strategy to reach out to its struggling advertising business. Yahoo! Inc. revealed a new version of its fantasy sports application that lets users bet money on a daily basis with friends. The company will also include bigger online tournaments to attract more users.
Yahoo! Inc. reported that it plans to make gains from 10% of the entry fees that players are required to deposit. Kathy Savitt, the company’s chief marketing officer described the venture as a one of a kind first for Yahoo! Inc. she also explained that different monetization strategies generate more consumer experience over others.
Setting up is rather easy. Fantasy fans deposit the funds and bet on their selected teams or individual players. The deposits can be as much as $600 on a daily basis for participation in daily curated contests. The application employs a bit of restriction such as a maximum of $200 for every tournament. The company then pays out the successful wins through PayPal on a daily basis. However, it players do not necessarily have to risk their money every time they want to play. The company will offer a few free tournaments every day for those who are in it for the fun.
The introduction of the sports betting venture comes at an opportune time because Yahoo! Inc. has been experiencing a steady decline in its advertising revenue. The firm’s first quarter earnings were slightly shy of analyst expectations at $1.04 billion. The company was also unable to catch the mobile technology and video advertising train on time. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO Marrisa Mayer is attempting to bring the company up to speed with video and mobile ad campaigns.
Making additional ventures such as the legal online gambling is just the company’s way of boosting the revenues with extra businesses as it plans to strengthen the core business.
