In this digital age, consumers are embracing fantasy sports as they provide spontaneous satisfaction through socialization, intense competition, and great rewards. Companies and entrepreneurs are tapping into this emerging interest to support the growth of their e-commerce business. However, it can be difficult for fantasy sports companies to accept credit cards as a payment method as they are considered a high-risk industry.
T1 Payments is here to support merchants, as we specialize in fantasy sports credit card processing. We can provide fantasy sports merchant accounts, support a high volume of transactions, and enable you to process fantasy football payments without a hitch.
In the eyes of many payment processors, fantasy sports merchant accounts are high-risk. The element of money being wagered within daily fantasy leagues as well as the fact that chance plays a role in determining a customer’s winnings lead to a perception of gambling.
Businesses that operate in the gambling space are more likely to be faced with excessive chargebacks, fraud, and instances of money laundering, all of which can increase liability for a payment processor. This increase in potential risk means that most payment processors will automatically refuse to do fantasy sports credit card processing.
Fantasy sports involve customers creating virtual rosters that consist of real players, which are then used to compete against rosters made by other customers. The success and outcomes of these contests are based on the performance of individual players in the real sport. For fantasy sports companies, revenue is made through competition entry fees, advertising, and partnerships with other sports companies.
The most popular fantasy sports include:
Fantasy sports consist of two types of leagues: private and daily. Private leagues involve year-long seasons, typically between a group of friends. Whereas daily leagues provide a more fast-paced, short-term alternative, with contests being played across a single day or week.
Daily fantasy sports sites can consist of hundreds of thousands of competitors and tend to involve a form of pool betting with fixed stakes. These contests are played between strangers and can require a few dollars to enter. The customers then have a chance to either win a progressive payout of the total money pooled or even receive the total winnings.
Daily fantasy sports have become a multi-billion dollar industry, covering a wide range of popular sports. In the U.S. and Canada alone, there are now more than 59.3 million fantasy sports players.
The launch of various fantasy sports apps is one of the key driving forces behind the growth of the industry and will cause it to grow by $9.34 billion between 2020 and 2024, according to data compiled by Technavio.
You can see from this graph how quickly the fantasy sports industry is growing. Let T1 Payments handle your fantasy sports credit card processing, and discover the benefits that we can offer. Contact us today to set up your fantasy sports merchant account and start accepting fantasy football payments from your customers!