SidePrize

SidePrize, LLC, which now operates as PrizePicks, was established in 2014 to address a specific niche within the fantasy sports market. The company was founded by Adam Wexler, Sam Solomon, and Tareq Dowla. Wexler, a University of Georgia graduate with a history of launching startups since college, including Go Rank 'Em and Insightpool, identified an opportunity to digitize and formalize the informal side bets common among friends in season-long fantasy leagues. The initial concept aimed to solve the persistent issue of payment collection in these friendly wagers.

The Atlanta-based startup developed a platform that allowed users in season-long fantasy leagues to propose and accept real-money, week-to-week challenges against each other. The system worked by integrating with existing fantasy platforms, such as RotoWire, debiting funds from both participants upon acceptance of a challenge, and automatically crediting the winner's account once the matchup concluded. This model intended to add the excitement of daily fantasy sports to traditional season-long formats, ensuring winners were paid promptly and removing the friction of collecting money. The business model was based on taking a small transaction fee from the accepted challenges.

SidePrize gained early traction, participating in the inaugural Los Angeles Dodgers Accelerator program in 2015, which provided access to mentorship and industry networks. This participation culminated in a Demo Day at Dodger Stadium. The company also won several awards at a Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) conference, including 'Rookie of the Year'. However, the platform's growth was significantly impacted by regulatory scrutiny and negative press surrounding the daily fantasy sports (DFS) industry in late 2015. This challenging environment led the company to pivot. The founders realized a key limitation was the peer-to-peer model; a challenge required another user's acceptance, leaving many proposals pending. This insight led to the evolution into PrizePicks, a model where users compete against the house by predicting if athletes will go over or under certain statistical projections, rather than against other users. Now doing business as PrizePicks, the company has become a major operator in the daily fantasy sports sector, although it has faced legal and regulatory challenges in various states regarding its distinction from sports betting.

Keywords: SidePrize, PrizePicks, Adam Wexler, daily fantasy sports, fantasy sports payments, season-long fantasy, peer-to-peer betting, skill-based gaming, Dodgers Accelerator, FSTA, RotoWire, fantasy sports challenges, digital payments, sports technology, real-money gaming, player proposition, fantasy sports platform, Atlanta startup, Sam Solomon, Tareq Dowla