OneSeason.comHere’s an ironically appropriate Web startup for today’s calamitous economic times.
Today OneSeason.com is introducing a day-trading site for sports fans – a Web stock market which allows people to invest real money to own “shares” of their favorite sports players, teams and leagues. The word “shares” is in quotes because the shares on OneSeason are, ultimately, meaningless— only illusory slices of players like Eli Manning or Lebron James, which either rise or fall depending on the demand for those shares among other traders. People can transfer up to $2500 a year to their OneSeason accounts.
Mike Sroka, OneSeason’s founder, a former hedge fund analyst, compares OneSeason stock to collectible playing cards. “The cards have no intrinsic value, but due to limited supply and notoriety of the player, they fluctuate in value,” he said.
Three times a day, the site will issue IPOs – Initial Player Offerings – for players in football, basketball, baseball and hockey. Prices can bounce between 50 cents and $20, either splitting or reverse splitting as they brush up against those limits.
The company is partially backed by Kalydus Asset Advisors, the Dallas hedge fund where Mr. Sroka formerly worked. It will try to generate revenues from one-percent commissions on trades and the interest income on client accounts.
So why would anyone buy a virtual share of a player backed by no physical good or promise? To bend my English-major brain around the idea, Mr. Sroka connected me with Stephen Burnett, a family friend and professor of strategic management at Northwestern’s Kellog School of Management, who is advising the firm.
Mr. Burnett is enthusiastic about the company and said it stood to attract the kind of obsessive that flock to fantasy sports and gambling. He also pointed out that there is not necessarily a physical promise backing up the markets for oil futures and commodity options, either. “You hear about all these people speculating in oil. They are not buying oil. They are buying an instrument that is a promise,” he said. “The thing you have to understand in financial markets is that people invest in things that are not necessarily physical.”
Considering the state of Wall Street today, that is not exactly a ringing endorsement.
6 Comments
A very similar (and free) service is ProTrade.com. ProTrade allows users to trade on a virtual sports stock market where professional teams and players — as well as college teams — can be bought and sold at prices related to expectation of performance on the real field. ProTrade, however, is distinguishable because its service is free and its money is fake. Although this might deter people looking for a real gamble, it allows many to enjoy this service at no cost to their wallet. ProTrade has enough serious users that prices move quickly and accurately in response to news and expectations to their real counterparts despite the fact that only fictional money is exchanging hands.
— SeanSay goodbye to Protrade Sean. Better get in on the gournd floor or your gonna be living in your moms basement forever.
— Blue HorseshoeJust go to etopps.com that has been around for almost 8 years and you can actually get the player’s cards (physical assets) if you want them (not just a name and fake shares) along with the fun of speculating on a player’s worth and quantity of shares/cards. This looks like another etopps wanna-be company.
— TeTopps.com is a poor comparison to OneSeason.com. Don’t miss the importance of what these guys have done. They have CREATED a market, which will operate similarly to the stock market. Imagine buying shares in the Coca-Cola or IBM when they first went public. Obviously we aren’t talking about gaining any voting rights over these players or dividends, however, the ability for this type of stock to take on some sort of similar characteristics as real stock is available and could happen.
This site goes beyond providing the virtual stimulation of rooting for your favorite team or being a fantasy sports page, this site can actually return you a profit for making the right pics week in and week out during every sport season.
— MStarting October 4th they raised the number of IPO shares of each player (while player quality has decreased). It will be tough to profit from here on out without a lot more users. It is on its decline already. Also, this site’s credit card payment system isn’t always secure. Beware when paying by credit card.
— TOneSeason.com is pretty fantastic. I paid by credit card yesterday morning. So far, so secure. Also they raised the number of IPOs today, but there were plenty of profits to be had. It will become a more efficient market over time, but should still be profitable (for some) and a lot of fun.
— -S