As interest in prize draws continues to rise in the UK, Adam Shaw is launching The Big Leagues, a new platform aimed at sports enthusiasts.
The Big Leagues debuted last week, offering a unique prize draw platform focused on the UK sports market. This launch was supported by a £500,000 ($662,077) seed funding round.
The platform features both paid entries for prize draws that allow participants to win unique sports experiences, as well as free-to-play prediction games designed to engage users.
Shaw, who previously held positions as international director at Flutter Entertainment and chief revenue officer at Superbet, is confident that The Big Leagues can fill a niche in the expanding prize draw market. He states, "I wanted to find something in the UK that I thought was growing and that I thought had meaningful consumer demand behind it. I spent a bit of time looking at the various different parts of the market, and it was pretty clear to me that prize draws had both of those things."
The growing interest in prize draws has led to more competition within the sector. Rokker's white paper projected that the UK prize draw market generates around £1.3 billion in annual revenue and has over 400 active operators.
Shaw believes The Big Leagues can set itself apart by covering a broad spectrum of sports, creating an all-encompassing destination for fans. He explains, "Having come out of sports betting, I know that most people are interested in more than one sport, and so if you’ve got one website where you’re able to win prizes across all of those different things, it’s just going to be somewhere that people are going to want to go."
In shaping The Big Leagues, Shaw emphasizes the importance of offering high-value, experience-based prizes rather than just merchandise. He remarks, "It’s more aspirational than some of the sites out there are currently running. We’re offering proper bucket list stuff for people. A trip to the Masters, Champions League hospitality, and a box at Cheltenham [Festival] for you and your mates, stuff that’s really worth winning, rather than a football shirt for this weekend. Not that there’s not a place for that, but we’ve kind of taken a different angle on the way that we’re thinking about doing it, in that we want to go to the more aspirational side."
To attract customers, Shaw plans to utilize free-to-play prediction games as a method for audience building. He notes, "The free-to-play part of it, I’ve kind of learned that playbook from gambling. I know that it works, and it’s something we’ve got that’s totally differentiated against anyone else in the prize draw sector."
The launch announcement indicated that The Big Leagues is seeking partnerships with various brands, sports organizations, and charities. Shaw also recognizes the potential for collaboration with content creators and influencers in the sports domain. He states, "One of the things that we get from being a sports-based brand is that we can go and play in the sports zone, let’s say. We’re going to be able to do deals to access their audiences and give them the kind of services that we have."
Shaw’s goal for The Big Leagues is to become the premier sports prize draw platform in the UK, positioning it as a popular alternative to traditional gambling and fantasy sports. He expresses, "I’d love it to be the number one sports prize draw website. It’s kind of as easy as that. We need to overtake all of the people that are doing it well in their individual sports."
With prize draws blooming in popularity, discussions surrounding their regulatory status have intensified. The UK’s framework for prize draw competitions is complex, and their classification varies based on specific structures and prize awarding methods. Last year, a Voluntary Code of Good Practice was established, but Rokker’s report indicated that less than 20% of active operators had adopted it.
The Big Leagues has signed the voluntary code and is a member of the newly formed Prize Competition Council (PCC). Shaw emphasizes their commitment to regulatory compliance, stating, "We’ve taken the highest path that we can take from a regulatory perspective as it stands today in the UK."
He supports clearer regulations for the sector, while cautioning against overly restrictive measures reminiscent of those affecting the gambling industry. Shaw remarks, "I’d be pretty happy if they came in and put proper regulation in place. I think it’d be good for the market, good for the certainty and give the guardrails. There’s clearly demand for this thing, so having some sensible regulation would be great. But I don’t want it to go down the gambling path too hard because I think that’s probably gone too far now at this point."
