Funatix Club becomes Official Fantasy Football Partner of SPL;
first 2,000 users to receive free annual The Straits Times One Digital subscription
SINGAPORE, 2022, MARCH 14 – Fans of the AIA Singapore Premier League (SPL) will be able to test their management chops starting today with the SPL Real Manager game.
A fantasy football experience that allows SPL fans to engage with their favourite players and teams in new ways, the SPL Real Manager game will be available to play as a beta version. The first 2,000 users to sign up for an account and create a team will receive a free The Straits Times One Digital annual subscription worth S$118.80. The beta phase will end on 27 April and all scores will be reset to zero. A full launch – including a competitive league with prizes – will then occur in time for the Round 2 of the SPL season, which gets underway from 6 May.
The game is powered by the Real Manager platform of Funatix Club, who were announced today as the Official Fantasy Football partner of the SPL. The multi-year agreement with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which was brokered by sports agencies The Sports Playmaker and Reddentes Sport, is worth around S$808,000 (USD$600,000) and will see Funatix Club, the world’s most trusted fantasy partner, bring their expertise to the SPL to enhance the fan experience. The SPL will be the second league in Asia after Thailand’s League 1, to partner with Funatix Club, joining the likes of the Swiss Super League and the Mexican Liga MX, among others.
The SPL Real Manager will enable users to pick a team ahead of every Matchweek of the SPL. A team of virtual players will collect points based on how their real-life counterparts fare. Other key features include a budget of $120 million, unlimited transfers between Matchweeks a maximum of three players from the same club and a transfer deadline set at ten minutes prior to kick-off of the Matchweek’s first match(es). The SPL Real Manager application can be downloaded from both the Google Play Store and Apple Store or played on a computer web browser at www.spl.sg/spl-real-manager.
FAS General Secretary, Yazeen Buhari, said: “Fantasy football has become an integral part of the fan experience in recent times, and we are excited to be able to make this aspect a reality for the SPL, as part of our efforts to continually find new ways to engage our fans. The SPL Real Manager initiative is a result of the feedback garnered from engagements with SPL fans and we believe that this will be the perfect complement to the action on the pitch.”
Ohad Crystal, Chief Executive Officer of Funatix Club, said: “We are very excited to cooperate with the Football Association of Singapore. I was impressed by the growth and appeal of the Singapore league in the last few years; this growth is not a coincidence but a result of the hard and professional work of the FAS team.
“We are proud to support the growth and development of the Singapore Premier League with fan engagement, data and sponsorship opportunities. I am sure that soon enough, the SPL Real Manager game will be an inherent part of the local Singaporean football experience.”
Jay Greene, founder and managing director, The Sports Playmaker: “We are delighted that our strategic alliance with Reddentes Sport has already borne fruit for one of our clients Funatix Club. We are confident that the agreement with the Football Association of Singapore will blaze a trail for fantasy gaming in Southeast Asia.”
Mark Chew, managing director, Reddentes Sports Pte Ltd added: “The team is ecstatic to work with our partners, FAS, Funatix and The Sports Playmaker on the Real Manager Football Fantasy game for the Singapore Premier League. This is the start of our exciting collaboration with both Funatix and The Sports Playmaker in the region as we look to grow to bring more partners on board.”
Source: Football Association of Singapore