Hey guys,

This is a follow-up to the post from last week. I asked for it to be locked because I didn't have time to really participate in the thread. I also gave people the wrong impression that we were bitter about this whole thing and it was just too far down that path (imo) to stay constructive.

For those that missed it, the NFL launched a new fantasy sports game with press and Super Bowl Ads. What's interesting is that they really quite shamelessly stole the concept, structure, press wording, and really everything from a contest my company, DraftDay, launched this past fall.

We're pretty flattered by it. I think we are on to something big and the fact that the NFL noticed and copied us feels pretty cool.

We've launched what we hope will become a viral campaign to show how closely they emulated our game. I hope to achieve a few things from this thread:

1. Getting feedback on how we can spread the word. Part of it is just random luck, hoping the right people see this and share it. But I'm sure people here will have good ideas on how to best make that happen.

2. Analyzing what we did right and wrong with this whole campaign. I will answer questions about our thought process and take feedback good and bad for the benefit of us all learning from this. It might not look like it, but a LOT of work went into this campaign. We had about 48 hours to make it happen.

I'd like to focus on #1 for the next day or two as we do everything we can to get this thing some exposure. Any help either sharing this or helping us figure out how to get it in the hands of the right people would be awesome. Once that plays itself out, let's focus more on #2.

Here's our letter to the NFL: http://www.draftday.com/letter-to-nfl

was Ochocinco ever one of the perfect lineup WRs for any week? if so, just let him know and he'll probably take care of the rest.

edit: here's an easy one: post the letter in the 2p2 DD forum. also, consider editing your ads to continue to include a reference to the letter/NFL ripoff.

I like that you did go with an infographic, I feel like maybe it veers off message a bit near the second half.. the first 40 or 50% is the contest message, but then there's a lot of it which confused me a tiny bit - like comparing the CEO salaries, it almost seems like you're trying to make a secondary point. But anyway, you seem like you want to discuss publicizing it more than anything, so I'll leave that aspect.

I do think it's a good infographic, and the actual story behind it is newsworthy, and as you basically said in the other thread, you've been given a gift of an opportunity for some press here. It's probably obvious, but make the most out of this and just carpet-bomb PR over this to everywhere that might possibly cover it. I don't have specific suggestions for sites, but I'm sure you guys and your friends know 200 sports blogs (or blogs with sports sections like Redditt), and I'd write every single one if I were you, don't bother being too selective as long as they're in the ballpark.

I'm no PR expert, but I'd write a generic email, but if you can, add a personalized paragraph to any of them you can (something like "Especially wanted to write you cause John and Joe in the office read your site daily" or whatever works), and sign it as yourself, send from your own email addy, so they know it's the CEO. Obviously make it clear you're happy the NFL did this. I feel like getting personal email from the CEO of a sports startup, not a PR agency, will get you the best response, especially if you're writing to blogs who might want to sell you advertising down the line or whatever. (may be biased cause I've had better results this way myself than using generic PR stuff)

gl, hope this turns into a goldmine of press!

The one element that is missing to me is telling your audience why they should care. I think most notably you could have (and still can) targeted the online marketing and startup communities like Mashable, HackerNews, SEOmoz, RWW. A title/concept like:
"How To Make A Promotion So Good The NFL Steals It"

Has a lot more punch to me than "this just happened." It doesn't make me want to tell anyone who isn't a poker player who knows who the CEOs are. Maybe you could have targeted the fantasy sport blogs:
"How Draftday And The NFL Just Gave You A 1/1000 Shot At A Million Dollars"

Then go on to talk about how you can use both promotions to give yourself way higher odds using a certain lineup strategy. The key is you are solving an information problem in an interesting way which increases your chances of going viral. It's very easy to imagine the tweets:
"Hey still not ready for football to be over? Time to start planning your million dollar teams [link to article]"
"Want more press for your startup? Look at what the guys at DraftDay did [link]"

So a few years ago the NFL was one of the key players pushing UIEGA , crippling your ability to play poker online. Now they steal part of your new business model and you are flattered? I would be a little upset personally. I would at least speak to some attorneys, get their opinion as to how much money you could get from them, and weigh that against any positive press you get from this. A lawsuit could also bring press remember.

Page has security certificate warning viewed in Android via Sprint over 3g.

And cwar makes great points imo.

+1

Lawsuit could bring massive cheap PR

Not really impressed by how this turned out, especially the letter itself. I also don't see this delivering a coherent message of importance to current/prospective users.

A lawsuit seems like the worst way to play this and would probably be unsuccessful. The NFL didn't take anything proprietary/patented/trademarked. I think cwar said it very well. It's cool that the NFL borrowed your idea and marketed it to a ton of people. The only thing I'm missing is why your audience should care. Draftday is an awesome site and I've already told a bunch of people about it, the word just needs to get out

Notice I did not say bring a lawsuit, I said talk to an attorney to see if there would be any merit to bringing one which should cost them nothing.

I understand why you're upset, but I think you have to let it go.

1.) The prize amount is pretty standard. $100,000 or $1,000,000 are like the most common grand prize amounts. If you chose something "different" (like choose the best 11 players and win $11,011,011.11.....then I think you might have something to be super pissed about).

2.) It's possible the NFL already had this promotion "in the works" before sep 2011. It takes a while for a giant company to come up with an idea, get the software set up, get approval from the bosses, get the ad made, then get it all done. I'd actually be very surprised if the "idea" wasn't in someone's head at the NFL before sep 2011.

I get why you're pissed. A giant company you have no hope at competing with financially has stepped on your turf. But that's the free market and business. That's why capitalism is so awesome. The best win (generally).

If you can't compete with advertising dollars, I recommend competing on some other front. Maybe it's software, speed of transactions, depth of stats, customer service, or anything else that might come to mind. Gl to ya.

Rika's post illustrates the letter's failure to communicate. OP isn't displeased with NFL's promo.

Or maybe that has nothing to do... Even the post here states not upset by this.

Lose the lower half stuff about your compensation, your staff, and other non draftday business. It just appears petty.

+1, cwar nailed it.

I think you dropped the ball with your response. You can still fix it which is why you shouldn't be putting off #2.