FNTSY Sports Network

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FNTSY Sports Network (also known as Fantasy Sports Network) is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel that is majority owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment along with a group of other unnamed minority investors. The channel broadcasts programming aimed at the fantasy sports market including commentary, call-in shows, coverage of drafts, and reality series. The channel originally launched in March 2014.

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History

In January 2013, Anthem Media's subsidiary Fight Media. was granted approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch a television channel called "The League - Fantasy Sports TV," described as "a national, English-language specialty Category B service devoted to fantasy sports, allowing viewers to act as owners and assume all the responsibilities associated with operating real sports franchises, and allowing viewers to create, monitor, trade and discuss players on their teams with others also playing fantasy sports." In February 2013, Anthem acquired two fantasy-oriented sports websites--RotoExperts and SportsGrid, to bolster content for the network.

In March 2013, Anthem CEO Leonard Asper told the Toronto Star that the channel was expected to launch that September. He defended the network's concept by noting that "people thought 'How can there be an entire channel devoted to golf?' but now the Golf Channel is in 82 million homes", and that advertisers "leapt out of their chairs" when they learned that the network could appeal to both the traditional "baby boomer" demographic associated with fantasy sports, and the young male demographic that had also increasingly shown interest in fantasy.

In December 2013, it was reported that the channel, now named FNTSY Sports Network, was expected to launch in Canada and the United States in March 2014. On January 14, 2014, Anthem Media announced the launch date for the channel as March 4, 2014. However, it was initially expected to launch only in the U.S. on that date with the Canadian launch limited to only an app and streaming online channel until January 29, 2014 when Anthem Media announced it will launch in Canada the same day as the U.S. through a carriage agreement with MTS. Three months after the channel's expected launch in the U.S., the channel officially launched in the U.S. on Cablevision's Optimum TV service.

The channel would subsequently gain wider distribution through obtaining carriage agreements with additional Canadian and American television service providers, in addition to international providers such as Roku.

In 2016, a 20% interest in the channel was sold to a group of various unnamed investors.

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Programming

FNTSY Sports Today--Host Garion Thorne and special guests bring the latest news and fantasy spin from every major sport on this daily show.
Game Time Decisions--Host Gabriel Morency ventures into fantasy and prop bets from the sporting world, presenting the best daily bets and debating with other gaming insiders.
RotoExperts Live--Live daily from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET, Scott Engel and Adam Ronis report from New York's SiriusXM studios debating all the fantasy sports news with the biggest names in the industry.
Bloomberg Sports Stats Insights--Hosted by Shannon Sommerville, the daily show takes a look at the numbers behind fantasy sports with a focus on predictive analytical content, covering the day's performances, injuries, transactions and other information critical to fantasy players. Utilizing Bloomberg Sports' advanced analytics, the show reveals fantasy projections and forecasts, including a "Stock Report" each day on players trending upwards or downwards.
Razzball Radio--In a continuing effort to add fantasy sports media content, in June 2014, FNTSY Sports Network partnered with the premier indie-fantasy sports blog, Razzball, to provide a 30-minute video/radio variety show that covers the day's fantasy topics, hosted by Nick Capozzi, with the founders of Razzball: Grey Albright and Rudy Gamble, along with other contributors and special guests appearing on the show. Razzball Radio has since been discontinued.

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Related Ventures

In addition to the television channel made available through its website and various television service providers on cable and internet streaming platforms, the company has ventured into other products and services.

On September 13, 2016, FNTSY Sports Network announced a content deal with The Associated Press whereby FNTSY Sports Network will provide fantasy content to The Associated Press, covering topics from free agent pickups to reviews of the weekend's games.

The network ventured into radio with a branded 24/7 online and mobile streaming radio service called FNTSY Sports Radio Network, which is available as a live steam from its website and a mobile app via the iOS and Android operating systems.

In 2017, the network launched an online shopping website called FantasySportsNetworkShop.com selling men's and women's fantasy sports-branded apparel.