Real money fantasy sports on mobile devices

US fantasy sports fans using iOS mobile devices have a new app that enables them to play for real money prizes for the first time, reports the authoritative business publication Forbes.

Branded SideDraft, the app was developed by Blue Ox Entertainment, LLC, a company that also introduced the “SideBets” personal sportsbook app earlier this year which offers fantasy sports contests for prizes.

Forbes reports that SideDraft is unique in that it does not allow its players to all pick the same top sportsmen for their fantasy teams, making for a more realistic competition-for-prizes format.

“It’s not fun when every fantasy team ends up with Adrian Peterson, but that’s what happens when you pick a roster through salary restrictions,” Jon Goldstein, co-founder and CEO of Blue Ox Entertainment, told Forbes.

”We wanted SideDraft to take the most exhilarating part of fantasy football – drafting – and make it the most significant component of the game.  With the long fantasy season, some players might be out of it by Week 5.  SideDraft allows them to get back into the action and use their knowledge to have fun and maybe even win some spending money.”

Giving the app a boost, Apple has approved the app for iTunes distribution.

Goldstein revealed that the SideDraft app was initially rejected from the iTunes Store but has now been accepted, and he claims that it will be the only fantasy sports iPhone and iPad betting app available to consumers during the 2013 fantasy football season.

The iTunes Store description reads: “SideDraft is a skill based contest. If you are looking to gamble, SideDraft is not the right game for you. Go to Las Vegas.”

Forbes notes that the language was implemented in an attempt to distance the SideDraft app from the perception that it is a gambling app, and demonstrate its effort to fall within the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 carve-out, which excludes certain fantasy sports contests from a general online gambling prohibition.

Goldstein explained: “We received a legal opinion that was very thorough. SideDraft is not available in states where there is ambiguity of the law, such as Illinois, even though other daily fantasy sites offer their services there.  And the fact that it is available on your phone, which has a chip in it that says where the phone is, means that if you are physically in a state where betting on fantasy sports is illegal, you cannot play.”