Football Manager developers Sports Interactive have struck up a partnership with Daily Fantasy provider Mondogoal. The deal will see the latter’s branding featured on pitch-side advertising boards within Football Manager 2016, while players of the former will get the chance to play Mondogoal’s fantasy football league service in-game.
Man, does Football Manager require a kitbag-load of strategy – much similar to the delightful entries featured on our list of best strategy games for PC.
The latest iteration of Football Manager – Football Manager 2016 – came with a new Fantasy Draft mode, a feature that lets you create your own dream team of players before taking on your mates. It’s standard fantasy football fare in that you start with a fixed budget, build a team from scratch, fight off competition for signings, and go toe-to-toe with friends in a mini-multiplayer league.
This new deal is in essence a corporate sponsorship-type extension of that, it seems.
“Our fans are famously knowledgeable about football and this partnership with Mondogoal will allow them an opportunity to test that knowledge against their fellow supporters,” says Miles Jacobson, the studio director at Sports Interactive, in a press release posted by Yahoo Finance. “In addition to offering our fans a series of exclusive offers, we will also work closely with the Mondogoal team to promote both Football Manager and daily fantasy football to the widest possible audience.”
It’s an interesting one this. I’ve not given the latest instalment of Football Manager anywhere near as much time as I have done past variations – as anyone who plays well knows: it can take over your life – however I did dip in with some mates to test this year’s new Fantasy Draft mode. I barely scratched the surface, but it seemed okay.
This partnership will likely offer players something more in-depth than what’s already there, but I’m intrigued to see how it’ll fit in with the game without becoming overly obtrusive. If you’re a Football Manager fan, let us know what you think of the deal in the comments below.