Own a Piece of British Premier League Players with New ‘Football Trader’ Game

(UPDATED on February 22nd: Sohail told us that since the beta launch two weeks ago, Football Trader attracted around 320 users with a similar demographic to their first app version. While the UK is the number one country user, the following top four countries come from Asia. Sohail is planning to work closely in Asia region but nothing is set in stone yet about him relocating there).

What was the highlight of this week for you? If your answer is the Champions League action, then this game, Football Trader, which was beta launched last weekend, will suit you just fine. The browser-based game puts an interesting, real-time twist on the popular ‘Fantasy Football’ type of game, and users can also receive interesting prizes too.

Co-founder Sohail Godall describes the game:

Imagine Fantasy Football played on a live stock market, where you buy shares in players live that are constantly changing based on news off the pitch and how they perform on the pitch. This is Football Trader in a nutshell.

The game’s focus is on the England-based Barclays Premier League (BPL), with players from famous teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool. BPL is very popular in Asia, and indeed the biggest users of the startup’s previous football gaming app are in Asia ¹. Understanding this opportunity, the team pivoted the startup and is now aiming at more users from the region.

Sneak preview of Football Trader mobile app’s player page.

To start playing Football Trader, you need to log in with your Facebook account. Then you will be taken to the home screen, which shows the “PlayerDAQ,” which seems to be named after the US NASDAQ index. Then it is up to you to allocate £100 million of virtual money for stocks in various players within the game. People purchasing shares in Gareth Bale, for example, can be happy because the lad has had a fine week in both the BPL and Europa League, and that will cause the player’s stock value to rise.

Getting a chance to watch BPL matches live

And just like the other Fantasy Football games, Football Trader also offers interesting prizes. During the beta version, prizes include an iPad and team jerseys. For the next season, by which time the team will have fully launched its mobile apps, the prizes offered will include tickets and flights to see the Premiership teams in action.

Sohail explained that they plan to monetize the game through the freemium model, so there will be premium features which can be bought inside the app. He believes that his competition are the more traditional Fantasy Football games, like Fantasy Premier League, which already has three million users. But what’s going to set his game apart is its three core aspects: real-time virtual shares trading, social, and mobile.

Sohail is open for possible collaborations especially after the app is fully launched in August.