Soccer fantasy could lead to 30 jobs

It is a soccer fantasy project that could end up creating 30 real jobs.

TotelFootball.com, a Kerry company now set for growth after four years of development, operates a successful internet-based game fusing the popular concepts of sports betting and fantasy football.

Killarney is the centre of operations and the game, brainchild of local man Declan O’Sullivan, was developed while he was on the Endeavour business start-up programme.

It is based on England’s Premier League, with weekly matches, but the company plans to expand into other sports, including cricket, golf, and rugby.

Fantasy sports has been a huge phenomenon in the US since the late 1950s, where over $3bn (€2.3bn) is now spent annually on league entry fees.

Around 35m people play fantasy sports games in the US and 4m across Britain.

The European and Asian markets are not as developed but TotelFootball aims to change that.

Partnerships with a major British bookmaker, an Asian technology distributor and a widely-read football news site on the internet have recently been announced.

The company is to create five jobs immediately.

TotelFootball’s business development director. Keith McDonnell. described new partnerships with some of the strongest and most influential brands in the industry as “a huge step” towards building a truly global pool for betting on fantasy football.

“We expect to be announcing a further 20 jobs before 2015,” he said.