Yahoo Offers Fantasy Players MLB Job
To coincide with the launch of its 2005 fantasy baseball games, Yahoo Sports has kicked off a sweepstakes that will land one user a real front office job with the San Francisco Giants.
Twelve users, chosen through an online contest that combines baseball trivia and strategy, will win a spot in Yahoo Sports’ Fantasy Front Office fantasy baseball league. The league champion will be offered a job with the Major League Baseball club for one year, with the title of special assistant, baseball operations. The job comes with an annual salary of $30,000.
The online portal has run contests in previous seasons to attract registrants, but never on this scale, Yahoo Sports spokesman Dan Berger said.
“This is a first of its kind promotion for us, and we truly believe it’s a first in the fantasy sports industry,” Berger said.
Consumers must register to play fantasy baseball in one of Yahoo Sports’ free or pay leagues at Sports.yahoo.com and enter the sweepstakes. Entrants answer several trivia questions, followed by a 150-word response to a strategy question. The 12 contestants will be selected following two rounds of judging by Yahoo Sports staffers.
The sweeps began Monday and will run through April 6. The Fantasy Front Office league will run from May 1 through Oct. 2, the last day of MLB’s regular season.
In addition to banner ads and personal appearances on TV and radio by Yahoo Sports spokesmen Jason Schmidt of the Giants and Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves, the sweeps we will be promoted in fantasy sports-themed magazines. The Giants will also tag existing offline ads to give the sweeps a promotional presence in the Bay Area, Berger added.
