Most new every day fantasy customers disappear inside 90 days. Jordan Rothstein constructed SmackTok to vary that, combining decide’em contests with creators, group and real-world rewards.
July 29 2026, Printed 12:52 p.m. ET
The most costly second in every day fantasy comes after the ultimate whistle. A promotion can purchase a obtain. A sizzling slate can earn a deposit. However as soon as the competition settles, the app has to persuade that very same fan to come back again with out paying for his or her consideration once more.
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That struggle is getting costlier throughout sports activities gaming. On July 27, BetMGM lowered its annual outlook for the second time in 2026 and pushed its $500 million revenue goal past 2027, citing prediction-market competitors, rising customer-acquisition prices and regulatory complexity. For SmackTok CEO Jordan Rothstein, the warning factors to the issue newer platforms have to resolve first: retention.
“By our estimate, roughly 70% of latest every day fantasy customers are gone inside 90 days, and it is not as a result of they stopped liking sports activities,” Rothstein mentioned. “Acquisition will get somebody via the door, however the enterprise is constructed on whether or not they nonetheless wish to be there when there is not a decide to position.”
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Lots of that comes all the way down to programming the calendar slightly than the slate. SmackTok hosts trivia nights, runs fan competitions, and offers away sports activities playing cards, collectibles and stay experiences to its most energetic members. The purpose is to place one thing on the schedule for the nights when there isn’t a motive to open a fantasy app in any respect.
“We consider it as giving again to the individuals who present up,” Rothstein mentioned. “If somebody has been in a huddle each week speaking trash and serving to different folks construct lineups, we wish them strolling away with a card they really wished or tickets to a sport, not a promo credit score.”
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Creators are central to preserving that spotlight contained in the product. Relatively than utilizing them solely to drive a burst of sign-ups, SmackTok offers them subscriptions, unique content material and communities they’ll construct over time. “Lots of firms name a creator after they want visitors, then transfer on when the marketing campaign ends,” Rothstein mentioned. “We wish them to have the ability to construct one thing that lasts contained in the product.”
That concentrate on what occurs after the sign-up displays Rothstein’s background in product design. Earlier than SmackTok, he based King Tide, a Los Angeles enterprise and product-development studio whose work touched firms together with Value.com, Eco, Findigs, Bounce.com and TB12. He introduced the identical pondering to sports activities gaming, wanting previous odds, payouts and promotions to the expertise surrounding them.
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Early indicators counsel the strategy is touchdown. The platform has reached 30,000 downloads, with month-to-month energetic customers rising 40% month over month, in line with figures supplied by SmackTok. Behind that development is $3.2 million in pre-seed funding and backing from UTA co-founder Jeremy Zimmer, PrizePicks alumni Eric Josovitz, Sethen Maleno and John Hillebrandt, Elevator Studio founder Dan Fleyshman and Creators Inc. founder Andy Bachman. The corporate has additionally employed former Google, Snap and Caesars Sportsbook workers.
Prediction markets come subsequent. In August, the platform expects so as to add them via considered one of Polymarket’s first unbiased software program vendor partnerships. “We’re centered on either side of development,” Rothstein mentioned. “Prediction markets give folks extra to do as soon as they’re inside SmackTok, whereas partnerships assist introduce the product to new audiences.”
Outdoors the app, SmackTok is on the lookout for the locations sports activities followers already collect. Rothstein says a Hooters advertising marketing campaign will launch round NFL kickoff, and the corporate is predicted to sponsor a celebrity-athlete golf tour scheduled to stream on Prime Video in 2027.
