This fantasy football start-up thinks it can beat ESPN and Yahoo by catering to women and casual fans

By Salvador Rodriguez@SAL19

Sunny Yen isn’t a big sports fan.

She’s always happy to attend Super Bowl parties, but that’s about it. And yet, Yen is the director of product design at a 16-person San Francisco fantasy football start-up called Sleeper.

“I look at Yahoo and ESPN, and I realized that even though I don’t know about it, this is for hardcore fans only,” Yen said. “I feel like they build a wall to keep the woman, female audience out.”

That’s why Nan Wang, the CEO of Sleeper, hired Yen and her all-female team to design the look and feel of his company’s website and app. Appealing to women, casual fans and first-time fantasy players is critical to Sleeper’s strategy. (READ MORE)