Fantasy esports site AlphaDraft is closing its doors on Friday after less than two years and millions raised in funding, according to an email sent to users. The site will stop offering paid fantasy contests at the end of Friday’s League of Legends World Championships semifinal.
This news comes just over a year after AlphaDraft was acquired by fantasy esports giant FanDuel. FanDuel and other fantasy sports companies have recently faced legal controversy in the United States.
The email sent by AlphaDraft stated, “As we continue to evaluate the esports landscape, we have made the difficult decision to stop offering fantasy esports contests on AlphaDraft at the conclusion of the League of Legends World Championship.”
Last September, both FanDuel and DraftKings heavily invested in esports. While DraftKings still offers contests for League of Legends, they dropped their sponsorship deals with some of North America’s biggest teams, including Cloud9 and Team SoloMid, at the beginning of this year.
In May, AlphaDraft raised $5 million in funding before being acquired by FanDuel. Vulcun, AlphaDraft’s main rival in esports fantasy, shut down its fantasy site in January and laid off a large number of staff.
It is unclear if AlphaDraft will shut down entirely or attempt to pivot to another aspect of the esports industry.