By Donal Hickey

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

It is a soccer fantasy project set to create 30 real jobs.

TotelFootball.com, a Kerry company now set for growth after a period 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.