Who: Dan Cypra
What: Vice President of Marketing at FantasyFanatics.com; member of FSTA board of directors
Some people actually have to work for a living. Others are Dan Cypra.
“I wouldn’t trade what I do for anything,” he says. Why would he?
In his role with Fantasy Fanatics, Cypra is charged with trying to advance the business interests of a website that specializes in fantasy sports content. When he’s not doing that, he’s generating content for and generally helping to keep up PocketFives.com (an online poker forum) and its related sites. On Saturdays, he’s working the press box and post-game media room at football games for his alma mater, Vanderbilt University. (He carries out similar duties for men’s basketball games as well.)
Fantasy sports, poker and his school’s games. For most guys, that’s a list of hobbies or pastimes, not a résumé.
Of course, it would be unfair and untrue to say that Cypra spends his time playing around. The truth seems to be quite the opposite. He is carving out a decent-sized niche for himself just a few years out of college by getting involved in a variety of things. The work ethic and knack for putting himself out there dates back to his early college days.
“I walked into the media relations department at [Vanderbilt] in 1999, when I was a freshman, … and asked if they needed help in the press box on game days,” Cypra says. “I’m still involved to this day. It’s been a great experience and something that has been extremely rewarding.”
After earning his bachelor’s degree in economics in 2002, Cypra finished up a master’s of business administration in 2003 and moved into the entertainment and tourism industry. In 2006, he was contacted by some college friends who had launched Pocket Fives and asked to come aboard to help build out the site. Cypra took charge of the marketing and media relations branches of the fledgling business, building them from scratch.
Around the same time, one of the guys who launched Pocket Fives, Cal Spears, also asked Cypra about joining the staff of Fantasy Fanatics, which launched in 2007. Now he stands as the site’s marketing director and co-owner.
“It was an opportunity to expand what I do in the sports world to a business level,” Cypra says. “Plus, there aren’t many opportunities out there that come along where you follow sports for a living. It was an opportunity that I could not pass up.”
Following the launch of Fantasy Fanatics, Cypra says he immediately looked to dive into the industry, and the opportunity presented itself for him to join the board of directors with the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. The opportunity came by way of FSTA president Jeff Thomas, who is also the owner and CEO of World Sports Technology, which owns this site.
“When it was time to call for nominations for the new FSTA board in 2007, I contacted a few people personally that were outgoing, aggressive and had skills that could transfer well to the board,” Thomas says. “Based on meeting Dan personally and talking to him on the phone several times, I knew he could be a valuable board member.”
Cypra submitted his name for consideration and was voted in from a pool of applicants. In the time since, he has played a key role in a new public relations committee that Thomas credits with improving communication both with members and the corporate world.
Of course, all this about work, marketing and business shouldn’t give the impression that fun and the job are separate. At their base, Cypra’s ventures require him to track and understand games, and the fantasy portion hasn’t decreased his passion.
From what he says, the opposite seems true: “I can’t get enough of fantasy football.”
As we reported last night, 17 candidates are up for election to five spots on the board of directors for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. As you might have noticed, four of those people are board incumbents. That might lead one to wonder about the remainder of the current board.
