Fantasy Sports Ventures has bought a piece of Sports Reference LLC, the company that runs Baseball-Reference.com and other popular sports information sites.

According to the Sports Business Journal report, FSV “paid a low seven-figure sum” for the stake, raising to 15 the number of sites in its Fantasy Players Network in which FSV owns a stake. The network — of which Sports Reference was already part — comprises 370 sites in all. The group of 15 reportedly account for about 25 percent of the network’s total traffic.

“This was a very unique asset where we had the desire and saw an opportunity to get involved at a much deeper level,” said FSV chief executive Chris Russo told SBJ. “We think we can help them grow and continue to build scale. We also hope to use this relationship and build some custom market opportunities for advertisers within the Sports Reference group of sites.”

Sports Reference started in April 2000 with the launch of Baseball-Reference.com by then college math professor Sean Forman. Pro-Football-Reference.com came online in December of that year through the work of fellow math professor Doug Drinen. In April 2004, statistics professor Justin Kubatko launched Basketball-Reference.com, and the three combined under the Sports Reference heading in October of that year.

Two years later, Forman quit teaching to go full time with Sports Reference, which also encompasses Hockey-Reference.com and an Olympics site. Forman told SBJ that the FSV investment will allow the company to go even further.

“We have a number of new areas we’re looking to get into,” Forman said. “We’ve basically been in the big four sports and Olympics, so this investment gives the capital to go pursue that.”

Most significantly, Sports Reference plans to enter the realm of college athletics, a potentially daunting task because of the abundance of teams but also a potential traffic bonanza thanks to the rabidity of college fan bases. The emerging market for fantasy college sports certainly won’t hurt things on that front either.

SBJ reports that Sports Reference’s group of sites already garner about a million unique page views a month, about a tenth of the total unique views for the Fantasy Players Network according to comScore’s December stats.

A roundup of recent posts on the FSB News page.

– According to comScore’s numbers, Fantasy Sports Ventures’ Fantasy Players Network enjoyed the Web’s second-largest increase in unique visitors from November to December. The network welcomed 79 percent more such visitors in the final month of 2008.

– Pro Tour Fantasy Golf and Portable Golf Solutions have partnered up to allow charitable organizations to present fantasy golf competitions.

– Poochie Bennish answered those questions from his wife by winning the 2008 World Championship of Fantasy Football.

– CNET’s Don Reisinger spotlights four out-of-the-mainstream Web sources for the stat-obsessed fan: Sports Data Hub, SportsGenie, Sports Reference and StatSheet.

– SoCalTech.com interviews Jose daVeiga, co-founder and CEO of KlickSports. The company operates contests focused on in-game questions for fans to answer.

– Roto Times’ Brian Polking will take The Intimidator, Jeff Gordon, Ricky Rudd, Jeff Burton and … Fonty Flock?

A roundup of recent posts on the FSB News page.

– MonsterDraft.com, which launched in April 2006 and is part of the Fantasy Players Network, is up for sale.

– The Fantasy Sports Trade Association has posted the agenda for its upcoming winter business conference online, including the roster of panel participants.

– The Game On! guys at USAToday.com report that Nielsen says the 11.6 million unique visitors that sought fantasy content over the past year could double over the next five years.

– Soccer Lens ranks its top five fantasy “football” (European division) providers for 2008. ESPN makes the cut, while the rest reside across the pond.

A roundup of recent posts on the FSB News page.

– RotoExperts announced Tuesday that it has purchased Diamond Draft Software, a 7-year-old company centered on fantasy baseball drafting software. RotoExperts will rebrand its current draft software, Xpert’s Edge, to carry the Diamond Draft name and will continue to serve current Diamond Draft subscribers.

– Fantasy Sports Ventures’ Fantasy Players Network reached 10 million unique visitors in November, according to a recently released report by Nielsen. That placed the network of 350 sports sites sixth among online sports properties for the month and kept up a tremendous growth rate that far outpaces the rest of the top 10.

– ESPN’s Eric Karabell says coaching changes don’t alter fantasy fortunes, at least in basketball.

– For $20, NFL fans can play back any or all games from the 2008 season on their computer with NFL.com’s Game Rewind. Those who want just one game can get it for $5.

– The Arena Football League announced Monday that its board of directors has voted to suspend play for the 2009 season. The move is pending player approval, but many involved with the league have reportedly begun to scramble to secure other employment.