Under The Hoodie

Toby Bucsescu is the co-founder and CEO of Blitz:Draft, a swipe-based fantasy sports platform that lets users draft a full team in under two minutes. Alongside running the company, Toby has spent 16 years as an air traffic controller directing arrivals and departures at LaGuardia Airport. Blitz:Draft is live for free play in all 50 states, with real-money contests currently available in 18 states plus Washington, D.C.

In this episode:

• How a swipe on Tinder led to the idea for a fantasy sports app

• Why growing up watching planes at LaGuardia shaped Toby's approach to pressure and decision-making

• Inside the 2-minute draft: how Blitz:Draft's swipe mechanic actually works

• Blitz:Draft's next move: bringing live, in-person drafts to bars and venues this NFL season

Chapters:

00:00 Highlight Reel

00:22 Intro & Welcome

03:21 Meet Toby: From Aviation Obsession to Air Traffic Control

05:17 The Tinder Swipe That Sparked Blitz:Draft

09:52 Lessons From the Tower: Stress, Training, Pressure

13:28 Why Blitz:Draft Can Compete in a Crowded Market

16:39 Inside the Swipe: How Blitz:Draft Actually Works

21:18 Taking Blitz:Draft Into Bars: The IRL Pivot

25:44 Hiring for Creativity: Building the Founding Team

29:04 Community Feedback and the Future of Fantasy Sports

33:59 The Power of Networking: Toby's Biggest Lesson

37:15 Lightning Round: Risk, One Word, Favorite Movie

#UnderTheHoodie #FantasySportsStrategies #BlitzDraft #FantasySports #DFS #StartupStory #Entrepreneurship #AirTrafficControl #SportsTech #FantasyFootball

Check out our business that advises startups in the fantasy sports and gaming industry at fantasysportsstrategies.com. 

Come celebrate National Fantasy Football Draft Day at Circa Las Vegas from August 20th to August 22nd. Use promo code “HOODIE” at checkout for 25% off. https://www.draft-nation.com/

In this episode:Chapters:
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Renee Miller (PhD neuroscientist, University of Rochester) and Dave Sukoff (ex-Wall Street quant, 5th-time founder) on turning a 20-year-old MIT card game into Franchise League Football, the app that just won the FSGA's 2025 Best Product Experience award.

About the guests:

Renee Miller, PhD is a neuroscientist who directs the undergraduate neuroscience program at the University of Rochester, where she studies cognitive bias and decision-making. She's also a longtime fantasy sports analyst and writer. Dave Sukoff is a former Wall Street quant and serial entrepreneur, and Franchise League Football is his fifth startup, who has run a homegrown, contract-based keeper league with the same group of MIT friends for over 20 years. Together they're the co-founders of Franchise League Football, a dynasty-style app with real salary caps, contracts, and consequences.

In this episode:

• The MIT origin story, including the lost spreadsheet that shelved the idea for years

• Why Renee, who came into this with zero business experience, says building the company made her a better leader

• The moment Franchise League Football stopped marketing at its fastest growth point, and why it paid off with an industry award

• Renee and Dave's honest take on prediction markets, AI, and where fantasy sports is actually headed

Chapters:

00:00 Highlight Reel

00:30 Intro & Welcome

04:23 Meet Renee Miller & Dave Sukoff

06:23 The MIT Origin Story

09:09 Backgrounds: Neuroscience to Wall Street

14:19 Finding the Franchise League Idea

21:07 Early Challenges & Winning Best Product

23:10 Splitting the Work as Co-Founders

27:03 Expanding to Baseball & Every Sport

29:21 Prediction Markets & AI in Fantasy

35:23 Pausing Growth to Protect Quality

41:26 Lightning Round & Favorite Movies

Franchise League Football: https://www.franchiseleaguefootball.com

Get 25% off Draft Nation's National Fantasy Football Draft Day event using promo code "HOODIE" at checkout": https://www.draft-nation.com/

#UnderTheHoodie #FantasyFootball #FantasySports #Startup #FranchiseLeagueFootball #DynastyFantasyFootball #FantasyFootballPodcast #Entrepreneurship

Draft Nation's National Fantasy Football Draft Day is coming to Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, August 20-22, 2026, and Scott breaks down everything happening across the three days.Three days of poolside drafts on a 143-foot screen at Stadium Swim, celebrity drop-ins from names like Adrian Peterson, Jeff Garcia, Earl Thomas, and Jayson Werth, expert strategy sessions with analysts from RotoWire, Fantasy Alarm, and Fantasy Life, and the Superball Gala closing out the weekend with a red carpet and awards.Use promo code HOODIE at checkout for 25% off any three-day package.Tickets and full schedule: https://www.draft-nation.com/pricingHighlights:Poolside drafts at Stadium Swim under a 143-foot screenCelebrity drop-ins breaking down your roster liveThe Superball Gala: red carpet, awards, cocktailsLast place punishments including a walk of shame and lip-sync battlePromo code: HOODIE (25% off, 3-day Circa package)#FantasyFootball #DraftNation #NationalFantasyFootballDraftDay #Vegas #CircaLasVegas #FantasySports #UnderTheHoodie #StadiumSwim

Scott Keely, founder of Combo Fantasy Sports, joins Scott Hoyt to explain how he taught himself to build a live multi-sport fantasy platform, one where you draft and trade across football, baseball, and more in a single league.Scott is a second-generation fantasy player, still co-managing a league his dad helped start back in 1983. Around a full-time job and three kids under 10, he spent nights, weekends, and lunch breaks building Combo himself, using AI development tools after an early attempt with Claude didn't go the way he expected. He breaks down how the platform actually works, the moment he knew it would work (a first-round draft that included both David Johnson and Mike Trout), and the advice that pushed him to stop waiting for the perfect version and just launch.Topics covered:• How Combo Fantasy Sports lets you draft and trade across multiple sports in one league• Teaching himself to build a live sports platform using AI tools, and what didn't work at first• The first-ever Combo draft: David Johnson at 1, Mike Trout at 2• Finding a founding engineer and shifting from building to customer acquisition• The best startup advice he ever got: stop perfecting, just launch• A father-son fantasy football championship that came down to Monday Night FootballLearn more or try it yourself: combofantasysports.comChapters:0:00 Highlight Reel0:30 Intro and FSGA Recap4:01 Welcome Scott Keely, Founder of Combo Fantasy Sports4:53 Second-Generation Fantasy Player: The Pensacola Pirates11:46 Biggest Frustration With Traditional Fantasy Leagues14:03 The Moment: First Combo Draft, David Johnson and Mike Trout16:24 What Is Combo Fantasy Sports?23:46 Five Sports, One Logo: The Vision for Expansion26:03 Teaching Himself to Build the Platform With AI Tools33:36 Finding a Founding Engineer and Shifting to Growth39:59 Best Startup Advice: Start Now43:04 Rapid Fire: Favorite Memory, One Sport for Life, Sports Movie53:10 Outro and Upcoming EventsSubscribe for weekly conversations with leaders in fantasy sports and gaming.Under the Hoodie is produced by Fantasy Sport Strategies | fantasysportsstrategies.com#FantasyFootball #FantasyBaseball #ComboFantasySports #BuiltWithAI #FantasySportsStartup #UnderTheHoodie #Solopreneur #MikeTrout #FantasySportsPodcast

Arman Reyes is the founder of FanCred, a platform bringing trust and credibility ratings to fantasy sports leagues. A former software engineer at Microsoft, a finance firm, and Disney Streaming, Arman left the corporate world after realizing the real problem in his own 132-team fantasy league: there's no way to know if a league — or the people in it — can be trusted before you join. FanCred gives every fantasy player a commissioner rating and a league-mate rating, powered by AI-summarized feedback from real leagues.In this episode:- The Planet Money podcast episode that directly inspired FanCred's creation- Why Arman compares joining a fantasy league to booking a 2-star Airbnb - The "bad actor" problem FanCred's rating system was built to solveWhat's next for FanCred: message boards, automated payouts, and cross-platform reviewsChapters:00:00 Highlight Reel00:30 Intro & Welcome02:30 How Arman Got Into Fantasy Sports05:00 From Software Engineer to Founder07:00 The Problem That Led to FanCred11:00 What Is FanCred? The Airbnb Analogy14:00 Fixing Fantasy's Fragmented League Search16:15 The Community & Where the Industry Is Headed22:15 What Yahoo, Sleeper & ESPN Are Missing26:15 Building the Trust & Rating System29:30 The Hardest Part of Building a Startup36:00 What's Coming Next for FanCred42:00 Closing Thoughts & Favorite Sports MovieFanCred: https://fancred.app/Credible Commish Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzIqnHR5T30bPerXmP8ImV-6Gdn0rDljz#FantasyFootball #FantasySports #UnderTheHoodie #FanCred #FantasyFootballPodcast #StartupStory #FantasyCommissioner #DynastyFantasyFootball

Bob Lung has been playing fantasy football since 1985, held one of the first fantasy drafts in the Pro Football Hall of Fame boardroom in 1986, and built the Fantasy Football Expo - the annual Canton, Ohio gathering that now defines the start of the fantasy football season. He also DJed weddings for 35 years. He's an Eagle Scout. And he's a CPA. In this episode, Scott sits down with the King of Consistency himself to go deep on all of it.In this episode:- How a frustrating 2002 season with Shaun Alexander led Bob to create the Consistency Guide- What he watched fail at the 2011 Atlantic City fantasy expo, and why that shaped everything he built- The chaos that goes on behind the scenes at the Kings Classic and Fantasy Football Expo that attendees never see- What's new at the 2026 Fantasy Football Expo in Canton (July 24-26): Trophy SMAC Olympics, startup showcase, and more- Why AI has Bob more worried than he's ever been, and what he thinks will protect human analysts- His legacy, Eagle Scout achievement, and his favorite sports movieChapters:00:00 Highlight Reel00:30 Intro & Welcome03:27 Why Fantasy Football Has Lasted 40 Years06:28 Playing Fantasy Before the Internet Existed09:07 The 1986 Hall of Fame Fantasy Draft11:56 Origin of the Consistency Guide15:00 How the Fantasy Football Expo Was Born21:07 How Covid Changed Everything25:20 Running the Expo Behind the Scenes27:50 What's New at the 2026 Expo32:27 Why Face-to-Face Events Matter40:51 AI and the Future of Fantasy Sports46:31 Legacy, Eagle Scout, and Favorite Sports MovieSubscribe for weekly episodes: youtube.com/FantasySportStrategiesFantasy Football Expo: thefantasyfootballexpo.com#FantasyFootball #FFExpo #FantasyFootballExpo #ConsistencyGuide #UnderTheHoodie #CantonOhio #FantasySports #KingsClassic #FantasyFootballDraft #NFL

Ian Ritchie raised a first-round Atlanta Braves draft pick. In between, he spent 30 years turning fantasy football from a niche hobby into a national institution.Ian is one of the most respected names in fantasy football — a co-builder of the World Championships of Fantasy Football and the entrepreneur behind Draft Nation 2026, a multi-day live event at Circa Resort in Las Vegas (August 20-22) built around the first-ever National Fantasy Football Draft Day.In this episode, Ian covers: - Co-building the World Championships of Fantasy Football from scratch in the late '90s - What separates companies that win (DraftKings, FanDuel, Price Picks) from the ones that fade - Raising his son JR from the smallest kid on the field to a first-round Braves draft pick — including the scout who noticed 91 mph from a freshman, and the COVID tournament where JR hit 95 as a sophomore - The Little League moment Ian says made him more proud than the MLB Draft - His wife managing five kids and 20 baseball players in an Arizona house during COVID - Everything inside Draft Nation 2026: stadium takeovers, splash drafts at Circa, a fantasy football gala, and a private concert on Fremont StreetChapters:0:00 Highlight Reel0:30 Intro & Welcome4:50 Ian's Origin Story in Fantasy Football9:00 What Separates Successful Businesses12:40 Relationships Are Everything14:30 Opportunities for the Next Generation16:25 JR Ritchie's Road to the Braves25:20 The Sacrifices Behind Elite Youth Baseball30:20 What Is Draft Nation 2026?35:44 Inside the Event: What to Expect at Circa40:19 Why Fantasy Football Attracts Major Brands44:49 Personal Rapid Fire + Favorite Sports Movie

Jen Piacenti is the #1 SharpRank-ranked sports betting analyst two years running (2024 and 2025) and founder of Shark Bets, the app that delivers expert picks via push notification in audio and video format. She sat down with Scott to talk about where fantasy sports and sports betting are headed, what it takes to build a profitable system, and why she thinks DFS is on its way out.In this episode:- Her origin story: from actress and singer in New York to high-stakes fantasy baseball auctions on Park Avenue- Why DFS is fading and where the industry is landing next- How Shark Bets works and why push notification was the core product insight- Her counterintuitive betting philosophy: winning less, profiting more- Live baseball player prop picks (Freddie Freeman, Matt Olson, Shohei Ohtani, Ozzie Albies)- Fantasy football draft strategy for Scott Fish Bowl, including second overall pick discussionDraft Nation at Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, August 20-22, 2026. Use code SHARKBETS for 15% off.Try Shark Bets free for 2 weeks: https://www.shark-bets.comFollow Jen on X and Instagram: @jenpiacentiUnder the Hoodie is hosted by Scott Hoyt and produced by Fantasy Sport Strategies.Subscribe for weekly interviews with leaders in fantasy sports and sports betting.

0:00   Highlight Reel

0:30   Intro & Welcome

2:00   Introducing Jen Piacenti

4:00   From Actress to Fantasy Baseball

7:22   What the Arts Taught Her About Rejection

8:48   How the Industry Evolved: DFS to Player Props

10:48  Prediction Markets: Benefit or Cannibalization?

14:20  Why She Built Shark Bets

18:50  From Analyst to CEO: Wearing All the Hats

20:20  The Story Behind "Shark Bets"

22:35  The Hardest Startup Lesson She Has Learned

24:00  Differentiating in a Crowded Market

26:09  The Future of Sports Betting Innovation

28:15  Do Fantasy Players Have a Betting Advantage?

31:10  Live Baseball Player Props: Dodgers and Braves

37:25  Scott Fish Bowl: Second Overall Pick Discussion

40:10  Draft Nation at Circa Las Vegas (Aug 20-22)

44:55  Where to Find Jen and Shark Bets

46:27  Favorite Sports Movie

Steven Kenway, CEO of Rolling Insights, explains how AI coding tools and affordable sports data APIs are opening the door for everyday builders — and why the wave in fantasy sports and betting is still building.Steven is a computer scientist turned serial entrepreneur who went from healthcare IT in Canada, to building and selling a real estate startup, to landing at the intersection of sports, data, and AI. At Rolling Insights, his mission is simple: democratize professional-grade sports data for the 10,000+ startups created each year who can't afford the big incumbent providers. He also runs the Breakaway Accelerator, a program designed to give early-stage sports tech founders access to discounted data, community, and expert guidance.In this episode: • Why Steven thinks the wave in fantasy sports and sports betting is still building • How Rolling Insights' data beat the live odds display at the Venetian Sportsbook in Las Vegas • Why AI coding tools like Claude Code mean anyone with a sports product idea can build a proof of concept today • What PrizePicks' five-year grind should tell every startup founder about "overnight success"Chapters:0:00 Highlight Reel0:50 Intro and Welcome2:56 Steven's Background: Hockey, Healthcare, and Tech5:29 Building a Real Estate Startup and Getting Acquired8:04 How Rolling Insights Was Born12:51 The Problem With Sports Data Access14:49 Real-Time Data: Official Providers vs. the Rest16:06 Beating a Vegas Sportsbook With Public Data18:00 AI in Sports: From Machine Learning to Generative AI29:36 Startup Lessons: Lean Startup, Pivots, and Perseverance35:32 Rolling Insights Products and the Breakaway Accelerator37:59 Favorite Sports MovieFollow Rolling Insights:Website: rolling-insights.comSubscribe to Under the Hoodie for weekly conversations with leaders in fantasy sports and sports gaming.#FantasySports #SportsTech #SportsData #AI #StartupLife #FantasyFootball #FantasyBaseball #UnderTheHoodie #DFS #SportsBetting

Scott Fish is the creator of the Scott Fish Bowl and just revealed SFB16 scoring. Video game theme. Massive big play bonuses. Alec Pierce and Jameson Williams just became must-flex plays. Here's the full breakdown.Scott Fish is the founder and commissioner of the Scott Fish Bowl (SFB), the most recognizable charity fantasy football tournament in the industry. He's been playing fantasy football since 1992 and pioneered devy (college farm system) leagues years before they went mainstream. He also foundedFantasy Cares, a nonprofit that has inspired hundreds of thousands of fantasy leagues worldwide to donate entry fees to charitable causes.- SFB16 scoring revealed: video game theme with massive big play bonuses- Why guys like Alec Pierce and Jameson Williams become must-flex plays this year- The 3RR (third round reversal) controversy and whether it is really dead- How Fantasy Cares grew from a tagline into a movement raising millions- The piano bar story that showed Scott Fish what SFB had truly becomeCHAPTERS0:00 Highlight Reel0:30 Intro and Welcome2:55 Fantasy Football Origins: Playing Since 19926:06 Becoming a Central Figure in the Industry8:56 The Piano Bar Moment That Changed Everything12:35 Fantasy Cares: Using the Hobby to Do Good15:01 SFB16 Scoring Reveal: Video Game Big Play Bonuses20:00 The 3RR Controversy: Is Third Round Reversal Really Gone?24:10 The Future of Fantasy Sports and Creator Content26:54 Advice: Relationships Are Everything in This Industry28:51 What Scott Fish Is Most Proud Of34:01 Favorite Sports MovieHASHTAGS#ScottFishBowl #SFB16 #FantasyFootball #FantasyCares #UnderTheHoodie #FantasySportStrategies #DynastyFantasy