BetBattles

Inspiration

As previous PrizePicks users, we were curious in features that would distinguish ourselves from the current sports-betting industry. In this field, many companies aim to seek profit without providing much further entertainment value to its users in a world full of possibilities. After speaking to PrizePicks employees, we realized PrizePicks' mission to provide entertainment to its fantasy users without breaking the bank. We aimed to capitalize on that same mission by further making betting social, fun, and low-pressure. Instead of going against the house, you go against your friends.

What it does

BetBattles makes sports betting social and gamified. Instead of betting only against the house, users can challenge friends with custom bets, climb leaderboards, track hot streaks, and earn bragging rights. It turns casual picks into fun battles. The goal is to keep the focus on community, competition, and accountability rather than bankrolls.

How we built it

We developed this as a mobile application with React-Native. To provide functionality, we utilized NodeJS in the backend and PostgreSQL as the persistent database. In order to display the pick'em choices that PrizePicks offers, we scrape the PrizePicks API.

Challenges we ran into

Balancing the UX: keeping it fun and competitive, but not overwhelming for casual users. Time constraints — lots of stretch features had to be cut down to a polished MVP.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a working challenge system where friends can send and accept bets. Designed a leaderboard that updates in real time as games unfold. Created a fun, polished brand identity on par with PrizePicks with the BetBattles logo and purple theme. Pitched a concept that blends fantasy sports + gamification + social networking in a unique way.

What we learned

How to integrate sports data into a real-time app under hackathon time pressure. The importance of UX around competition such as the fact that small design choices (badges, streaks, colors) drive excitement. How to work as a team under time pressure: splitting backend/frontend tasks, syncing APIs, and keeping scope realistic.

What's next for BetBattles

We would like to add more social features to BetBattles such as a in-app chat feature and the ability to join multiple leagues such as in fantasy sports. Another feature would be squad bets where a custom bet can be participated by more than 2 users on each side. We would also like to integrate this more with PrizePicks such as with the parlay pick'ems and streak gamemodes. We also want to give back more to the community by providing any help guidance needed for users as well as weekly reports of how they are doing on the app. This is to ensure accountability and safeness during fantasy sports.

Built With

• node.js
• postgresql
• prizepicks
• react-native