49ers CB Richard Sherman launching daily fantasy site

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman is entering the daily fantasy sports business.

Sherman announced Thursday that his new fantasy site, Daily Number, will be launching paid contests in 23 states. Sherman is the co-founder, along with CEO Tom McAuley, and will be the chief brand ambassador, appearing in an upcoming video ad campaign.

While many NFL stars have endorsed fantasy sites, Sherman is believed to be one of the first, if not the first, to have a founding stake in a fantasy game.

The NFL did not respond to a request for comment.

"Daily Number is a game-changer," Sherman said in a release announcing the launch. "I've been pitched numerous DFS opportunities, but nothing has even come close to comparing to Daily Number. I'm extremely excited to be a founding partner and look forward to playing an active role in helping the company grow during this very dynamic time in our industry."

Daily Number features a unique twist on traditional fantasy, with entrants creating seven-player rosters that attempt to eclipse a predetermined total amount of fantasy points, set by the site and known as the "daily number." Each roster is given a rating. The more superstars on a roster the lower the payout is for teams that score more points than the daily number.

"We're simplifying the DFS format for the everyday sports fan while maintaining the core gameplay principals that have made fantasy sports so massively popular," McAuley added in the release. "We are driven by the opportunity to develop a proprietary platform and customer database that will be extremely valuable to many industry stakeholders as sports gaming continues to evolve in the United States."

Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Virginia are among the states that have passed legislation explicitly legalizing fantasy sports for money.