Among the types of social networking sites that proliferating on the web these days is the contest/sports pick site. One of the newer entries in this niche include Kontend.com, which is a social network that allows fans to connect and compete against one another by picking players or teams within certain sports (NHL, MLB, golf, NASCAR, soccer) that they believe will win.

For instance, I chose to select players I thought would perform well in today’s games. Certain players I suppose have a longer shot at winning in head to head matchups (e.g. Jim Thome vs. Aramis Ramirez). You can get 62 points if you select Ramirez and he does better vs. Thome, who will give you 37 points if you select him and he is the better performing player. The site apparently takes into account the pitching matchup and other factors to determine points given per player or team. You don’t lose any points for guessing wrong, you can only gain for getting it right. The points system is there to reward taking chances (high risk, high reward) and also to compare yourself against those in the community. So in essence, do you go with the surer thing and get less points, or do you gamble and potentially get a lot more points?

The social networking aspect of the site includes inviting and making friends on the site, and also creating and joining groups. You can also “challenge” your friends to a head-to-head matchup. So essentially you can compete with your friends and the entire community. Points are accumulated and displayed on the site.

In a press release today, Kontend.com announced that they will be offering a 2008 UEFA European Football Championship game, allowing users to pick both teams and players in that quadrennial soccer tournament. I gave that game a quick try and noticed that you can only pick a winner in the group stages of the tournament. I’m not sure that’s right since you can draw in the group stages of the tournament, so I don’t know how the site will resolve that.

Another way Kontend plans to reach users is through their Facebook application.
Facebook is obviously a way to reach many sports fans in one place and the social aspect of Kontend is a nice fit with the social network giant.

How far will the site go? It’s hard to tell right now, but they have some promising pieces in place.