On the latest episode of iGaming Daily, Ted Orme-Claye, Editor of Insider Sport, was joined by SBC’s Media Manager, Charlie Horner, to explore the evolving relationship between betting and sports, particularly in the US.
Earlier this month, FanDuel announced that it had inked a deal to partner with the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), which will include providing in-app streaming of games.
This latest addition will sit alongside FanDuel’s coverage of other sports such as racing, football and darts.
The brand also recently announced the takeover of the naming rights of Diamond Sports’ regional sports networks from Bally’s.
On the deal, Charlie said: “That’s significant. [For example], if you’re in Ohio you would have your subscription to the regional sports network in Ohio and you’d be able to watch the action from those teams in that state so it’s really targeted so you can get to that local audience in Ohio.
“It’s all about branding and getting people to come and bet on their platform.”
As well as operators looking to move into media, media outlets have also looked to get involved in sports betting. For example, with ESPN Bet in the US and talkSPORT Bet and Virgin Bet in the UK.
Ted explained that the biggest example of this type of convergence is Sky Bet, which was set up by the Sky group and is now part of Flutter Entertainment.
He said: “It’s been raised a lot in US circles as being the ultimate example of what people want their sportsbook to be. I think there have been quite a few senior figures in some of the big US sports betting brands that have said that we want to be the Sky Bet for the US.
“ESPN Bet, if I remember rightly, wanted to bring the Sky Bet model to the US in the same sort of sense of having this big, well-known sports media brand as the face of the betting operator.”
Charlie agreed that Sky Bet is the “gold standard” for a media brand, sportsbook amalgamation achieving long-term success.
Towards the end of the episode, the pair considered whether further integration is a guaranteed formula for success.
“I reckon in terms of what we see FanDuel and DraftKings doing, I can’t really see that particularly going wrong unless they come up against maybe some compliance issues or backlash against the visibility of betting in sports and public life,” explained Charlie.
“I think the other side of things, the media companies getting involved in sports betting, that’s something that’s got a bit more of a rocky track record, certainly in the UK. We’ve got more of a historical example of Sun Bets, which was an attempted joint venture between the Sun and TabCorp, the Australian betting operator. That did not find very much success at all.
“These examples show that nothing’s a guaranteed formula for success. You’ve really got to tailor everything to your own individual approach and your own market conditions.”
