Hollywood has accepted that content is a major weapon in the streaming war. Quiet, as legalized online sports betting spread across the country, content has also become the weapon of choice for digital casino operators and betting companies looking for an edge on what is holding dear for consumer dollars. And content creators, from production companies to podcasters to established TV talent, are making money, Hollywood Reporter writes.
“This is a version of the streaming war for casino operators,” said former Wall Street analyst Hal Vogel.
Online sports betting has continued to grow in the U.S. since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling Murphy against the NCAA pave the way for the state to allow the practice. As each state legalized access to sports betting (it’s legal in 21 states, with nine more pending and more expected to follow), gaming operators jumped into space, two native digital companies like DraftKings, and legacy casino brands like MGM and Caesars. Even media companies are involved in the war, with Fox launching FoxBet in partnership with Flutter (now owner of FanDuel).
But the expansion proved costly, with every state launch requiring a local marketing blitz. As anyone living in a country that has legalized sports betting in the last year or two will tell you, as soon as it becomes legal, TV ads, targeted digital marketing campaigns and mail flyers proliferate. So gaming companies have turned content into a point of differentiation. The result is a multitude of offerings that include podcasts, social media content like TikTok videos and Instagram pages, as well as talent offerings, as athletes, entertainers and sports media celebrities sign up with various gaming companies to produce original content.
Most recently, Caesars Entertainment, owner of the popular Las Vegas casino resort and Caesars Sportsbook mobile app, reached an agreement with Peyton ManningOmaha Productions to produce video and podcast content for a variety of platforms. “Caesars’ big bet is that Peyton drives rabid audiences to its gambling platform — and keeps them there, and away from others, ”he says Peter Csathyhead of advisory firm Creative Media. “It’s all about customer acquisition and customer retention in a world of gambling, gaming and crypto that is more competitive online and offline.”
“We believe that consumers are smarter, and better engage with content and let them know the world we create,” said Caesars Sportsbook’s head of marketing. Sharon Otterman said. “You don’t have to constantly beat him with this offer or that offer. It’s a strategic way to build relationships with customers, and to respect both sides of the equation.
It is, in the words of a world finance source, a “wash, rinse, repeat” cycle. Players come into the ecosystem because of content, play, and then, hopefully, stay.
If anything, Caesars ’deal with Manning and the production company is the culmination of a years-long effort by the betting company to differentiate themselves through content. Penn National Gaming acquired a fairly large minority stake in Barstool Sports in early 2020, and plans to become the majority owner of the company within the next year. In addition to Barstool content like the original podcast, Penn also launched a Barstool branded sports book.
Pat McAfee, popular radio host and creator of YouTube, reached a nine -figure agreement with FanDuel last year to bring the program to the betting company’s platform. BetMGM struck a deal with The Athleticnow owned by The New York Timesand Yahoo Sports, and Caesars hired former ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne in a content role, to name just a few deals.
Otterman said the company moved to content after finding that customers were tired of the “transactional” experience of betting apps, with users saying that the board “feels more like a bank than the experience when you enter Caesars Palace.”
Users enjoy and relate to talent and content at a different level than gaming or betting applications, and betting companies are more likely to pay to secure that relationship. To date, many of the offerings include podcasts, and specifically podcasts that touch on sports, where the betting company is the sponsor (and can also sell advertising space). With sports podcasts having become the top genre and betting having become a frequent topic of conversation, the offer is growing. But offers for video content (again, usually sports -related), distributed on social platforms, YouTube, or on betting company’s apps and websites, are also becoming more frequent.
The former ESPN talent has been in high demand. In 2021, DraftKings signed a multiyear deal with Meadowlark Media (co -founded with the former head of ESPN. John Skipper) to sponsor and broadcast the former ESPN radio host Dan Le Batard‘S podcast on what has been described as a mid-eight-figure deal. “It’s not a big leap for the company to invest in media, because it provides an alternative way for multiple revenue streams, but also to build its own audience and content,” said Meadowlark Media COO. Bimal Kapadia.
But more than all, it’s about taking those consumers into their own ecosystem. “It’s really all about collecting those email addresses,” he said Joe Favorito, sports media consultant and adjunct professor at Columbia University. Increasingly, content is becoming the most expensive way to achieve those results. As a high level source on the content side of his businesss The Hollywood ReporterOnline sports betting has “reached a point where the road wants to see less cash-intensive ways to increase awareness and increase engagement for their platform.”
With many states on board or likely to start legalized online sports betting in the next year or so, getting localized land gives way to a more efficient national campaign. “The rapid growth of our footprint has opened up scale efficiencies that make some national initiatives accessible and attractive, whereas previously it was not economic because there were leaks to inactive countries,” CEO BetMGM. Adam Greenblatt said the company’s May 12 investor day.
That efficiency becomes even more important as the country goes through a recession. Consumers are tightening their wallet strings, and sports betting can be an easy cost to cut. These environments can make content investments more important, due to their sticky nature. Even if people don’t bet, they should continue to listen to podcasts or watch funny videos made by Manning or Mayne (like Mayne’s series “Betting 101” for Caesars, which uses a unique sense of humor to introduce the concept of betting to users.).
“Dan’s voice, whether it’s in a bear market or a bull market, is still relevant to its fan base,” Kapadia said of Le Batard’s loyal audience.
And the economics of the deal could also help betting companies amortize costs by selling more ads on podcasts or videos they own, or reselling content elsewhere if desired. “If a betting company can have its own content, or licensed or partner content, they have the ability to reduce it [consumer acquisition] costs because they can then recoup through their own advertising sales, their own license offerings, their own partnerships, ”added Kapadia.
Another content side source noted that the strategy had proven itself among major sporting events, when, as expected, my sports bets were down. But consumers stay engaged with the content and come back when it happens. While the recession is certainly a different animal, the strategy points to the North Star.
“We don’t have the ambition to be a media company, that’s not what we do,” Caesars ’Otterman said, adding that the world is growing exponentially. advertising and convergent content, “and the best way to make sure potential customers know what we’re doing, and have an emotional connection with us, is to dump our content.”
And just as companies like Netflix, Disney, Paramount and NBCUniversal have faced a bidding war for comedy and drama talent, betting companies are finding that original content from an established name can be a ticket to consumer cash. Or at least an email address.
“Gambling, gaming and crypto share the same opportunities — and the same dilemmas,” Csathy said. “Consumers are willing to spend a lot of money, but they first need to know where they want to spend that money.”
Georg Szalai contributed to this report.
This version of the story appeared in the June 22 issue of Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
