Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for sports betting in the U.S., gambling and media companies are starting to imagine how content will be shaped to meet the needs of data-hungry fans who might want to make prop bets while watching their favorite teams.
Tom Rogers, the founder of the financial news network CNBC, believes sports broadcasters would benefit from taking a page out of CNBC’s playbook. At the sports conference Hashtag Sports in NYC on Monday, Rogers said a continuous stream of sports data on the lower-third of the television screen, akin to CNBC’s scrolling ticker, would keep fans tuned in and engaged.
In this new era of sports betting, it will be up to the broadcasters to enhance the experience for fans by not only showing live events and covering the highlights, but also by giving viewers 24/7 access to relevant data they can use to place bets, said Rogers, who currently serves as the executive chairman of WinView Games, an app that sends users in-game predictions and accepts free fantasy-like wagers.
“At CNBC, we started putting a lot of data on the screen and at first people were horrified. But it keeps them there because you’re doing something to further pull that person in, and they remain intently focused on the screen (even during the commercials),” he said. “What happened after that was sports began following the use of data (such as scores) on screens. Instead of being viewed as distracting at all, it just became expected. I think people over time get comfortable with and expect changes. Whether or not (sports gambling) is harnessed by the TV industry will be a key issue with how they incorporate that data on the screen. If that new source of revenue is going to be harnessed, the TV industry is going to have to take that head on and really figure out how they’re drawing a connection to the sports viewer.”
In a separate Hashtag panel on how sports betting will change the media world, Matt Drew, the executive vice president of sports media company Perform Group, said fans will soon have access to “more evolved data sets” that include things such as tracking data, biometrics and analytics.
Drew sees all of this data eventually combining into a high-quality product that meshes streaming content and data with interactive experiences, perhaps in the form of mobile apps that serve as a one-stop-shop for consuming live sports, analyzing data, and placing wagers.
“The space is evolving and it’s evolving to a meet a new type of fan,” he said.
Chad Millman, head of media at The Action Network, a sports analysis and media company that’s catering to gamblers, said The Action Network is hoping to be one of those one-stop-shops.
The company, he said, is looking to mimic financial technology apps, such as Mint, that help people record and manage their finances. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, for example, The Action Network might eventually be able to digest a bettor’s track record and offer insights about their strengths and weaknesses to help them make smarter wagers.
“We’ll have AI built in there telling you you’re trending this way, that you should be betting overs instead of unders in baseball because you’re getting killed,” said Millman.
However, the future of sports media in this new era of gambling will not only have to be more data heavy, but also more mobile and social. A ticker-like scroll of sports data on ESPN or TSN won’t be enough on its own. Stakeholders will be expected to create high-quality data-heavy premium content with heavy social media components that keep people engaged on sports platforms for longer and keep them involved in friendly competition with their peers, akin to HQ Trivia.
“People who want to test their sports IQ are in abundance out there,” said Rogers. “The better you know the game, the better you’ll be able to predict how the action is going to unfold.”