Category Archives: Featured

Mobile Making Fantasy A Reality For More Players

At last week’s Fantasy Sports Trade Association Summer Conference in New York, a crowd of several hundred, most on laptops, listened intently to sports and fantasy business leaders talk about the upward growth and engagement of consumers in and around all things fantasy, especially the fascination with daily pay fantasy, a part of the field dominated by the two biggest players, Fan Duel and DraftKings.

The data, provided by Jason Allsopp of the research firm Ipsos, was amazingly positive news for those in the room; More people are playing fantasy than ever before, with 51.6 million people age 12 and over in the United States engaged, 20 percent of the population, up from 14 percent in 2014.

More importantly perhaps, women are playing fantasy sports in much larger numbers, with 33 percent of players now female, a big jump in the last three years. The biggest jump overall is in DFS play, where seventeen percent of all fantasy players play DFS exclusively, up from 8 percent in 2013, with spending up to $257 annually for a DFS player who was only spending $15 in 2012.

However one of the most important factors that came out of the Ipsos study was mobile engagement. Fantasy players are becoming increasingly mobile with just 44 percent of players using a desktop or laptop computer is their primary device for fantasy sports. That was down from 68 percent in 2013. The combination of an avid mobile user and a more engaged younger audience is not really surprising given where consumers are trending these days, and it’s even less surprising when you look at a global audience that could engage in fantasy, but what is surprising is the lack of mobile adoption by fantasy businesses at this stage.

The model of DFS as it stands now for the larger players are based around salary cap games. While apps do provide a mobile option, setting full lineups on a smaller device given the amount of research needed is both tricky and cumbersome. Since retention and acquisition for the bigger sites like FanDuel and Draft Kings is so vital for growth (reportedly neither are profitable yet despite the millions invested in the brands by everyone from venture capital to the NBA and MLB), a tough mobile option can be a turn-off for the younger mobile savvy first adopter. Both Fan Duel and DraftKings have been bullish in tackling the mobile experience and are making strides with their apps so that they are as user friendly as possible, but does more need to be done?

If mobile is key, can companies pivot to simpler, non-salary cap mobile first game that are springing up by the dozens? And if simpler and mobile is where the DFS industry needs to go, can there be a micro-option built in that will bring large revenue and more players for simpler games?

“We have seen that the best mobile experiences; Instagram, SnapChat, are simple to engage with and easy to navigate for everyone,” said Tom Richardson, Columbia University professor, veteran sports marketer and one of the most engaged professionals in sports in the mobile field. “While companies like FanDuel and Draft Kings are doing a good job with their experience for consumers, the bottom line is consumers will always expect not just a good, but an easy and simple mobile experience and fantasy businesses need to think that way first to grow, especially new businesses trying to find a niche in the space. Without a prime mobile experience first, you will have big challenges acquiring and retaining consumers no matter how much money you raise or how robust your offering is.”

We have seen freemium games outside of sports; Angry Birds, Candy Crush, draw big numbers of engagement because of simplicity. That model lasts for shorter periods of times, and in the case of Rovio and Angry Birds, has led to issues when the company tried a new level of engagement.

With a host of new players coming into the marketplace, from big media companies like Yahoo to many smaller players looking for not just a piece of the current marketshare but for a way to actually increase the size of the market by engaging milennials, women and casual sports consumers, is simpler and mobile the next step?

It would seem like the smartest bet.

Double Jackkpot for NJ Man in Three Weeks

‎By @TheDailyPayoff

A New Jersey man hit a slot machine jackpot at Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway twice on the same machine within three weeks, the casino reported.
Dominic Sanaite of Saddle Brook hit for $100,000 on a slot Monday night, capping his hot streak. Three weeks earlier on the same machine, Sanaite scored his first $100,000 jackpot , according to Empire Casino press release.
‎Santaite made his six-figure score ($20 more than the first one) on the exact same slot machine for the exact same wager (a $5 bet on a $1 denomination machine) as he did on June 10th.‎

Meanwhile, on the track at Yonkers Raceway, the big payoffs kept coming Tuesday on a matinée card catering French simulcasting. Jordan Stratton drove 72-1 shot Jesse’s Story to victory in the eighth race, lighting up the tote board with a $146 win mutuel, the largest of the season.

Overcoming the disadvantageous post 12, Jesse turned back the 3-2 favorite, Dreamsteeler driven by Jason Bartlett, by a neck, to combine for a season-high exacta of $1,394. Stratton also was responsible for the previous high mutuel payoff of $136.50 when he reined Hypnotist to victory earlier in the year. ‎

Finally, the biggest jackpot in history continues to grow: the ‎$1.2 million score on the popular Wheel of Fortune Triple Stars slot machine is still up for grabs at the Westchester casino. When the record jackpot is finally hit, it will exceed the previous mark by more than a half million dollars, Empire reported.

Smoke Around Mickelson Gambling Issues Rises…Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson has always been a big tipper and around golf circles has always been known for a friendly wager or two. Some of those wagers have gotten him in minor trouble over the years with the golf establishment, while other dealings have whispered that association with gambling schemes could have gotten him in hot water. However to date, nothing has surfaced to put the popular PGA Tour Champion in anything more than some mildly hot water full of innuendo. Nothing has ever been proven, and Mickelson’s career and reputation with brands has always been stellar.

However that smoke on the gambling side could lead to some fire, according to an ESPN report on Monday.

Per USA Today’s For The Win…
“A report from ESPN’s Outside the Lines on Monday has linked golfer Phil Mickelson with a nearly $3 million sports-betting scheme with an “illegal gambling operation” based outside the United States. The report, which is based on court documents and various sources, notes that Mickelson has not been charged for his alleged involvement, but adds the man who reportedly handled his money pled guilty last week. A 56-year-old former sports gambling handicapper, acting as a conduit for an offshore gambling operation, pleaded guilty last week to laundering approximately $2.75 million of money that two sources told Outside the Lines belonged to Mickelson.

Gregory Silveira of La Quinta reached an agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to three counts of money laundering of funds from an unnamed “gambling client” of his between February 2010 and February 2013. Sources familiar with the case said Mickelson, who was not named in court documents, is the unnamed “gambling client.” Silveira is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 5 before U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips and faces up to 60 years in prison, though the sentence will likely be far shorter.”

The reports come at an interesting time for golf, as a changing of the guard to a younger corps has helped revitalize the sport on the men’s side, and one reason, ironically, is because of the growth of pay fantasy golf which has gotten younger males more interested in a game they would not have cared for just a few years ago. While casual wagers have always been the norm around golf, large scale wagering tied to scandal has always been off in the distance. While there is no proof or statements on either side yet off of this morning’s report, it is worth watching especially as the sport head to The British Open, an event in a country where gaming is legal and accepted.

DraftKings’ UK Gambling License Bid Stirs Debate

By Frank Scandale @FScandale @TheDailyPayoff

Daily Fantasy player Draft Kings’ plan to obtain a gambling license in the UK is seen as a shrewd move to gain a foothold in the international market.
It is also viewed as a risky move to catch its larger rival that could tarnish its image as a fantasy player by plunging into the gambling sector, and upset its NFL and network backers.
Either way, the move is fueling speculation of what this means for daily fantasy sports, who some see will be played by 100 million people within three years.

Adam Krejcik, a partner in Eilers Research that studies the digital and interactive gaming industry, suggests why neither daily fantasy sports player has targeted the UK at this point.
“They are focusing their money and resources on the US,” he says, adding, “Once you enter into the international market, you have to file for a gambling license, which might seem hypocritical since you have maintained DFS is not gambling.”

He said FanDuel probably saw that issue, but DraftKings “feels the time is right to enter this market and doesn’t feel like this should be an issue.”
Eisler also noted the risks involved go beyond its image as a non-gambling site.
“The market itself has not been proven yet either. You have to build a team and an office, get a license and then market and acquire customers over there,” Eisler said.

Yet, Draft Kings did not make this move without consulting with its strategic US investors, including networks and pro teams.
“I would not have expected them to make this move without having discussion with shareholders who are strategically aligned,” he said. “And then at the end of the day they must have felt comfortable.”

DraftKings did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

As for the NFL, which has approved one-year partnerships with league approval, the league remains on the sidelines, he says, but are not letting its teams invest directly into DFS companies. For New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, for instance, has an investment into DK through Kraft Sports Group and not subject to the same rules as teams.
“For other investors, generally speaking, there is a shift. The sports leagues themselves are becoming more open-minded when it comes to sports and gambling.”

Rick Wolf, president of Fantasy Alarm and co-founder of Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA), sees the move as a smart diversification of Draft Kings core business.
“One of the key misnomers is that fantasy sports players are gamblers,” he said. “In research from the FSTA that has 56.8M people in North America playing, the number who wager regularly on sports is very small. It is not a cross over play, but a new business and really, why not?”
Wolf also sees the NFL and MLB, for instance, supporting fantasy sports in general, and will react to DK’s move depending on their own respective agreements and their own views, not to mention the views of the public.

“The public is smart and knows that fantasy sports is not gambling so I don’t think this is an issue for them,” Wolf said. “…and the cross over is small. To me it is just a diversification into a completely different business vertical with similar software needs.”

Another supporter of the diversification move is Darren Heitner, a sports and entertainment attorney based in Miami, who said the move makes perfect sense as it positions the company well should the United States eventually relax its overall stance on gambling on the federal level.
“It (makes sense) for multiple reasons,” Heitner said. “The chief justification being that Draft Kings can test out a proprietary gambling platform that is ready to be implemented in the United States should the federal law preventing widespread gambling (PASPA) be amended or revoked. Furthermore, it will allow for an extension of the brand on a worldwide scale, which could open doors for the proliferation of its fantasy-related offerings. Additionally, it may believe that there is market share to grab — making sense from the most basic premise that it has a platform that could generate additional revenue at a reasonable cost.”

Regardless of all the factors surrounding DFS, Heitner thinks most decisions will be based on business bottom line outcomes. While the NFL has its concerns about gambling and pro sports, he thinks the league would be taking a contradictory position if it were to chastise Draft Kings for implementing a gambling operation overseas, as it seeks to expand its product into the UK.
He said the NFL continues to expand the number of games played in the UK and “would love to have a team based there.”

“It is well aware of the amount of gambling that occurs within the UK orders,” Heitner said. “The leagues may claim that gambling runs contrary to maintaining the integrity of the game, but the bottom line is the bottom line.”

Same for investors. They will look at the strengths and weaknesses of entering such an industry in a particular market and then decide what opportunities and threats exist, Heitner said.

As for television partners , Heitner doesn’t see a problem.
“ESPN has to be quite thankful that the World Series of Poker became such a hot commodity,” he said. “Again, it should be about what this expansion does for the bottom line.
“If the operation is legal where the platform is offered, then the conversation over perception should be a nonstarter. I go back to the NFL harping on the fact that the potential of gamblijng threatens the integrity of the game. Yet, the NFL expands the number of games played in London year-over-year and would love to have a team based in the UK.”

ESPN and DraftKings recently inked a partnership deal worth a reported $250 million, according to The Boston Globe and other media sources. ( http://www.betaboston.com/news/2015/06/24/draftkings-wins-big-espn-ad-deal-but-no-word-on-investment-rumors/)

For a unique perspective on fantasy sports and the UK, Mondogoal’s founder and CEO talked about his early success there.

Shegul Arshad said his operation, which focuses on online fantasy soccer, entered the UK last summer for the World Cup with a soft launch. He has a unique perspective as the DFS landscape continues to evolve.
Incorporated in the Isle of Man with a US headquarters in Boston, Mondogoal offers cash and non-cash games for players, depending on where the individual is located and what the regional gambling rules are.

“It’s certainly a strange move, if you ask me,” he says of the Draft Kings move. “For a US-based company to go over there, it’s a strange move given the fact so many states and jurisdictions are being looked at.”

However, Arshad is optimistic because if Draft Kings is successful overseas, it will help the industry grow overall.
“If the pie grows, we are all taking slices of the pie,” he said.
He wishes them well because now if someone searches the report they heard that Draft Kings is coming to the UK, it will help drive traffic to all fantasy sports sites.
“Any new entrant and credible dollars that go into the market place, will help educate about daily fantasy, and at the end of the day, if awareness ratchets up, there will be multiple winners across the board.”

Fantasy and Reality: Nando DiFino Explains

By Joe Favorito @JoeFav @TheDailyPayoff

With the Fantasy Sports Trade Association Summer Convention being held in New York earlier this week, Nando DiFino, Executive Producer and Manager of Content for Anthem Media Group and their platforms on Fantasy Sports Network and Sirius XM, expounded on his view of the landscape these days.

One of the eye-popping stats he offered: 100 million people will be playing daily fantasy sports in three years.

A young veteran of the space, DiFino has helped create and manage Fantasy News and Business at CBS Interactive, AOL, the Wall Street Journal and other places.
We talked to him about his career, and the growing fantasy business today.

How did you get your start in sports media?

It was the SportsTicker — probably one of the greatest rooms I’ve ever worked in. A bunch of guys loving sports, scoring games, inputting them into computers that would blast the results out to the places the Ticker served. I worked there when I was in grad school, mainly nights and weekends. I loved that job. I loved everyone who worked there. That job was the main part of my resume that got me working for Sam Walker on Fantasyland. From there, it all snowballed.

The fantasy sports business is growing, how big can it be in the next few years?

Five years ago, fantasy players were still carrying a nerdy stigma. Now, I go to meetings, and everyone has a brother who plays, or a son. My wife has two leagues. Fantasy football is going to lead the charge because it’s so prevalent in society and pop culture, and daily fantasy’s wide reach has opened eyes in places regular fantasy had failed to penetrate. This will be huge. 100 million people will be playing by 2018.

Where and how can we see your work on The Fantasy Sports Network?

We are on several cable outlets (Cablevision, Bell Fibe, several more), we’re on XBOXes now. Roku, Amazon Fire, you can stream us on FNTSY.com. We’re growing at a rate quicker than we had anticipated.

Some still don’t understand the difference between gambling and pay fantasy, is there one?

There is. It’s a blurry line sometimes, and it’s easy to just point and say “fantasy is gambling,” but fantasy really does require a skill. Put your time in, research it, and you can do really well. The best gamblers in the world may win 55 percent of the time. The best fantasy players in the world can be up in the 70s or 80s.

What professionals helped shape your career?

Michael Epstein, a producer at ESPN, put me on TV and taught me to just be normal. He also taught me to always hold a pen when I’m talking so my hands aren’t doing weird things. Matthew Berry (ESPN) is a tremendous mentor; he doesn’t like to be inside the box and offers really great, selfless advice whenever I need it. Sam Walker (WSJ) pushed me to write and write, even if it wasn’t in a paper or online — do it just to stay sharp. Adam Thompson (WSJ) taught me to be more concise with my words and not be afraid to chop up a run-on sentence. Lou Maione, my current boss, is a dreamer, but in a good way. He’ll have these ideas and do whatever he can to make them a reality. I’ve never seen him defeated by something he really wants to do. And Wayne Loewe at CourtTV taught me how to be a great boss; specifically how to treat people who worked with and for you with respect and understanding that they will get the job done. Everyone who has a staff should search out and take lessons from Wayne Loewe.

Are there members of the media whose careers you followed growing up, and if so, who and why?

Steve Rushin’s SI columns were tremendous. His writing is just so sly and wonderful. Bill Watterson, Gary Larson, and Berkely Breathed could really craft these engaging stories and then draw corresponding photos that deepened them to a degree I never could. I think I own every Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County, and Far Side book ever made.
I think anyone my age in sports who denied Bill Simmons had anything to do with influencing them is a liar. He is fearless in his pop culture parallels and style. Prime Time Adam Schein was a big radio voice on Syracuse radio growing up. I see him at Sirius once in a while and remind him of that. Jim Henson was huge for me. Everything he did was infused with this multi-layered creative spirit and humor. But you could tell he did his homework, studied things, honed his craft. I love Penn and Teller and the Amazing Johnathan. They catch audiences off guard. I love doing that.

What advice do you give young people trying to get into the business of sports?

Be ready for this to be your part-time job (or a miserable full-time one) for at least five years. Everyone wants to be in sports; the problem in not getting discovered may not be that people are better than you, but it takes a while to turn over every rock if there are 10,000 of them lined up in front of and around you.
Inside the craft, I’d say always remember that the guy you’re ripping to shreds in a column or on TV could have been your college roommate, or your childhood friend. He’s just a dude who is really good at his job, and you’re probably, deep down, just being jealous. Everyone can be negative. It actually takes some creativity and research to find the positive in most situations.

FanDuel Grows NBA Platform

By @TheDailyPayoff

While DraftKings relationship with MLB and their enhancements in golf have given them great buzz this early summer, FanDuel continues its focus on the winter and its two core sports, says its chief executive.
CEO Nigel Eccles said football and basketball remain its focus, taking the opportunity with the NBA Draft Thursday to announced an expansion of its NBA partnerships for the fall at Tuesday’s FSTA Conference in New York,

FanDuel locked in exclusive multi-year partnerships with 13 league franchises – the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz.
The deal hands FanDuel marketing assets from in-arena digital signage and in-game promotions to digital, TV and radio advertising, among other branding initiatives. FanDuel will also collaborate with the individual organizations to continue to bring unique experiences to fans, including exclusive player meet-and-greets and VIP road trips to events.
“Partnering with these NBA organizations has been an incredible asset to FanDuel’s growth and business. NBA fans comprise a younger, mobile-centric demographic, looking for new ways to engage with their favorite sport, teams and athletes throughout the duration of the season, which is exactly what they get on FanDuel,” said Nigel Eccles, CEO and co-founder, in a release. “We’re going to keep partnering with franchises that recognize FanDuel’s ability to keep fans in their seat with their eyes glued to every game because they have a player on their fantasy team that night.”

During the conference the value of pay fantasy was again backed up by NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum in an interview with Eric Fisher of The Sports Business Journal.
“We have made our stance clear that we do not see pay fantasy as gambling, and it is a prime way for us to engage deeper with our fans,” Tatum said. “Our fans and our teams have made it clear that this is a growing engagement platform and we are excited about continuing to work to enhance our relationship.”

While not exclusive with the NBA, FanDuel has made it clear that their key business objectives and their growth strategy is revolving around the activation and engagement with the NBA, as well as their recently announced partnerships with a majority of the NFL teams. The NFL remains the least engaged league in an official capacity in pay fantasy, with MLB having taken up an equity position with DraftKings and Fan Duel with the NBA. Several NBA teams, including the New York Knicks, have chosen to partner with DraftKings as part of a wider cross-promotional strategy, but Eccles remains bullish on the overall basketball relationship as the core of Fan Duel’s platform in 2015 and beyond.

TDP EXCLUSIVE: Three Putt at US Open Brings Fantasy Fortune to First Time Draft Kings Player

THREE PUTT AT US OPEN BRINGS FANTASY FORTUNE to FIRST TIME DRAFT KINGS PLAYER

By Terry Lyons, Contributing Columnist, The Daily Payoff
@terrylyons

A Father’s Day summer evening turned into night and golf fans around the world surely shook their heads in disbelief when the 17th and 18th holes at Chambers Bay brought about the strangest of finishes to the 115th United States Open golf championship. The four-day tournament was near its conclusion and the prime time US television audience stayed glued to their High-Def TV sets which delivered the grimaces of PGA Tour pros Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson into the living rooms of many casual sports fans, some longing for a Game 7 of the completed NBA or NHL seasons but left with nothing else to watch but the major golf championship.

What those primetime Fox Sports viewers couldn’t see or feel as the sun set near the Puget Sound were the heart palpitations pulsing through Carl Bassewitz, a veteran sports industry good-guy who was playing Draft Kings PGA Millionaire-maker daily fantasy game for the very first time. Bassewitz, watching on his TV, a half continent away from the action, double and triple-checked the scores of his six player fantasy team that he selected. His lineup featured Spieth but not Johnson, and also included, Louis Oosthuizen (T-2), Kevin Kisner (T-12), Tony Finau and Patrick Reed (T-14) and Jason Dufner (T-18).

That “fantasy team” combination delivered Bassewitz to the dream world of all fantasy sports players, as he turned a single $20 entry fee into a cool $1 Million dollar prize. In doing so, Bassewitz outlasted 143,000 entrants who ponied-up the $20 fee with hopes of a $1 million when they chose their lineups for six golfers, staying under a $50,000 cap, as per usual in the Draft Kings golf game. One such player, the second place finisher who is only known as “Headchopper” who is known as a professional in the fantasy sports world, needed Johnson to finish ahead of Spieth. But Johnson’s improbable three-putt on the 72nd hole of the tournament gave the U.S. Open title and its $1.8 million first place purse to Spieth, while delivering a cool mil to Bassewitz and a not-so-paltry $877,144 runner-up prize to both Johnson and Oosthuizen.

When reality set in, Bassewitz realized he’d made more money than the U.S. Open runner-ups!

“I had heard a lot about the Daily Fantasy sports craze and figured I’d give it a try,” said Bassewitz to The Daily Payoff in an exclusive interview, his first since being officially notified by Draft Kings that he was the lone prize winner. “I wanted to know exactly how it worked, so I entered a team.

“Spieth was my first choice, but I’d been following the PGA Tour pretty closely, just as a fan, and I liked the way Kisner was playing. Reed is one of my personal favorites and fellow Texan and Finau had been playing great of late and I’d followed him since seeing him play on the Big Break on Golf Channel. To win at these games, you definitely need some skill and some insight into how the players can compete on any particular golf course. I’ve always been a fan of Duff (Jason Dufner) and I really thought he was due and, overall, I thought the guys I picked could hold up under the pressure and the conditions at Chambers Bay.

“Oosthuizen was the key pick, for me, and I’ve followed him since the 2013 Masters which I was fortunate enough to actually attend.”

Bassewitz and one of his friends each were watching from home on Saturday, during the third round of the tournament when Finau carded a 74 and Reed wrote down a 76 in his score pad, making the longtime sports industry executive think his entry was pretty much cooked. But just as Reed and Finau fell on the leaderboard, Oosthuizen climbed up with consecutive 66’s on Friday and Saturday, giving the fantasy entry new hope.

“I went out to get some lunch and my Draft Kings app told me I’d dropped down to something like 750th place. I thought it was over. Then on Sunday, my friend started charting the other entries online and he texted me to say, ‘I think you have a chance at a Top 10, maybe a Top 3!”

The roller-coaster ride struck bottom for Bassewitz when he watched Spieth double-bogey the 17th hole Par 3 at Chambers Bay, the ramifications of his three-putt from within 40-feet just sending pain through Bassewitz as he watched helplessly and figuring Spieth and Johnson would end in a tie to force an 18-hole playoff on Monday.

In order to win the tournament and a $1M, Bassewitz needed Dustin Johnson to miss, not just once but twice. If there was a playoff, he would have lost. The putt was essentially for $900,000 as Draft Kings’ second place finish was worth $100,000

“When Dustin Johnson missed that last putt, I was stunned and in shock and didn’t think it was real,” said Bassewitz. “My phone was blowing up with my friends from around the country. It didn’t sink in until I was contacted by Draft Kings about 30 minutes after the US Open trophy presentation to Spieth.

“This is something my father would have loved as he taught me a lot about the game when I was growing up. This is the second best Father’s Day I’ve ever had,” said Bassewitz, referring to best day, when his son, a recent college graduate, was born. “Think about it, on June 11th, I entered this fantasy tournament with one $20 team and now I’m a millionaire.”

Yes, a good guy from within the sports industry and a first-time daily fantasy player is now a millionaire, thanks to a wild finish at the US open and a Dustin Johnson three-putt, but more importantly, the daily fantasy fortune was awarded to a guy who has his priorities straight.

Draft Kings Seeks Licensing in Great Britain?

By @TheDailyPayoff
Indications are that Draft Kings, the Avis to Fan Duel’s Hertz status in the daily fantasy (DFS) sports arena, is looking to expand oversees, as previously indicated by the organization last December.
Bigo1 mentioned yesterday on Twitter https://twitter.com/Bigo1_/status/611200132080627712 and then Legal Sports Report followed up last night with a full report http://www.legalsportsreport.com/1765/draftkings-uk-license-application/ that Draft Kings had filed an application with the UKGC for the necessary licenses to operate in the United Kingdom.
Legal Sports Report also posted a copy of the application, which apparently seeks approval for gambling software and pool betting.
The move opens up much conversation about the future of DFS on whether it constitutes gambling, and whether Draft Kings is looking at gambling as a business. It also poses the question on if this is true, how Draft Kings’ strategic move be addressed by rival Fan Duel.

American Pharoah’s Next Run in NY or NJ?

By Terry Lyons, Contributing Columnist, The Daily Payoff
@terrylyons

The suspense is killing me. When will American Pharoah run? Just tell me, please, when and where.

The horse racing world is abuzz this week as fan speculation on the whereabouts of Pharoah’s next race is being fueled by a considerable amount of old-fashioned lobbying.

Since thoroughbred owner Ahmed Zayat’s initial statement two days after The Belmont Stakes, the odds-on favorite for the Triple Crown winner’s next race was The Haskell at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. However, a June 18th social media posting by Zayat turned the racing world upside down when the horse owner cryptically tweeted, “right know Saratoga is in the lead. Head of Haskell.” (sic).

That post might have the folks at TVG, known as America’s #1 online horse wagering and TV network, scrambling for a PR flack re-write as the broadcaster had previously issued a press release, complete with Betfair odds on Pharoah’s next run, which stated:

4-to-5 – August 2 – Haskell Invitational, Monmouth Park (NJ)
4-to-1 – August 1 – Jim Dandy Stakes, Saratoga (NY State)
4-to-1 – August 22 – TVG Pacific Classic, Del Mar (San Diego, California
7-to-1 – August 29 – Travers Stakes, Saratoga
16-to-1 – September 26, Awesome Again Stakes, Santa Anita
20-to-1 – August 29 – Mystic Lake Derby, Canterbury Park (Minnesota)
20-to-1 – September 19 – Pennsylvania Derby, Parx (Bensalem, PA)
33-to-1 – September 26 – Jockey Club Gold Cup, Belmont (New York)
10-to-1 – “The Field” also known as Any Other Race

“American Pharoah won the nation’s heart when he crossed the finish line at the Belmont Stakes to end the 37-year wait for a Triple Crown champion,” said Kip Levin, CEO of TVG. “His time in the spotlight is hardly over, however, as he is expected to hit the track once again. The real question on everyone’s mind is, ‘Where will he race next?’”

As American Pharoah was shipped from Kentucky to California for a “promotion and appearance” at Santa Anita, the speculation swung from Monmouth to Del Mar to Saratoga over a 24-hour span.

“I’m intimately involved with all the goings on,” said Dennis Drazin, advisor to the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association, to Stephen Edelson of the Asbury Park Press. “It’s a lot of money. But at the end of the day, what I would say is that (trainer Bob) Baffert is a top horseman, and regardless of the money, you have to do the right thing for the horse. And the right thing for the horse is to run at Monmouth Park against straight 3-year olds. You don’t want to attack older horses at this point.

“The ultimate goal is the Breeders’ Cup Classic and you have to plan for him getting to that race,” said Drazin to the APP. “The Haskell, although it’s not a walkover, it’s the right kind of race. It’s straight 3-year olds on a track he’ll love. Baffert’s been a winner seven times (at The Haskell).”

Immediately after the perfectly-timed Zayat social media post, the twitterverse exploded with further speculation and Drazin declined comment to his Asbury Park pundit.

American Pharoah is now looking at his non-racing public appearance at Santa Anita in California for the track’s Gold Cup day on June 27. Importantly, the colt’s breeding rights have already been secured by Ashford Stud in central Kentucky’s bluegrass country and his stud fees will range between $175,000 and $200,000, placing a conservative $17.5 million for annual fees, according to numerous published reports.

The plan for trainer Bob Baffert and owner Ahmed Zayat will remain secret as they field requests from “all kinds of tracks,” according to Baffert. Last weekend, American Pharoah returned to Churchill Downs, site of the colt’s Kentucky Derby win, and was applauded by 30,000, just for a stroll in the park.

“We won’t know for a few weeks,” said Baffert to the Asbury Park Press. “We want to do what’s best for American Pharoah, not what is best for the racetracks.”

Certainly, what is best for all, including the Triple Crown winner, is to continue to fuel interest in the sport of kings while his keepers fuel speculation and keep the industry in the national news. But, as they decide what is best, the victims of that campaign might just be race track ticket buyers who scramble for admission and attempt to make their summer travel plans, whether it be to Monmouth, Saratoga or maybe, Del Mar,

For more information on the TVG press release on Odds:
https://www.tvg.com/press-releases/63866

Will Manfred Reverse The Rose ban? Don’t Bet Against It

Will Manfred Reverse The Rose ban? Don’t Bet Against It
@TheDailyPayoff

The face time MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is getting with the media in his first few months in office certainly trumps the time his predecessor, Bud Selig, proactively spent courting fans and media in most of his long term in baseball’s top spot. Manfred has made the rounds of the clubs and virtually every conference and media outlet telling his vision for baseball, and dealing with every issue from the continuing PED debate to labor piece to gaming and gambling.

This week, just before the St. Louis Cardinals scandal broke, Manfred sat down with Sports Illustrated’s Chris Stone at the Cynopsis Sports Conference in Manhattan, and addressed a fan favorite topic, one that the media likes to wax upon, the re-instatement of Pete Rose. With Rose being more involved in baseball formally this year, MLB has granted the Cincinnati Reds the ability to include the banned for gambling star in this year’s All-Star festivities and will let FOX include him in their national broadcasts from a studio setting, Stone asked when, or if, Manfred will allow “Charley Hustle” back into the game and make him eligible for that illusive Hall of Fame vote.

“It is certainly a topic we are looking at closely, and I think the time is coming soon where we will sit down and make a decision either way on Pete Rose,” Manfred said. “It will not be before the All-Star Game but I have given my word that we will address this finally sooner rather than later and then he, and the public will know where we stand and what, if any changes will be made to his status. I feel after all this time we owe it to him and to everyone else to look at everything and make clear our stance going forward. It is the fair thing to do.”

Manfred did not say what factors would go into the final decision or if he has spoken to Rose yet, but the fact that the issue will be addressed and will bring closure to the story is once again proof that the new commissioner is willing to be open and honest to talk about situations long thought taboo. How will it go, we also asked Jon Pessah, whose recent book, The Game, looks back at the issues that almost cost baseball is high perch, from steroids to gambling in the last few decades for his thoughts on the Rose situation and the gambling issue which Manfred continues to examine.

“Baseball has always tip-toed around gambling, given the Black Sox and Pete Rose scandals,” Pessah added. “That said, Rob Manfred and today’s owners are pragmatists in a very competitive entertainment landscape. Gambling is clearly part of the attraction of pro football, and MLB is looking for any way it can maintain and expand its fan base. I think Manfred and MLB will cautiously proceed down the parallel paths of fantasy sports and legal gambling.”

Pete Rose back in baseball under the new commissioner’s reign? Don’t bet against it.

Tiger Not Like to Make US Open Cut

By Frank Scandale @FScandale @TheDailyPayoff

With 14 holes under his belt, Tiger Woods sits at +11 in the second round of the U.S. Open, near the bottom of the pack.

Trailed only by Ricky Fowler when he teed off this morning at Chambers Bay in Oregon, Woods’ quest for a 15th major will have to wait until another event.

As reported earlier, despite his 14 majors, his unparalleled history and the record holder of longest golfer in the World No. 1 spot, Woods’ odds no longer focus on whether he will win, but if he will even make the cut.

Woods was attempting yet another comeback to his old form, this time at the challenging course in Oregon that looks more like a British Open course than a US Open.

As previously reported, going off at 50-1 at Wynn Las Vegas to win the event outright, most of the focus is on whether he can make the cut, says Johnny Avello, director of Race and Sports Operations at Wynn Las Vegas.

“Even money, yes, to make the cut, and -120 to miss it,” Avello said. His reasoning? “First of all, Tiger is struggling with his game. He’s been there (at the course) for a while, maybe even a week, trying to get his game back to respectability.”

His 50-1 to win odds is probably more of a courtesy to how great a player he was. ”

“Back then, you’d be hard pressed to get 5 or 6-1 on him. But he’s not the same Tiger. He’s struggling to even make cuts. All that said, if he gets his game back to respectability and while I am not sure how many wins he will get, he is still Tiger Woods and he draws crowds.”

Avello had Rory McIlroy as the favorite at 5-1, Jordan Spieth right behind at 7-1, then in the low double digits Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose, followed by a smattering of players at 20-1.

As of this writing, Speith was tied for the lead at -5.

Bovada sports betting also had Woods at even to make the cut and 40-1 to win. http://sports.bovada.lv/sports-betting/golf-pga.jsp They put the Mickelson, Spieth and McIlroy group as the favorites. (As of this writing, Mickelson was -3 and McIlroy -1). Woods missing the cut is the -130 favorite on that bet.

Woods is also offered at +8000 odds to shoot a hole in one at the U.S. Open this week, according to Bovada’s site.

Fan Duel Says NBA and NFL Rule Fantasy World

By @TheDailyPayoff

For all the disruptive forces daily pay fantasy sports have caused in the professional sports scene in the past few years, the industry’s still dominant player, Fan Duel, looks like they will stick to the core that has brought them success and players in the millions, according to their CEO at the Cynopsis Sports Business Conference Tuesday in New York.

Eccles, whose company has continued to thrive in the marketplace even with the ongoing push of Boston-based DraftKings, was frank in his assessment of the formula that has brought the company success, market share and solid partners like the NBA as well as 18 NF teams for the coming 2015 season.

He declared there are really two sports that drive the revenue, and that’s where FanDuel will stay.

“When we started our business, we saw and engaged in MLB as the dominant sport in fantasy,” he said during the closing remarks at the Time Warner Center. “However,we came to realize pretty quickly that MLB, despite their efforts to try and engage with a younger audience, has not driven adoption with pay fantasy. The marketplace is dominated by the NFL and the NBA and then everyone else and that’s where we have had our great success and will continue to do so.”

Eccles said that in the past few years over 50 percent of their revenue has come from the NFL offerings the company has, followed by 30 percent of revenue from the NBA.

MLB, he added, contributed 15 percent of their business, with other sports like golf and soccer only holding five percent of their marketplace. Surprisingly he added that he does not see that formula changing at any point in the next five years, even with the continued growth of soccer on the American landscape.

“Pay fantasy appeals to a younger demo, and that demo in the United States is driven by the NFL and the NBA,” he added. “We have seen all the work that we have done with the NBA pay dividends in fan engagement for a growing audience, and that is where we will continue to spend our marketing focus, along with what we will do around the growing NFL audience. The engaged pay fantasy player has become a more engaged fan, and that has benefitted everyone.”

Eccles also pointed out that all of FanDuel’s research has shown, somewhat surprisingly, that monetary winnings was not the primary driver for their engaged fan base. Rather the biggest driver was what he dubbed “the pregame experience,” the time when fans prepared for games by gathering and engaging with content to help them make their decisions. That engagement was what has fueled Fan Duel to enhance its daily content offerings in recent months, much like DraftKings has recently. The feeling is the better the ancillary content, the more engaged fan and the more engaged fan the better chances of cultivating him or her as a regular daily pay fantasy player.

“Every aspect of our fan experience gets better the more consumers are engaged on our site,” he added. “The better the overall engagement, the more loyal the customer becomes.”

While it was pointed out that other companies, most notably DraftKings but others like Mondogoal, which has specialized in European soccer and also launched a Women’s World Cup business have sought to diversify their offerings with niche sports, Eccles was steadfast in his belief that their research shows to fish where the biggest fish are.

“We will continue to offer games for other sports, but we know what our fans want and what they will engage with regularly, and our plan is to spend our time and our efforts there. It has worked thus far and we don’t see it changing much in the near future.”

That future appears to continue to be bright, as FanDuel will offer enhanced games around their new NFL partnerships this fall while continuing to expand their relationship with the NBA, one which many thought was not as vibrant as baseball even the last few years.

Even the disruptor it appears, knows the big players when they see them, and as the saying goes, if the pay fantasy model isn’t broke, then no need to fix it.

$1 million International Trot Returns

By @TheDailyPayoff

YONKERS, NY – The Fall will bring not only the return of chillier temps, but one of the most elite harness racing events, Yonkers Raceway executives announced Tuesday.

Missing for nearly 20 years, the International Trot, featuring top horses from around the world, was last run at Yonkers in 1995 and won by Sweden’s His Majesty and heralds a return to one of the richest purses in harness racing.

The race is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, Oct. 10, and the seven-figure purse would be Yonkers’ second-ever million-dollar race (2007 Art Rooney Pace, won by Southwind Lynx), said Yonkers officials.

“It’s our pleasure to bring back the International Trot,” Raceway president Timothy J. Rooney said. “It’s been a signature New York race since it debuted at Roosevelt Raceway back in 1959. We took over the race after Roosevelt closed, and it was very well received.

“With Yonkers now a major player in the overseas simulcast market, we feel this is the best time to showcase our track to the world by again inviting the best trotters in the world to race here. We have had tremendous cooperation from our horsemen, and all of us are looking forward to it.”

The return of the International Trot has been discussed for years, gaining momentum with the success of last season’s International Trot Preview. That race, contested at a mile-and-a-quarter, was won by Natural Herbie (Verlin Yoder) in a world-record 2:24.4.

The 1 1/4 mile race will feature 10 horses and a $1 million purse.

The purse distribution (same as all events) will see the winner get 50 percent, second place 25 percent, third place 12 percent, fourth place eight percent and fifth place five percent.

Those overseas horses out of the top five will receive $37,500 purse supplements , while North American horses out of the top five will receive $10,000.

Fan Duel, DraftKings Ramp Up Their Content Play

Last Wednesday at the worldwide headquarters of Topps, media types from outlets big and small gathered to talk to San Francisco Giants star Buster Posey as he talked about his new role as ambassador with the company, as well as the no-hitter he had caught the night before. The usual suspects were there for a piece of Posey, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, AOL Sports and Fan Duel.

Wait, Fan Duel? Was there a pay fantasy element involved? Nope, but Brandon Lee from the company’s news site, was there asking questions about the no-hitter and the world of trading cards, with nary a fantasy question being bandied about. Why? Good content to keep the die-hard fantasy player more engaged on the site, and through search, to probably pull in more casual fans interested in news for now, but maybe, just maybe, they will become brand loyal enough to join in for a paid daily game or two down the line.

It is a strategy that Fan Duel Insider is embracing more and more, and as expected is also being taken on more and more by DraftKings, who, according to a weekend story in the Boston Globe, have made a huge push in hiring their own editorial staff for their content platform, Playbook, just for the same purpose; provide original non-fantasy content that feeds the needs of the fan while keeping the core player interested and on the site just a little bit longer. Engaged core players may play a bit more, while new fans may come back.

Now this is not to say that the core news and information on both sides won’t be tied to analytics and the core gamer and fantasy news. Providing that audience with core news that helps them address fantasy issues is still tantamount. However, fantasy players cannot live by stats alone, so feeding in additional anecdotal news, video highlights and original content lifts the interest and the engagement of the anyone with an affinity to sports news. The other thing such news may do will keep engaged consumers on the site, versus going to traditional news sites like ESPN or Yahoo or SI.com for the non-fantasy information. If you can hold their attention, the better chance of building more engaged audiences for things other than fantasy.

The expansion into original content follows some of the other larger marketing initiatives that both companies have used to gain the attention of the consumer. While not into boxing per se, Fan Duel spent money to sponsor Floyd Mayweather Jr., while Draft Kings cashed in on a somewhat unconventional spend against the Belmont Stakes, grabbing great exposure in places like the cover of Sports Illustrated with their signage. Neither spoke directly to the core pay fantasy audience, but it helped remind casual fans that the companies are engaged on the business of sports, albeit mostly in the pay fantasy business.

Will such investments pay off? According to the Globe article, since a redesign in March, average page views per visit have increased 52 percent and time on the site is up 152 percent for Draft Kings, while Fan Duel’s insider content has also seen a spike in visits. Neither can say yet if that spike has led to more pay fantasy money being spent, but the feeling is probably more eyeballs more of a chance of engagement. The use of news content is also much more cost-effective than some of the other high ticket promotions and ad spends the company has done, and with partners coming on board more prolifically; ESPN and MLB with DraftKings, the NBA with FanDuel, the ability to share content and gain traffic is probably just a bit easier, especially if their staffs can become accredited members of the media with the ability to gain content at events. That content would probably include unique video, which remains king for drawing audiences.

So while you will probably continue to see ore on the sponsor spend side than on the news gathering side for both, or any, fantasy sports company, it is interesting to see how important well-rounded and expansive content is becoming as the battle for casual engaged consumers heats up across the summer.

High Stakes Game in TV Ratings

By TERRY LYONS, contributing columnist @TheDailyPayoff
@terrylyons

American Pharoah’s run to the Triple Crown grabbed our fair share of attention recently, watching intently as the once-in-a-generation thoroughbred won graded stakes at Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Belmont Raceway.

American Pharoah delivered on the track, but his Triple Crown win translated into only 18.6 million television viewers on NBC, down from the 20.6 million fans who tuned into California Chrome’s failed bid at The Belmont in 2014. When Pharoah had the Triple Crown on the line at The Belmont, you might’ve thought the stakes were as high as they’d get ,but as spring turns to summer and the stretch-run at Belmont is in the rearview, there’s no higher stakes in professional sports than that of the TV ratings game.

Certainly the National Hockey League and NBC benefitted from a strong audience lead-in from The Belmont, as Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final calculated a tune-in of 6.6 million viewers for Game 2 of the series between the Tampa Bay Lightening and Chicago Blackhawks, the strongest non-clinching game TV audience since 1994. The data will improve as the Stanley Cup series, split 2-2 as of this writing, moves on to Tampa for a pivotal fifth game.

Meanwhile, after the longest break in NBA playoff history between the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers are in the midst of a memorable NBA Finals series, with MVP Steph Curry of the Warriors and the league’s best player, Lebron James of the Cavs doing battle on the court. However, the real numbers are being crunched off the court by the Disney Corporation, the caretakers of ABC Sports, cash cow cable entity ESPN and the NBA on ESPN property.

As of this writing, the 2015 NBA Finals are the highest-rated ever on ABC with Game 4 delivering a 13.9 overnight rating to be joined with the league’s soaring numbers after the first three games of the Finals. Those ratings points translate to some 18.6 million viewers turning into the series, with the numbers — like the NHL’s — sure to go up as the league is guaranteed no fewer than six games to determine the champion.

Delving deeper into the NBA on ABC numbers, the Nielsen ratings in Game 4 were up 31 percent from the Miami vs. San Antonio numbers of a year ago with the ABC ratings averaging 13.1 (overnight), up some 26 percent over 2014. Of course, those are record-setting numbers for ABC Sports and do not factor against the record numbers the NBA did when NBC Sports carried the property. During that run, veteran broadcast chief Dick Ebersol put the pedal to the metal to promote Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to the tune of a Game 6 1998 NBA Finals record rating of 18 No fewer than 30 million tuned into the NBA from United States households, alone, never mind the growing international audience for basketball.

To be clear, the television ratings game of the winter-spring sports, such as horse racing, ice hockey and basketball cannot and will not compete with the television audience for the NFL’s biggest game – The Super Bowl. Last February, the New England Patriots exciting victory over the Seattle Seahawks saw a Nielsen rating blockbuster of 47.5 that translated to a US audience of 114.4 million viewers for the NFL and TV’s biggest audience of the year. Quite simply, there will never be a sporting audience viewing a game on TV that is larger than the NFL’s Super Bowl audience.

The other interesting point of comparison in the high stakes ratings game for televised sports properties in Major League Baseball which saw an 8.2 ratings average and 13.8 million viewers tune into the 2014 World Series, according to Sports Media Watch. Between Jordan’s last game in 1998 and 2008, the World Series consistently out-rated the NBA Finals. But, over the past five years (2010-2014), the NBA Finals has out-rated Major League Baseball’s World Series and the trend is surely going to continue in 2015, unless October brings about a miracle story (Insert Chicago Cubs joke here!)

One other interesting factor in televised sports ratings is to look at the numbers from the competing local markets. In Cleveland, Game 4 of the NBA Finals generated a 45.7 rating for the 20+ point Golden State blowout of the Cavs. In the Bay Area (SF market), the broadcast delivered a solid 30.5 rating. Pretty amazing audience numbers for the NBA which was largely criticized, especially by NASCAR and Fox Sports tv executives, when the 2003 NBA Finals drew all-time ratings lows of 6.5 for the New Jersey Nets vs. San Antonio Spurs series.
That was a long time ago.

American Pharoah’s Jockey Key to Horse Racing Success?

By Joe Favorito @JoeFav @TheDailyPayoff

American Pharoah captured the imagination of the sports world when Victor Espinoza rode the Bob Baffert-trained/Zayat Stable-owned three-year-old colt to rousing victories in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes to become the first Triple Crown king since 1978 when Affirmed and jockey Steve Cauthen turned the “hat trick.”

American Pharoah became the 12th Triple Crown champion in history on Saturday, June 6, with his emphatic Belmont triumph, after 13-straight Derby/Preakness winners were thwarted in the third jewel at Belmont.

As the sun came up Sunday, the champion horse was getting ready to return to his stable down south, with the plans for what’s next still to be determined. There was a short victory lap of media, but the window of shots with horse in tow closed very fast, until the plans for when the American public, and the racing world, can double down on the horse once again. Saratoga this summer? The Breeders Cup?

In short, this is the problem horse racing has. The short window of excitement comes and it goes – ESPN’s radio host Colin Cowherd rammed this point home this week on his show – , and while The Jockey Club and some of the new leaders of horse racing are trying to extend the window and keep fans engaged, it competes with the likes of the NBA Finals, The Stanley Cup, baseball, and whatever else is right in front of us on screens and social media.

Springing onto the scene is a new face of racing, however, who can hopefully keep the heartbeat pumping.

Victor Espinoza, the telegenic, light-hearted, philanthropic-minded, storytelling jockey who rode the legendary horse to the Triple Crown dream can be that savior. While brands like “Wheels Up” and Monster Energy took the ride last Saturday at The Belmont, it was Espinoza who delivered the sponsor messages.

When Monster got eased out of some tight shots on NBC, Espinoza found a way to work the brand back into the conversation with some humorous and well-timed mentions. When the New York Mets needed a first pitch this week to celebrate the big race just outside Queens, Espinoza was on the mound. When talk shows, any talk show, wanted to talk about the race, he was there again, smiling and re-telling the tales to an audience that was interested and engaged, whether it was a morning show or Charley Rose.

For the longest time media types have tried to push the jockey story as the one the American public can successfully grab on to as the horse racing season unfolds. Many come from very diverse backgrounds, they are constantly on the go, they have to deal with very challenging health issues and a wide variety of personalities from trainers to owners, the taste the agony of defeat probably more than the thrill of victory, and their multi-ethnic backgrounds can appeal to a diverse audience.

Espinoza, with a winning pedigree and now a crowning success, is the great example of what can be done with an elite group. With the proper messaging they can deliver brand value, and they are the constantly visible billboard for traditional advertising with little limits. While they may not have huge amounts of downtime, for the right price their schedule is manageable, as they are treated like independent contractors, and their hardscrabble life, and the living in the fast lane on many days, can even appeal to a younger generation.

There has been some attempt at reality shows around jockeys in the past, which met with various degrees of success. Now with the implement of micro-cameras, digital technology and social media the access and the storytelling around jockeys can be even greater, and they themselves present the constant for racing when even the brightest and best horses come and go during their short racing periods.

Have jockeys become celebrities in the past? On occasion we got a Lafitte Pincay, a Julie Crone, a Ron Turcotte, an Eddie Arcaro, a Rosie Napravnik or a Gary Stevens, but for the most part the jockeys, especially the majority who are Latino, get lost in the mix. Maybe with the story and the engagement of Espinoza, that ability to cross over, something that matches the changing demo of the American population, may be changing, and with that change comes the rise of crossover stars that help the industry bridge the gap until fans cast their eyes back to the track.

It was a great weekend for racing, one that was extended by the rider of the legendary horse, an athlete who is becoming a brand on to himself, and someone who is maybe giving us a peek into a new breed of engaging and interesting personality, with a view from atop such majestic animals.

Willie Geist Talks Thoroughbred Racing

By @TheDailyPayoff

Willie Geist, co-host of NBC’s Today Show and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”, shared some thoughts on thoroughbred racing with America’s Best Racing recently, revealing, among other things – his favorite jockey, his heroes (not the same jockey) and his No. 1 bucket list item.

The author of “Good Talk, Dad: The Birds and the Bees..and Other Conversations We Forgot to Have,” Geist talks about his first racing event, and his first Kentucky Derby, “The deal was closed the first time I sent to the Kentucky Derby in 1995.” and a few other notable items.

For a full read of the interview, go to : http://www.americasbestracing.net/en/the-latest/news-stories/2015/6/10/q-and-a-with-today-show-co-host-willie-geist/

With A Historic Saturday In The Books, We Asked What’s Next For Horse Racing?

So with American Pharoah’s run into the history books now complete, what’s next for horse racing in the United States? How does an industry slow on the uptake capture and expand what could be next? Are there brands like Monster Energy, Draft Kings and Wheels Up…or even Burger King…that entered the racing picture Saturday at Belmont and will now learn more and come back? We caught up with Stephen Panus from The Jockey Club to ask that very question.

“(Saturday) was a beautiful day for one of America’s oldest and most thrilling of sports as the nation and globe witnessed a dominant performance by a superstar race horse, American Pharoah. Rather fitting that it happened on the 350th anniversary of the first horse race being held in the United States. In 1665, the construction of the Newmarket course in Salisbury, New York, a section of what is now known as the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York, was established. The rest, as they say, is history. America’s history. America’s Best Racing will be launching a video ad campaign next week, coincidentally, celebrating this historic anniversary using the hashtag #Celebrating350.

The brilliant coverage by NBC Sports combined with the power of social media provides the sport with an opportunity to welcome in new fans while showcasing the many other big event days at destination race tracks across the country. America’s Best Racing – It’s fun, thrilling, an affordable sports and entertainment option, you dress up, sip cocktails, gamble, socialize with old and new friends and experience unparalleled adrenaline rushes.

There is something for everyone in horse racing as beautiful destination race tracks are scattered across the country, each offering its own unique atmosphere, food and beverage offerings and culture. From the Bluegrass of Kentucky, where iconic Keeneland will serve as the host of the 2015 Breeders’ Cup this October 30-31 and where the Run for the Roses happens every first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs, to Gulfstream Park in South Florida, to Pimlico and the Preakness in Baltimore, to New York which offers great summer racing at the historic Saratoga Racecourse in upstate New York bookended by racing at Belmont Park, to Arlington Park just outside Chicago. There also are many compelling smaller venues which offer festival-style racing and short circuits. There is no questioning that passionate fans comprise horse racing’s diverse fandom. Lively debates compare and contrast Del Mar vs. Saratoga for summer racing, for example, and everyone has their favorite race track for their own, highly personal reasons or memories.

Our goal is to leverage the popularity of the Road to the Triple Crown to carry forward the interest and intrigue by so many soon-to-be racing fans into the sport’s second season, The Road to the Breeders’ Cup (Oct 30-31 at Keeneland). The taboo associated with gambling has evaporated in the last few years and more and more sports and casual bettors are coming to realize that gambling on horse racing is fun, thrilling, analytical and profitable. In fact, the Breeders’ Cup offers two days of championship races in late October (including the richest horse race held on American soil, the $5M Breeders’ Cup Classic – where American Pharoah is pointing to end his 2015 campaign) where the fields will be stacked 12 and 13 horses deep with the best horses and some incredible odds for the betting public. I would respectfully suggest that the Breeders’ Cup is the most underrated major sports event in America. It’s an experience of a lifetime and one of the best 2-day parties you will ever attend.

For the new and casual fan, whose adrenaline was jolted and aroused by American Pharoah’s run to history, who now asks what is the Breeders’ Cup? We offer this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikmP3ELuqyo

(Saturday’s) epic run to history will elevate the sport of horse racing into more mainstream channels and discussions. Water cooler talk on Monday AM will center around American Pharoah’s epic Belmont victory, the roar of the crowd that jumped through televisions across the US and hopefully will serve to inspire many of the millions of television viewers who are new to the sport to desire to attend a day at the races and experience the adrenaline rush, excitement and thrills in-person. Horse racing has much to offer the Millennial generation – it’s affordable, fun, and communal. You dress up, enjoy cocktails, wager against your peers. It’s a party and a unique social sports experience. Horse racing’s big events continue to grow in popularity, attendance and handle. The goal is to leverage the exposure and opportunity at-hand to welcome and embrace soon-to-be racing fans into the sport by offering multiple touch points of entry and access. And, www.AmericasBestRacing.net is the perfect platform for them to enter, learn and have fun.

While day-to-day attendance at race tracks has certainly dropped over the years, the advent of technology and digital and social media enables new fans to engage with our sport from a variety of places and all via their phone, Ipad or tablet. And horse racing remains the only sport you can legally wager on via the internet. All that adds up to an opportunity for the sport moving forward.”

It was a great weekend for American sport, and a landmark weekend for racing. Let’s hope it continues.

Mondogoal Takes a Gamble on FIFA’s Women’s World Cup

By TERRY LYONS, Contributing columnist for The Daily Payoff
@terrylyons

The United States of America’s Justice Department’s beat-down on the upper echelon executives of FIFA brought a bit more than a small share of criticism and focus upon the governing body for world futbol. It brought an all-out public relations disaster as the lead story on every network newscast in the world, and even worse, FIFA’s downfall became the punch line for comedic genius such as “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” or “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

The early morning arrests of several FIFA executives by Swiss authorities at the posh Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich fast-became the b-roll for a generation of FIFA’s critics. As the raid was barely underway, with charges under the USA’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), detailed accusations and background were printed in the morning editions of The New York Times which brought a level of seriousness that organized futbol has never seen, but its fans had long expected. The accusations were wide-ranging and were enough to eventually cause the resignation of longtime FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The fall-out will continue for the rest of the year as the US Justice Department’s Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, builds the case.

The focus of the alleged corruption and bribery charge was centered on FIFA’s designation of Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022) as World Cup event sites but caught in the crosshairs of the scandal is the fact the 2015 Women’s World Cup is being staged in Canada from June 6 to July 5, right on the front doorstep of the FIFA scandal. One might think the highly visible RICO charges for such a highly visible world event might be cause for the sponsors and affiliates of the Women’s World Cup to run for the Hudson Bay, but that has not been the case as the women kick-off in Canada.

Event sponsors, already neck-deep in their investment, have turned a blind eye to the off-the-pitch misconduct and are focusing on the athletes and competition itself.
One such affiliate is Mondogoal, a relatively new player in the daily fantasy sports world, which is staging a daily fantasy game for the Women’s World Cup. While not an “official” sponsor of FIFA, Mondogoal operates globally and focuses its efforts in the United States, Britain, Canada, Ireland and Brazil – all hotbeds of international futbol. The company is incorporated out of the Isle of Man and has business operations in the USA. Mondogoal’s Women’s World Cup offering will be the first fantasy game ever staged for women’s sport.

“The Women’s World Cup is a phenomenal platform for the game, and will draw not just passionate soccer fans but a casual audience interested in women’s sports and a global event,” said Shergul Arshad, CEO of Mondogoal. “By creating this game for a global audience we will provide a new engagement platform, which we believe, will raise the visibility and interest not just for soccer but for women’s sports as well.
“In North America, daily fantasy sports has taken off, and interest in soccer is at an all-time high. We are making sure the North American soccer fan not only can play fantasy contests involving the popular European leagues, but also from the best soccer, locally,” he said.

To that end, Mondogoal is offering fantasy players a way to blend both the Women’s World Cup players with those of men’s competitions being staged at the same time, notably in North America’s Major League Soccer (MLS), Europe’s Champions League final and the Copa America. The new blend will be the first time fantasy sports is offered on a “Co-Ed” basis.

Digging into the particulars, daily fantasy players can pick a team of 11 female players from the four Women’s World Cup matches on event days, using Mondogoal’s salary cap style of play to build a fantasy team. If the fantasy player doesn’t like the full offering from the women’s matches, they can mix and match with the men’s contests taking place the same day. As with all fantasy products, points are accrued for positive “on-the-pitch” statistics, such as goals, and assists. The fantasy winner is the person who picks the perfect fantasy team of players who compile the most positive statistics for the entire day.

Mondogoal has a deal with Perform’s Opta Sports to compile all the various stats – in real time – and tracks the nuances of the obvious stats, but also tackles won-lost, shots on goal, passes completed, or stats for goaltenders, like saves and shut-outs.
The take-away from Mondogoal’s foray into women’s sports, via the Women’s World Cup, is the fact the daily fantasy sports world is moving full speed ahead and flourishing. While some may think daily fantasy is a little too close to actually gambling on the outcome of a game, the fact of the matter is that daily fantasy might just have more credibility than the FIFA executives carted off in the dawn air in Zurich.

American Pharoah Bucking History for Triple Crown

By Frank Scandale @FScandale @TheDailyPayoff

Any number of factors could go against American Pharoah winning the Triple Crown on Saturday, not the least of which is history.
While the pre-race reports about everything from his glistening coat to his unbridled energy continue to fuel the hopes of millions that he can break the 37-year drought, history’s heartbreak lurks around each turn. And bettors know that.

Joe Kristufek, one of America’s Best Racing ambassadors and the racing analyst for Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY, noted that if you are a bettor, you have to look at the trends.
“A lot of people who are gamblers and like any sport, they have to look at the trends,” he said. “At the Belmont Stakes, in addition to the fact that no horse has won the Triple Crown since 1978, and since 1996 only two favorites have won this race, and no Triple Crown winner has ever beaten seven horses in the Belmont…there is lots of history going against American Pharoah.”
Then he paused.
“That said, trends are there to be broken and, really, how good he is and how well he is doing, I think he will win.”
In Las Vegas, the gamblers are getting excited for the race, says Johnny Avello, race and sports book director at Wynn Las Vegas. He’s been studying the film of the three Triple Crown winners in the 1970s, the decade many call the Golden Era in horse racing, as well as the races of those who had a chance and came up short. During the seventies, the last era there was a winner, race fans were treated to Triple Crown winners Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977) and Affirmed (1978) ..

“We had three during the seventies and not one since,” he said. “Thirteen have tried, but none has won it. If we don’t get it this year, it will be disappointing. It will look like it will never happen.”
Avello said American Pharoah is the best of the group in this race. While not fresh – he ran the Preakness two weeks ago – he is a touch better than any other horse in the race.
Both Avello and Kristufek see scenarios that could thwart American Pharaoh’s heroic efforts to date. With rain down to a 10 percent chance in New York on Saturday, that element that American Pharaoh thrived in at the Preakness is an unlikely aid for him this time.

But Kristufek says if a muddy and drying track is presented, that could create some “randomness.”

Sitting in the fifth post in the eight-horse field, American Pharoah was 3-5 in the morning line. Some see Materiality (6-1), a fresh horse, possibly exhausting American Pharoah, and then letting Frosted (5-1) sneak by him.

Avello, whose book has American Pharaoh at 5-7 currently, can see the possibility of Frosted sitting behind American Pharaoh the whole race and then pulling ahead toward the end of the 1.5 mile race, the longest of the three Triple Crown legs.

“There are so many scenarios,” he quipped. But he hopes the track is dry and the weather does not play a factor because there are so many good horses on the card all day, that it would be unfortunate if unfavorable track conditions played a role.
So what is the play, Johnny?

“The play? I think nothing is sure in this game, but American Pharoah finishes first or second, and the question is who is above or below him? That is difficult. I will have to see the prices 15 or 20 minutes out,” Avello said.

Kristufek sees playing the Exacta as well, but picking the second horse is also difficult.

He had American Pharoah at 3-5 in the morning line, but could go to 2-5.
With a fast track, he says 70 percent odds American Pharaoh wins. Twenty percent Frosted wins. Ten percent Materiality wins.

One thing is for sure on Saturday. There will be 20,000 fewer fans in the stands because of restrictions imposed on the size of the crowd. In past years, complaints about overcrowding and over taxed facilities inside the track led to this year’s reduction.

The other thing both Avello and Kristufek are sure of is that many bettors will not cash the winning ticket if it is American Pharoah.

“Oh, they are holding that ticket,” Avello said.

It’s the least fans could do for the horse that might buck history.