Category Archives: Featured

Vegas Everyone? NBA Team Could Join NHL in Desert

By Joe Favorito @JoeFav @TheDailyPayoff

Later this week the basketball world will converge on Las Vegas for the annual NBA Simmer League, the annual showcase for unsigned and recently drafted talent.

Hundreds of media, agents and players will descend for two weeks of competition.

However according to a report in the Milwaukee Business Journal this week, The Summer League might not be the only time the NBA goes into the desert before too long. With a new arena on the horizon and millions of dollars on the line, the Milwaukee Bucks have mentioned getting into the Vegas mix should the state of Wisconsin continue to drag its heels on a new arena for the team.

Speaking to state lawmakers on Monday, Bucks president Peter Feigin had a pretty ominous warning should the team not get the desired arena it has been seeking for some time now:

Per the report: “Milwaukee Bucks president Peter Feigin told Wisconsin lawmakers Monday that time was of the essence in approving $250 million in public funding for the proposed arena in downtown Milwaukee or the NBA will move the team to another city. At an informational hearing held by the state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, Feigin said the Bucks owners’ purchase agreement for the team includes a provision that construction of a new arena start in 2015. If that does not occur, he said the NBA will buy back the team for a $25 million profit and move them to “Las Vegas or Seattle.”

The Bucks, suddenly one of the NBA’s hottest teams, have been searching for new solutions for the aging BMO Harris Bradley Center for some time, and Feigin, a former Knicks executive, said the team needed to start construction by October or November to avoid the NBA starting a process of seeking buyers for the team. The team’s lease at the BMO Harris Bradley Center expires in 2017.

The demands come at an interesting time for Las Vegas. With talk constant that the city will either receive an NHL expansion franchise or have a team like the Phoenix Coyotes relocate, Vegas as a professional sports destination may actually becoming more real than just the home of the AFL Las Vegas Outlaws before long.

In the mix for teams is how legal sports wagering will be handled in the state. In past years when games were played in the state, the traditional sports books suspended lines on those games. The Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz each played home games at the Thomas and Mack Center for years, and when they did, no line was posted as part of the agreement. Similarly, lines for home University of Nevada Las Vegas basketball and football games have been pulled over the years when the teams were in state.

However this past year the AFL Outlaws not only had lines on their games, but they welcomed live online gambling into the mix as part of their fan experience.

With pay fantasy expanding and both the NHL and the NBA supporting both pay fantasy and the eventual nationwide legalization of sports betting, having franchises in Las Vegas could provide even bigger revenue stream as the process continues to evolve. Those franchises could become models for how legal sports betting could work once Federal law changes.

“Control of all forms of content, whether it is broadcast, digital or actual games is more vital to success than ever before, and with Las Vegas it seems more and more like the distribution of content, combined with a new state of the art building is becoming more than attractive to teams in at least two leagues,” said Dan Cohen, SVP, Americas at MP & Silva, one of the world’s leading sports media companies. “It used to be Las Vegas was a city that had all kinds of negative baggage for sports, now because of the changing landscape in the digital sports and fantasy space, it has become not just attractive but a hub of real conversation when expansion or relocation comes up. Nevada is no longer some fairy tale for professional sports, it is becoming a reality.”

Whether that reality happens in a year or five years remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure; “Sin City” appears to be an open and willing partner for professional sports teams, and now once one comes, others may follow.

Third $100K Jackpot Winner at Empire City Casino

By @TheDailyPayoff

Yonkers, New York – A third $100,000 jackpot was hit at Empire City Casino here in less than a month, as another New Jersey resident scored big.

The latest jackpot was won on July 4 by a Bergenfield, NJ, resident on the Bally’s Double Jackpot Wild slot machine, according to the casino.

The lucky six-figure win was $100,012 and registered at 7:29 pm on a $5 wager made on the $1 denomination machine. The Bergenfield resident declined to reveal his or her identity, the casino said.

On June 10 and again on June 29, Dominic Santaite of Saddle Brook, New Jersey, hit jackpots for $100,000 and $100,020, respectively, on the growingly popular Double Jackpot Wild slot machine at Empire City.

The potential biggest jackpot in Empire City history, meanwhile, continues to grow at $1,228,980 on the Wheel of Fortune Triple Stars slot machine.

Manuel Esteche of Port Chester hit ‎for $571,000 in February, breaking the previous record jackpot of $509,000 won in November by Moosue Stefern of Bergenfield, New Jersey.

Jim Rome To Deliver Keynote at Thoroughbred Owner Conference

By @TheDailyPayoff

Jim Rome, a prominent Thoroughbred owner and the host of “The Jim Rome Show” on CBS Sports Radio and “Jim Rome On Showtime,” will deliver the keynote address when OwnerView, The Jockey Club, and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association host the second Thoroughbred Owner Conference in Hallandale Beach, Fla., in January 2016.

The conference will be held at Gulfstream Park from January 11 – 14 during the week leading up to the 45th Annual Eclipse Awards Dinner, which is scheduled for Saturday, January 16, 2016.

OwnerView is a joint effort spearheaded by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to encourage ownership of Thoroughbreds and provide accurate information on trainers, public racing syndicates, the process of purchasing and owning a Thoroughbred, racehorse retirement, and owner licensing.

The Jockey Club explained that Rome has experienced significant success campaigning horses under the name of Jungle Racing LLC. Mizdirection was a two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint champion and earned more than $1.7 million. Shared Belief, the Eclipse Award-winning champion 2-year-old, has won five Grade I events and 10 of 12 races overall, including the Santa Anita Handicap, and is currently ranked behind only Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the weekly NTRA National Thoroughbred Poll.

“We are honored to host a conference that will build on the success of the inaugural event last year,” said Mike Rogers, president of The Stronach Group’s Racing and Gaming Division. “This is an event that is both educational and enjoyable for new and long-time owners, and we are proud to host it for the first time in the days leading up to the Eclipse Award dinner.”

Gary Player, a legend in the golfing world and a long-time owner, breeder and advocate of Thoroughbred aftercare, delivered the keynote address at last year’s conference.

Conference details, including the schedule of events, online registration, host hotel information, other tourism tips, are available at ownerview.com.

Mr. Million Dollar Fantasy Golf Winner

By @TheDailyPayoff

Million dollar Draft Kings US Open fantasy golf winner Carl Bassewitz (right) and his son, Beau, get a priceless experience, taking batting practice at Fenway Park in Boston a day after he visited the DK headquarters offices to accept ceremonial check and his winnings. Bassewitz won the $1M “Millionaire Maker” prize with a single $20 entry when Dustin Johnson three-putted the final hole at recent U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. He had picked Jordan Spieth to win over Johnson.

Pay Fantasy Scores With Women’s World Cup

The past few days there has been a great deal of speculation about what the success of the U.S. Women’s National Team can mean to the business side of women’s sports. More recognition in the mainstream can bring its perks, and although the stars of this women’s program are probably the most leveraged of any team of women’s athletes in terms of brand exposure, there is still a huge opportunity void that still can be exploited.

What about fantasy sports? Last week at the Fantasy Sports Trade Association Summer Convention, research showed that engagement by women in daily fantasy was the fastest growing demo, an area which is still small by comparison to men but it is growing by the day. And although Fan Duel CEO Nigel Eccles said recently at the Cynopsis Sports Conference that their company’s growth area for the next five years was going to be primarily focused on the NBA and the NFL, DraftKings and some other smaller companies have moved to find other niches of success in sports like fantasy golf and NASCAR and even soccer.

The company which has made the biggest investment in daily fantasy soccer is Mondogoal. Based in Isle of Man and Boston, CEO Shergul Arshad has built their company working with some of the bigger soccer clubs in the world this past year, and recently cast the dice by launching the first, and only, daily fantasy game around a women’s team sport, tied to the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Has the game been a success? We checked in with Mondogoal to see what the engagement has been like as we head toward this weekend’s final in Vancouver.

While they would not give hard numbers, Mondogoal reported very strong growth, which has included thus far:

Opening week of the Women’s World Cup saw 12% more activity (12% more entries from users) than the largest weekend of activity for the English Premier League.

In terms of new engaged users, thousands have become first time users of Mondogoal as a result of the WWC and Co-Ed contests.

Number of Female users has tripled over the amount of engaged users for pay fantasy play for clubs this past winter like Manchester City, AS Roma and FC Barcelona.

Despite the time difference (many games kicking off late at night/after midnight) they have seen thousands of entries in the United Kingdom as well, in part to the England National Team’s deep run into the tournament

More players becoming household names/well known. Early in the tournament Abby Wambach/Alex Morgan were among the most selected US fantasy players on Mondogoal, based on name recognition alone. Carli Lloyd, Julie Johnston and Megan Rapinoe have since passed them based on fans watching the games and recognition of their play during the tournament.

In addition, Mondogoal went co-ed and is expecting a similar rise in their $10,000 Summer Showdown contest again as well. It will feature the following matches, with 200 Users will enter and select top male players (Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Alexis Sanchez) alongside top Female Players and compete for $10,000 in prizes.

Chile v. Argentina (Men’s Copa America Final)
Germany v. (loser of Japan/England) – WWC Third Place Game
USA v. (winner of Japan/England) – WWC Final

What does this activity mean? Will we be seeing more WNBA, Olympic gymnastics and WTA and LPGA Fantasy going forward? Hard to say given the uniqueness of WWC, but safe to say that daily fantasy for select events, men or women, continues to have staying power and consumer engagement opportunities that are on the rise, and that’s good news for everyone, from fans to brands to broadcasters to athletes. The more engagement, the bigger the pie, regardless of gender.

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.