Category Archives: NBA

Data Driven Sports/ShotTracker Announces Automated Content Products To Drive Engagement And Revenue

Data Driven Sports (DDSports), the parent company of ShotTracker,  today unveiled an exciting suite of new products to support digital publishers and broadcasters in engaging and monetizing college basketball fans this upcoming season. Leveraging the ShotTracker’s unique, real-time player and ball tracking data, combined with automated content and analytics platforms, DDSports now offers three innovative products designed to efficiently increase sponsorable content for its clients:

  • Automated Visualizations – customizable graphics with sponsor integrations designed for easy publishing to broadcast/OTT, digital, social and in-venue signage.
  • Insights Engine – AI-powered trends and streaks to drive game storylines and data-driven sales campaigns.
  • 3D Gamecast – animated ball and player graphics powered by real-time X-Y-Z location data, designed to allow out-of-market fans to watch their team live, and for all fans to relive exciting game moments. 

The three new products will be available for all men’s and women’s games across top NCAA Division 1 conferences where ShotTracker is installed, and will include unique, data-driven brand activation capabilities. “Our goal is to provide turnkey solutions to leading sports broadcasters and digital publishers to make the integration of ShotTracker data as streamlined and seamless as feasible,” said Davyeon Ross, DDSports/ShotTracker Co-Founder and President. “We commit to innovating and creating digital products that drive new revenue while also streamlining the content production process.”

Automated Visualizations

Leveraging the robust ShotTracker Data API, and through its partnership with IMPACT, a leading automated visualization platform, ShotTracker data will come to life in dynamic graphics designed for use across broadcast/OTT, digital, social and in-venue signage. Graphics that once took hours to produce will now be automatically generated. Broadcast customers will have access to a user portal that will allow for design, data points and sponsor customizations. Product benefits include more content, lower production costs and greater advertising revenue.

Insights Engine

Realizing the increasing need to grab fans’ attention and keep them engaged, ShotTracker has partnered with Inside Edge, a leader in sports analytics, to develop a cutting-edge platform to produce instant insights from ShotTracker’s robust data set. Broadcasters and digital publishers will now have real-time access to unique streaks and trends that once took hours to manually derive. This innovative platform will not only drive engaging storylines for announcers and writers, but will also support high-value sponsor activations.

3D Gamecast

Since many fans do not have access to live game broadcasts, and because game highlight rights are often complex and limited, ShotTracker has developed a real-time visual representation of every second of game action for all ShotTracker-enabled men’s and women’s games across top NCAA Division I conferences. Fans will have the option to watch an entire game or to select key game moments. With ShotTracker’s X-Y-Z data stream, game action comes to life in a more engaging visual representation than the traditional 2D products in the marketplace. Developers can use ShotTracker’s Gamecast SDK to customize design as well as advertiser integrations.

ShotTracker Secures An Additional $2m Financing From Hearst Ventures

DDSports Inc. (ShotTracker), a revolutionary sports technology that captures rich performance data via sensors and provides statistics and analytics with sub-second latency, today announced a new round of financing by Hearst Ventures, the venture capital unit of Hearst. The $2 million USD investment by Hearst Ventures is in addition to an $11 million USD investment led by Evertz Technologies Limited (Evertz) and Verizon Ventures, which was announced earlier this year and completes the current funding round for the company.

“We are proud to have brought on Hearst Ventures as our latest investment partner,” said ShotTracker Chief Executive Officer Bill Moses. “Their expertise and knowledge of the media partnerships space will be pivotal as we refine and grow not just our offering to NCAA men’s and women’s basketball programs, but to broadcast partners as well. That broadcast integration has been the most requested element for our technology and we feel will be a key for our growth in the coming years.”

“Our goal with ShotTracker from day one is to go beyond the work we do with our partner schools,” said ShotTracker Co-Founder and President Davyeon Ross. “This investment, on top of our work with Evertz and Verizon Ventures, gives us a much wider runway and a greater opportunity for scaling success of our business going forward. We will continue to focus on our platform for NCAA men’s and women’s basketball, but additional opportunities are now coming into focus that will make this partnership very important for us.”

“ShotTracker’s autonomous, low-latency data collection is giving broadcasters, fans and other sports data consumers unprecedented insights in real time,” said Hearst Ventures Managing Director David Famolari, who will also be joining ShotTracker’s board of directors. “We see this as key to innovating the viewing experience and delivering data-driven storylines and visualizations that bring fans into the action in new and compelling ways. Bill, Davyeon and the ShotTracker team are leading the industry in developing technology to make unique sports data immediately actionable across a range of use cases.”

ShotTracker currently brings elite-level, real-time analytics to the court. The company’s patented technology tracks data in three parts: a ShotTracker-enabled ball, sensors on players’ jerseys and court sensors that map the court in 3D. Data is processed through the company’s proprietary algorithm displayed on the ShotTracker app and dashboard and is also integrated with Evertz’s cloud-based live production solutions. The real-time data can be used to automate camera productions from remote locations and can be licensed by media and sports data companies and will be enhanced by all the innovation Verizon is bringing through their cutting-edge work in 5G.

FanDuel Group Announces Multi-Year Partnership with Kenny Smith

Kenny “The Jet” Smith, two-time NBA Champion and analyst for TNT’s Sports Emmy Award-winning show Inside the NBA, is joining the FanDuel Group team as part of an exclusive content deal with America’s #1 sportsbook.

This new partnership designates FanDuel as the exclusive sports betting and daily fantasy provider for Kenny Smith.  Additionally, Smith will appear in FanDuel advertising and TNT promotions featuring FanDuel’s free to play contests.  Smith will also provide unique content for FanDuel Group’s social media channels.    

In addition to Kenny Smith becoming an official member of the FanDuel Team alongside his TV partner Charles Barkley, FanDuel will debut a new free to play game exclusively for Turner Sports.  FanDuel Over/Under will debut Thursday, March 11 when Boston visits Brooklyn at 7:30 PM ET on TNT.  The free to play game, available at https://www.fanduel.com/freegames/over-under will feature between eight and twelve Over/Under style questions.

For the remainder of the NBA season, players will be able to test their NBA knowledge alongside Kenny Smith each night for Over/Under supremacy.  FanDuel Over/Under will be integrated into Inside the NBA and NBA on TNT broadcasts encouraging fans to join in the fun each night for a share of a $5,000 prize pool.  

“Partnering with FanDuel has been a great addition to Inside the NBA,” said Smith. “I am looking forward to collaborating with FanDuel on future projects, as well as, interacting with our viewers each night through FanDuel’s new free to play game that will become a bigger part of our broadcasts.” 

In July 2020, FanDuel Group became the exclusive sportsbook partner for NBA programming on Turner Sports properties including content integrations across Bleacher Report.  Smith alongside fellow FanDuel partner Charles Barkley have been educating viewers on sports betting via FanDuel Sportsbook integrations since last year’s NBA playoffs.    

“Over his 23 years with Turner Sports, Kenny’s trademark humor and insight has stirred the pot and helped make Inside the NBA one of the best shows on television. We’re excited to feature him as part of FanDuel’s branded content across our NBA programming,” said Will Funk, Executive Vice President, Sports Partnerships and Branded Content, Turner Sports.

Smith is the newest member of FanDuel’s deep roster of exclusive sports betting talent and influencers headlined by Pat McAfee and the PMI Team, in addition to Charles Barkley, World Wide Wob, Cousin Sal and JJ Zachariason.  FanDuel has also formed exclusive sports betting partnerships with blue chip media companies like Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, The Ringer, SportsGrid, Entercom and Minute Media.  This is all in addition to FanDuel’s own sports betting and daily fantasy content offerings that includes numberFire, The Duel, an extensive podcast network with a total of seven podcasts and More Ways to Win on TVG. 

“Kenny Smith is an NBA Champion, a beloved NBA analyst, the all-time assist leader at the University of North Carolina and someone whose magnetic personality and smile brings people together,” said Mike Raffensperger, Chief Marketing Officer of FanDuel Group. “We love Kenny on TV every Thursday night, but it’s his positivity and tireless dedication to the community that made us want to add his voice to our brand roster of sports personalities.” 

Marquee matchups on Tuesday NBA odds slate

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

No question that the marquee matchup around the NBA on Tuesday (February 2) is at 7:30 p.m. ET and nationally televised by TNT when the Los Angeles Clippers visit the Brooklyn Nets in a potential NBA Finals preview. The Clippers are the second favorites to come out of the Western Conference and have the best record in the NBA as of this writing, and the Nets are the Eastern Conference favorites.

Assuming they all play, and that’s never a sure thing in these COVID days, five of the best 15 or so players in the league will share the same court in the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and Nets’ Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.

Leonard and George missed two games last week in the COVID protocols but returned Friday. They are two of the most ferocious defenders in the NBA and it will be terrific basketball watching them try and slow down Durant and Harden (not so much Irving as he’s a point guard and won’t be guarded much by the bigger but slower Leonard and George).

NBRPA, Swoopes And Flexion Therapeutics Announce Partnership To Raise Awareness Of Zilretta

Unsplash/Marcus Spiske

The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) and Flexion Therapeutics Inc. today announced a new partnership to raise awareness of osteoarthritis-related knee pain and present ZILRETTA (triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension) as an effective treatment option. The educational program tipped off with a virtual event featuring Sheryl Swoopes, basketball Hall of Famer and ZILRETTA patient, discussing how osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee has impacted her life and how ZILRETTA has helped with pain management. Swoopes is the first athlete from the WNBA to participate in the awareness program. The partnership with Swoopes complements Flexion’s relationship with ZILRETTA Athlete Ambassadors, NFL Hall of Famer Rod Woodson and 1980 USA hockey team captain and gold medal winner Mike Eruzione.

“We are excited to partner with the NBRPA to raise awareness of knee OA and ZILRETTA, and we are truly honored to be working with Sheryl, a world-class athlete who continues to exemplify greatness well after the height of her career,” said Michael Clayman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Flexion. “As one of the most exceptional women athletes of all time, a hall of famer, and three-time Olympic gold medalist, Sheryl knows about pushing the limits physically, and we are very pleased that she has finally found the much-needed relief from her OA knee pain with ZILRETTA.”

Swoopes, the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP and was named one of the league’s Top 15 Players of All Time at the 2011 WNBA All-Star Game. She won three Olympic gold medals and is one of 10 women’s basketball players to have won an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship and a WNBA title. She was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016 and is an active leader in the NBRPA.

“The best partnerships are all about authenticity, and we found out through a survey of our membership that knee pain ranked among retired players’ top ailments following their careers,” said Scott Rochelle, NBRPA’s Executive Director. “There is no better, more engaged advocate for those suffering OA knee pain and no stronger advocate to speak to the benefits of ZILRETTA than Sheryl. We look forward to growing this relationship in the coming months to be one of our most inclusive and informative to date.”

Swoopes added, “I fully understand the way OA knee pain can impact your life in every aspect, not just physically but mentally. To be able to tell my story and share the results of what can be done with treatment with my colleagues, friends, former players and family is very important. This partnership will not only help many of the athletes who have played in the NBA and WNBA, but it will serve to raise awareness for thousands who may be suffering in silence.”

Swoopes was treated by Rabah Qadir, M.D., a fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon at the Woodlands Sports Medicine Center and Chairman of Orthopedic Surgery at Memorial Hermann Woodlands Medical Center in the Houston area. Dr. Qadir said, “While Sheryl has enjoyed the career of an elite athlete, unfortunately, her experience with OA knee pain is far from unique. Knee injuries, especially cartilage and meniscus injuries, are common for basketball players and can lead to OA over time. After evaluating Sheryl and understanding her desire to stay active with a non-surgical treatment plan, ZILRETTA was an obvious choice to offer Sheryl the extended pain relief she needed.”

More information on how to find a treating physician can be found at https://www.getthez.com or by calling 888-600-GETZ (4389).

The NBRPA represents over 1,000 former NBA and WNBA players, making it the largest agency of its kind in basketball. This has allowed for direct access to players for opportunities to educate other members and their treating physicians.

NBA championship odds: Lakers still favorites

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

With the 2020-21 NBA regular season shortened to 72 games – and some teams may not get all 72 in with around two dozen postponed so far – we are at the quarter-pole for the vast majority of clubs.

Fans may have been treated to an NBA Finals preview Wednesday  when the Los Angeles Lakers took their 10-0 road record to the Philadelphia 76ers, who entered with a 9-0 record when having their preferred starting lineup of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Seth Curry and Danny Green all available. Those guys all were Wednesday and the Sixers upset the Lakers 107-106 on buzzer-beater by Harris.

Philadelphia has the best record in the Eastern Conference but is only +1600 to win its first NBA title since 1983. The Sixers when healthy are excellent, but they have been below-average on the road and terrible overall when Embiid, a top MVP candidate, is out of the lineup. It will be important for the Sixers to get home-court advantage in the East, even if there will be no fans allowed in the playoffs (by then, they might be allowed).

Lakers, Sixers highlight Wednesday NBA odds slate

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

A potential NBA Finals preview featuring four All-Stars (if they all play) highlights an extremely busy Wednesday schedule around the NBA this week as the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Philadelphia 76ers with a 7:30 p.m. ET tip and nationally televised by ESPN.

This might be a particularly emotional game for the Lakers because the last time they visited Philadelphia was on January 25, 2020. Los Angeles lost the game 108-91, but LeBron James passed Philly-born and former Lakers legend Kobe Bryant for third place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list in the game. The next morning in Los Angeles, Bryant, his daughter and a handful of others were killed in a helicopter accident.

Basketball-wise, it’s a terrific matchup between LeBron, Anthony Davis and the Sixers’ Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. While the Lakers are +110 favorites to come out of the West again on the NBA betting futures, the 76ers are +550 third favorites in the East behind the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks. Expect the Lakers to be set as short favorites on the road for the game on the NBA odds. Philly is 6-4 ATS in its past 10 as a home regular-season dog.

Bodog’s sports gambling action moving from football to basketball

With the Super Bowl teams now set and the big game less than two weeks away, there’s not as much going on in football to attract gamblers’ attention. There are still plenty of prop bets and futures that look at who could be the strongest team to make a run for the Super Bowl next year, but most gamblers like to see current action. Bodog has seen NBA and college basketball wagers creep up on NFL wagers, and that trend continued this past weekend. Although the NFL was still out in front, despite only two games being played, the lead the league has enjoyed since last September is coming to an end.

This past weekend, 33.98% of the best placed on Bodog went to NFL games, but NCAA Men’s basketball grabbed 23.22% of the action. The NBA picked up 19.44%, and the combined 41% for hoops wagers took first-place at the sportsbook. Ultimate Fighting Champion (UFC) was up there, as well, as Conor McGregor came back into the ring. That led to UFC wagers accounting for 10.88% of the bets on Bodog.

The NHL is starting to gain momentum among sports gamblers. The hockey league took 5.83% of Bodog’s action this past weekend, beating out Germany’s Bundesliga, the FA Cup and Spain’s La Liga. These three split almost evenly the number of wagers from gamblers, combining for about 3.43% of the bets. eSports soccer was among the top ten, as well, with the GT Nations League grabbing 1.12% of the bets. It barely beat out cricket and the Big Bash League, which took 1.11% of the action.

With the Super Bowl looming and record wagers expected for the showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, gamblers gave a prelude of what to expect when the two Conference Championship Games garnered 69.46% of the attention on Bodog. The AFC game was a slight favorite, with 35.93% of the bets, while the NFC pulled down 33.53%. McGregor and the UFC ended up receiving a lot of attention, as well, with McGregor’s match against Dustin Poirier taking 11.37% of the Bodog wagers. McGregor, favored going in, fell to Poirier in Round 2, making a few underdog gamblers very happy.

Legends Media & Entertainment Names Julio Manteiga As Head Of Content And Communications

Julio Monteiga

The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) announced today that veteran NBA communications specialist Julio Manteiga has joined the organization in the newly-revamped role of Head of Content and Communications. Manteiga joins the NBRPA from the NBA, where he served in a dual role as Director of NBA’s Latin America communications and Media Monitoring Departments. He will oversee all of the NBRPA’s growing digital and social efforts as well as handle the day-to-day proactive communications for the organization.

“We are proud to be able to bring Julio into this new and expanded role,” said NBRPA Executive Director Scott Rochelle. “His experience as a global strategic storyteller will be invaluable to us as we grow our scope, our partnerships and our strategy.”

“I am looking forward to be joining Scott and the team he is assembling,” Manteiga said. “The stories and the personalities of the men and women that make up the NBRPA are more valuable today than ever before, and we now have a great structure to tell them to a wide global audience.”

Manteiga started at the NBA in 2003 and rose within the ranks at the league, eventually serving as Director of Communications for Latin America for five years. He developed communications plan for daily and weekly dissemination of league announcements to key media stakeholders in the U.S. and Latin America, ensuring accurate league information was published by media partners and regional news outlets. He also integrated standardized operations for local PR/Marketing agencies in Brazil, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Puerto Rico to enhance the NBA’s efforts in region and vastly increasing relevancy with local fans and business partners. The New York native also developed, implemented, and executed NBA’s global influencer program for all influencer appearances and promotions at key events that expanded the NBA’s global social media presence among many other duties.

A graduate of Five Towns College in Dix Hills, NY, Julio is fluent in English and Spanish and conversational in Portuguese.

The NBRPA represents over 1,000 former NBA and WNBA players, making it the largest agency of its kind in basketball. In three months LME in both audio and video has drawn almost 600,000 views and listens, more than three times the combined numbers of audio and video around the players in the previous nine months. Viewers and listeners have come from over 20 countries, and have enjoyed content from some of the most unique storytellers in the history of professional basketball. The key unified elements of LME include: Legends Magazine, Legends Studios, the All-Access Legends Podcast and the NBRPA’s social media strategy and content.

To follow along with LME content from the NBRPA, find them on social media at @NBAalumni on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch or on Facebook at NBA Alumni.

ShotTracker Secures $11M Financing Led By Evertz Technologies And Verizon Ventures

Pexels-Markus Spiske

DDSports Inc. (ShotTracker), a revolutionary sports technology that captures rich performance data via sensors and provides statistics and analytics with sub-second latency, today announced an $11M USD funding round led by Evertz Technologies Limited (“Evertz”) and Verizon Ventures. ShotTracker will use the funds to accelerate its deployment across NCAA Division I Power 6 Basketball Conferences, expand hiring, further key partnerships and enhance sensor capabilities and data capture for players, coaches, fans and broadcasters.

ShotTracker brings elite-level real time analytics to the court. The company’s patented technology tracks data in three parts: a ShotTracker-enabled ball, sensors on players’ jerseys, and court sensors that map the court in 3D. Data is processed through the company’s proprietary algorithm displayed on the ShotTracker app and dashboard and will also be integrated with Evertz cloud based live production solutions. The real time data can be used to automate camera productions from remote locations and can be licensed by media and sports data companies.

With more than 63 Division I men’s and women’s basketball programs and a growing relationship with Learfield IMG College and their partner schools, ShotTracker’s cutting-edge technology is well-positioned to deliver deep data and analytics as well as video, scoreboard and broadcast integration. For its media company and broadcast customers, it currently delivers experiential activations and crossover content opportunities distributed via digital and social platforms.

The Evertz partnership brings to ShotTracker a global leader in providing professional video/audio infrastructure and cloud-based solutions to content creators. The partnership with ShotTracker’s advanced real time analytics, will enable content owners to create tailored content for their audience across multiple platforms. With automated camera operations, advanced statistics, and cloud services, producers can augment live production by telling unique stories that enhance the audience’s experience (in-venue and/or the broadcast) while realizing additional revenue opportunities.

“Combining ShotTracker sensor data and our DreamCatcherTM suite of products will enrich live productions — on-premise and cloud-based — for broadcasters, leagues, teams, and fans.” said Vince Silvestri, Evertz VP of Software Systems. “We are excited to be working with the ShotTracker team to bring enhanced and personalized game experiences to fans everywhere.”

“As real-time data tracking and analytics become critical components for coaches and players, instantaneous and interactive delivery powered by 5G is critical,” said Michelle McCarthy, Verizon Ventures Managing Director. “ShotTracker’s real-time sports data will transform fan experiences, athletic performance, sports broadcast and more. We’re proud to invest in a team of industry veterans as they pave the way for data capture in game play to improve all areas of the sport.”

“The entire ShotTracker team is excited to have the opportunity of working with two such farsighted technology leaders as Evertz and Verizon Ventures, each of whom brings special capabilities to enable us to fulfill our vision of what truly real time statistics and analytics can mean,” said Bill Moses, ShotTracker CEO. ShotTracker Founder and COO, Davyeon Ross, added: “The impact of tying the cameras to the ShotTracker sensors, in cost savings and in the quality of unique content which then can be delivered, will be dramatic and literally game changing for the sports world.”

Harden looms over Thursday night NBA betting slate

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The NBA on TNT doubleheader Thursday this week was to open with two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference facing off when the Miami Heat visit the Philadelphia 76ers in a rematch. The two played the first of their “baseball” series Tuesday in Philly and the Sixers won 137-134 in overtime.

The Heat and Sixers are both good enough as is to reach the NBA Finals, and what else do they have in common? Both are on the short list of teams where Houston Rockets star James Harden would like to be traded, and a deal could be imminent.

There was no early line for Thursday’s game – Philly will be favored – because the Heat were down eight players in COVID protocols Tuesday, including their two best in Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, and the 76ers were down a handful as well. Welcome to the NBA in a pandemic. The Heat have covered six of the past 10 in the series including Tuesday.

Heat favored hosting Celtics on Wednesday NBA odds

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The marquee matchup on a busy Wednesday around the NBA is Boston at Miami, and the last time the Celtics “visited” the Heat it was it was Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals about 250 miles north of Miami in the Orlando bubble. Young Heat star Bam Adebayo dominated in that game with 32 points and 14 rebounds as Miami won 125-113 to reach the NBA Finals – which it would lose to the Lakers. It was the third time in the past four seasons in which Boston lost in the East Finals.

It’s quite possible both get back to the East Finals next summer. Boston isn’t quite full strength right now as All-Star point guard Kemba Walker has yet to play this season due to offseason knee surgery. He’s not expected to debut by Wednesday, either. Miami is -2.5 for the contest and 5-2 ATS in the past seven meetings.

Wednesday will also complete an unusual Florida Swing for the Celtics as they played “at” the Toronto Raptors on Monday with the Raptors’ temporary home in Tampa due to COVID border restrictions in Canada. This has to be the first Tampa/Miami swing in NBA history considering Tampa has never had an NBA team.

Bodog starts the year strong with football wagers

The NFL regular season is now officially in the books and, with it, the last push for sports gamblers before taking a look at who is in the playoffs and who has a shot at winning the Super Bowl. The Bodog sportsbook continued to see a lot of wagers on both NFL and college football games this past weekend as the final games were played but, with its season just getting started, the NBA is slowly gaining more ground. By this time next month, with only the Super Bowl remaining, NBA wagers will rule the charts. 

The NFL gave Bodog 33.67% of its action this past weekend, followed by college football and its 25.8%. The college football championship game is going to be played next Monday, pitting the Ohio State Buckeyes against the Alabama Crimson Tide in what is going to be a rematch from several years ago. This game is certain to find a lot of wagers, with both teams enjoying nationwide support. 

The NBA accounted for 15.74% of the wagers on Bodog this past weekend, slightly lower than what was seen a week ago. This was undoubtedly due to the final push in the NFL regular season. Men’s college basketball wasn’t too far behind, at 15.48%, a hint of what’s to come once the NFL and college football seasons wrap up. Following on the heels of football and basketball, soccer continues to grab some of the action, but not a whole lot. Spain’s La Liga picked up 1.97% of the Bodog wagers, Germany’s Bundesliga followed with 1.87%, England’s Premier League was next with 1.55% and eSoccer and the GT G-26 League rounded out the soccer segment with 1.39% and 1.31%, respectively. Table tennis continues to hang in there, capturing 1.21% of the wagers. 

When the Buckeyes met the Clemson Tigers to find out if they were good enough to make it to the championship game, they found bettors giving them a lot of attention. That game was the top-ranked game on Bodog this past weekend, getting 19.13% of the action. The NFL managed to claim the second spot, with the game between the Washington Football Team (WFT) and the Philadelphia Eagles grabbing 16.82% of the wagers. Washington won that game and are headed to the playoffs after demonstrating what determination and stubbornness in the face of adversity can deliver. From an owner being called out for sexual harassment to a head coach battling cancer, the WFT has had a difficult season.

NFL wagers close out the year strong on Bodog

This is it – the last few days of 2020 and the chance to get prepared to start fresh in 2021. Regardless of what has happened this year, it’s now in the past and there’s a whole new world waiting ahead. Professional sports have helped, to some degree, withstand the headaches caused by COVID-19 and the NFL season has proven to be a great way to close out the year. As Week 16, the last full week of the season, is now in the books, football games continue to drive sports gambling on Bodog, and this past weekend’s numbers show it.

The NFL was responsible for 52.39% of the wagers on Bodog this past weekend. It has some competition now, as the new NBA season has now gotten underway with some impressive games, including one that saw the LA Clippers set a record for the biggest halftime deficit, at 50 points, against the Dallas Mavericks. That game helped attract some attention to NBA games on Bodog, with the league’s games taking 27.38% of the wagers on the sportsbook.

College sports continue to find some action, but no one can honestly say that the attention is overwhelming. NCAA Men’s basketball games only took 8.49% of the wagers on Bodog, while NCAA football took 4.5%. With these kinds of numbers, it’s difficult for anyone to assert that allowing wagers on college-level sports is going to drastically alter the sports gambling panorama.

Premier League soccer grabbed 2.12% of the bets on Bodog, followed by eSoccer with 1.29%. Chinese basketball, with the CBA, saw a little attention as it took 1.1% of the wagers before soccer made another appearance. The GT G-26 League found 1.01% of the bets on the sportsbook this past weekend.

NBA Christmas Day Games betting preview

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The marquee day of the NBA’s regular season each year is Christmas Day because those are usually the only live professional sports events going in the United States on the holiday (there is an NFL game Friday). Thus, the games draw huge television ratings and give the NBA the national spotlight; to make their TV partners happy, the NBA rushed the start of the 2020-21 regular season so that Christmas games would happen.

Only the league’s marquee teams and biggest stars play on the holiday, which means of course LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will play Friday as the defending NBA champions host early MVP betting favorite Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks at 8 p.m. ET.

The Mavs will be without their second-best player, Kristaps Porzingis, as he recovers from offseason surgery. The Lakers lost their opener at home to the Clippers on Tuesday and LeBron tweaked his ankle, but he says he will be fine for this one. Dallas lost in Phoenix. Los Angeles is a 6-point favorite and 5-1 ATS in the past six meetings.

Legends Media & Entertainment Adds Peter Vecsey And Hoop Du Jour To Its Content Offering

The National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA) announced today that veteran NBA columnist and renowned basketball insider Peter Vecsey ([email protected]) has joined its content team, sharing his thoughts via his popular Hoop du Jour platform each week. Hoop du Jour will be featured content for Legends Media & Entertainment (LME), the multifaceted story-telling platform producing, distributing and quantifying the wide-reaching stories of many of the NBA and WNBA’s biggest stars that was launched in September and has seen record growth since launch. Athletes First Partners represents the NBRPA in its marketing endeavors and is working on engaging with brands on the platform as well.

Vecsey, the long-time columnist for the New York Post and analyst for TNT/TBS, NBC and NBATV, is one of the most connected and engaged media members in the sport. His opinions, insights and quips about the game–both past and present–have long been required reading for anyone involved or interested in basketball.

The native New Yorker has been enshrined in four Halls of Fame, including Naismith Basketball (Class of 2009), NYC Basketball, Rucker League and Archbishop Molloy.

“If there is any media member who knows our players and our audience, it is Peter Vecsey,” NBRPA President and CEO Scott Rochelle said. “Hoop du Jour was a business and lockerroom must read for decades. Peter’s ability to tell stories in his own style will certainly resonate not just with our current audience, but with a growing number of new fans who love basketball and its personalities. We are confident it’s going to be a must-read and must-follow as our other content has become this fall.”

“The men and women who make up the NBRPA were, and are, the most engaging and interesting athletes anywhere,” Vecsey said.  “I’m looking forward to having some fun with them, telling and retelling their stories, and showing a new (and not-so-new) audience just how much noise we can make in this space.”

The first Hoop du Jour can be seen here: https://www.legendsofbasketball.com/hoop-du-jour-2-0/

The NBRPA represents over 1,000 former NBA and WNBA players, making it the largest agency of its kind in basketball. In three months LME in both audio and video has drawn almost 600,000 views and listens, more than three times the combined numbers of audio and video around the players in the previous nine months. Viewers and listeners have come from over 20 countries, and have enjoyed content from some of the most unique storytellers in the history of professional basketball. The key unified elements of LME include: Legends Magazine, Legends Studios, the All-Access Legends Podcast and the NBRPA’s social media strategy and content.

As the NBA season preps to start, Bodog sees b-ball gambling action

As the NFL regular season starts to wind down, the NBA is beginning to get its regular season wound up. The official start of the season is today, after only about two months since the LA Lakers were crowned champions in the previous season, and basketball players are already out on the courts participating in preseason matches. The Bodog sportsbook is still seeing most of its action on football games, but the NBA is going to give the NFL and college football some competition.

This past weekend, the NFL and the NCAA Football (NCAAF) program accounted for just over 70% of the wagers on Bodog – 48.54% and 21.54%, respectively. NCAA Men’s Basketball (NCAAB) came in next, grabbing 18.08% of the action. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) took fourth with 3.08% and the NBA’s preseason weekend action pulled down 2.01% of all the wagers placed on the sportsbook. Soccer games continue to find a lot of interest, with the Bundesliga, the Premier League, Spain’s La Liga and E-Soccer combining for 5.4% of the bets. Sandwiched between the Premier League and La Liga, the Chinese Basketball Association picked up 1.36%.

As far as which games saw the most action, the NFL and the NCAAF controlled the board. The postseason for both starts in a few weeks and there will still be a lot of wagers going their way, but gamblers will undoubtedly be looking more and more at the NBA and NCAAB as these seasons get cranking. As far as which football games were the most attractive this weekend, the winner of the top spot might be a surprise.

The Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants faced off this weekend, and the Browns walked away with a 20-6 victory. Gamblers who backed them also enjoyed the win, as long as they didn’t take the Over of 44.5. This game saw 20.2% of the wagers on Bodog, making it the weekend leader on the sportsbook.

Nets, Lakers betting favorites on NBA opening night

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals barely more than two months ago in the Orlando bubble, and the shortest offseason in league history ends already Tuesday night as the 2020-21 season tips off with two games: Golden State Warriors at Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers at Los Angeles Lakers. Both will be shown on TNT.

There are sky-high expectations for the Nets with all-world player and future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant joining Kyrie Irving to form one of the best 1-2 punches in the NBA. However, Durant is coming off one of the most serious injuries an athlete can suffer, a torn Achilles’ tendon in Game 5 of 2019 NBA Finals against Toronto when Durant was a member of … the Warriors.

Brooklyn signed Durant to a huge free-agent deal ahead of last season even though it knew KD wouldn’t play at all in 2019-20. Irving, meanwhile, was limited to just 20 games last season due to his own injury problems. Tuesday will also be the NBA head coaching debut of one of the league’s best-ever point guards, two-time MVP Steve Nash.

Weekly Fantasy Sports Provider, OwnersBox, Partners With Industry Leader DailyFaceoff

OwnersBox, an innovative sport-tech company behind the new Weekly Fantasy Sports (WFS) platform is ecstatic to announce that they have partnered with top NHL fantasy sports content site DailyFaceoff.

As OwnersBox gears up for their inaugural fantasy hockey season, the team wanted to expand their reach and make a big splash. Daily Faceoff has been a leader in the hockey space for over a decade and prides themselves on being the fastest and most accurate site for projected and confirmed starting goalies as well as line combinations. They provide daily news, projections, and tools for fantasy hockey players across North America. 

When asked for comment, President & CEO Brian Kipp stated: “As we actively prepare for the upcoming NBA & NHL seasons, we wanted to target a well-known trusted platform such as DailyFaceoff to leverage their network and help grow the Weekly Fantasy Sports movement. I’ve been an active Daily Faceoff user for years and am excited to work with the DFO team this year.” 

OwnersBox and the Daily Faceoff will begin their relationship at the start of the 2021 season and will be collaborating through content, social media & weekly fantasy sports strategy articles. This partnership will allow OwnersBox to keep their momentum going from the NFL season into the new year with the NBA and NHL on the horizon.

Weekend Sports Appreciation Post

credit: Mike Morbeck

by Alex Perel, Special to The Daily Payoff

Nothing major to report in the sports and entertainment today, but we wanted to draw attention to the major upswing in games coming to the forefront. Going into the weekend, the first this year to feature Saturday NFL games, and the 2020-21 NBA season starting on Tuesday, we suddenly have a lot to look forward to in the sports world.

This weekend marks the final Thursday night game of the season as the NFL shifts into its weekend heavy schedule. The Los Angeles Chargers (+ 3 1/2) took down the Las Vegas Raiders in that matchup last night on Fox and NFL Network. The Thursday game will shift to a Friday matinee for Week 16. Both Week 15 and Week 16 will feature multiple Saturday games as well, with both having day and night matchups. Monday Night Football, however, remains on ESPN over the next two weeks. Finally, Week 17 hosts its full schedule on Sunday, as the league traditionally closes the season the same day for all teams.

Of course, Wild Card Weekend and the Divisional Round subsequently follow, both having Saturday and Sunday games. Point being, the NFL is mixing up its schedule to spread games across the next few weeks, so chances are when you flip on the TV any given weekend, you will have an NFL game to watch.

College Football sees a transition from conference championship games to bowl match ups next week, so NCAAF is there as well. The Power Five championships are as follows:

Pac-12: Oregon vs. 13-USC – 12/17 at 8PM EST

Big Ten: 14-Northwestern vs. 4-Ohio State – 12/19 at 12PM EST

Big 12: 10-Oklahoma vs. 6-Iowa State – 12/19 at 12PM EST

ACC 3-Clemson vs. 2-Notre Dame – 4:00PM EST

SEC 7-Florida vs. 1-Alabama – 8:00PM EST

All the great football leads into our biggest development: the NBA regular season’s return this coming Tuesday, December 22. Opening night features a Warriors vs. Nets early contest, followed by the Lakers and Clippers. With the league trying to cram a 72-game schedule into the coming months, we will see more back-to-back sets of games as well as “baseball series.”

In the latter format, teams will play each other multiple nights in a row. This style is uncommon in a normal NBA season, but the new schedule promises an abundance of NBA games throughout the week while you wait for football. Wednesdays and Fridays will be particularly packed with the requisite ESPN/ABC nationally televised packages.

And similar to football, the NBA is piggybacked by the college schedule, which is now entering its full swing of conference play. Check for those games to be typically packed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on ESPN, FS1, and regional conference networks.

TL;DR: We shoot into the new year with a very healthy dose of live sporting events. Before you look up, we will have hockey and later baseball back, returning to a full slate of the four major American team sports. Get excited for the action packed weeks to come.