According to John Levy, CEO theScore, usage a media-focused approach to sports betting is the key to standing out from the crowd.
In the fifth part SBC Leaders podcast Levy Joins SBC Director of International Relations Kelly Ken in a conversation about how the company moved from television to only mobile devices, as well as the difficulties of competing with larger organizations.
While providing background information on theScore, Levy confirmed that sports betting is simply a component of the entire sports ecosystem, and the company has established itself as a media-focused brand.
"That's one of the biggest differences between us and everyone else who gravitates towards the play space, especially lately when it's gotten so hot," Levy began. “For us, it's been this evolution and this journey going back almost forever, going back to the old days of cable that led to television, television led to digital, and digital led to sports betting.
“It has always been such a continuum. There was never an end date, although there were many big events along the way. It was a fundamental, internal something that moved us to this. In the current state, you're right, it's media first and foremost. This is one of the main differences between us and other guys.
“Frankly, we see sports betting as part of why people are passionate about sports. These are not such big cases that would be new or have just surfaced. People bet on sports for time and eternity, so we treat it the same.”
theScore, which boasts the second most popular sports app in the US, first developed the "mobile vision" over a decade ago when Levy and his team began reaching out to young people.
In turn, this was the impetus for the company's first foray into the world of mobile technology, before it decided to bet only on mobile devices.
He continued: “Actually, when we had a television network that we started in the mid-90s in Canada, it was a different type of sports broadcasting. It was the data on the screen, at the bottom there was a ticker that had chances, and it did not go away - it was a more open and authentic approach to the sport.
“Our hosts didn’t wear a shirt and tie, they weren’t buttoned up like other chains like ESPN or our version of the Canadian network TSN . Our guys were like the ones you went to the bar with.
“So when they were covering the game on the table and someone kicked a field goal, in the last minute of the game the spread was above 14 of 18 – and it didn’t really matter for the outcome of the game, but it did matter for distribution – other networks led clean themselves up and say, "I'm sure this will be interesting to certain people," but our guys would pull their hair out because they just lost a $25 or $50 bet.
“It is on this openness and authenticity that we have built the brand. It resonated with this young audience. This younger audience that was starting to consume content, not just sports but all content, has started moving to mobile.”
Levy also touched on the upcoming legalization of sports betting in Canada and told Ken that nothing will change in how they present and use their product during a discussion that can be viewed in full here.
This week you can see more content from theScore on the site SBC Digital North America . Click here to register now.
theScore's message: "Open and authentic" is the key to attracting a younger audience first appeared on GamblingTV.com.
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