The U.S. Supreme Court’s lifting of the federal ban on sports wagering is giving many stakeholders a boost, but right in the mix is the national sports press.
The Chicago Sun-Times notes the story of local CBS radio station 670 The Score, where Program Director Mitch Rosen jumped the gun on the sports betting decision, announcing 11 days before the court’s ruling that opened the sports-betting floodgates that the station would begin airing one-minute segments on local sports gambling with data from the Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN).
“There was a lot of speculation that it was going to come close in the Supreme Court,” Rosen told the newspaper. “We wanted to be ahead of the wave. This, to me, is not about back-room gambling or bookmakers. This is almost the saber metrics of wagering, of fantasy sports, and, especially partnering with VSiN, it legitimizes what that whole category is.
“Was I clairvoyant? No. Did I trust the people at VSiN and their credibility and have a gut feeling that the Supreme Court was going to open up the floodgates? Yeah.”
Rosen said sports betting “will be a new venue for clients and partners to help sell their brand and grow their brand through our avenues, through our digital and on-air platforms.”
Other sports media outlets have initiated similar new coverage for the sports betting market. ESPN 1000 has a daily segment with guest handicappers. ESPN’s new streaming service, ESPN+, is showing I’ll Take That Bet, featuring sports data and analytics.
According to the Sun-Times report, NBC Sports Chicago said it’s still evaluating, but regional sports networks might soon speed up the entire process.
“The gambling media is coming,” wrote Jeff Agrest of the Sun-Times, “and you’ll meet a new cast of characters. The big questions are what it will look like, how successful it will be and, of course, how much money you’ll make from it.”
