iGaming Daily

00:00
Good morning and welcome to the iGaming Daily podcast brought to you by OptiMove, the number one CRM marketing solution for the iGaming market. And we are fresh. We've not even unpacked. We're fresh off the plains from Malta. A brilliant trip last week for the SBC Summit, the inaugural SBC Summit in Malta on the Rock. Yeah. A fantastic time was had by all. So yeah, I hope everybody got home safely and I hope everybody had a brilliantly insightful trip to.

00:29
And we are keeping the momentum rolling this week. A little bit of a North America focus, but really a global focus as we talk to Jeremy Steen, the co-founder and CEO of Sports Grid, a sports broadcasting platform and sports betting content platform that's really making waves. think that's right. Jeremy, how are you my friend? I'm doing great. Thank you for having me. Brilliant. Brilliant. And yeah, thank you for coming on.

00:54
I guess to kick us off, if you could just tell us a little bit and our audience a little bit about sports grid, your origin story and yeah, where you are now, how you've kind of diversified into gambling as well. Sure. Sports grid is the number one free ad supported television channel in sports. We own over 30 percent of the market and we're producing 18 hours of live original video content on a daily basis. That's indicated on over 30 different platforms.

01:22
everything from Samsung TV Plus to Roku to Amazon Prime, you name it, you can find sports grid there. All in last year, we had 240 million unique viewers that we were able to measure. So of course, being number one, we have considerable scale within our category. The company is also producing 21 hours of live original audio on a daily basis, which is syndicated on terrestrial radio here in the United States, in addition to SiriusXM.

01:51
So all in, know, sports grid is continuing to grow. eight years in. We've been growing at over 100 % on a year over year basis still, which is pretty remarkable. And we're really excited as we continue to transition our content from sports into casino and more traditional gaming content, because what we've done really well at sports grid is we have fostered an audience that craves not just sports and sports wagering content.

02:16
But over 90 % of our audience actually has a very strong interest in casino, whether it's retail, online, social, or sweepstakes. That's really interesting. And yeah, that natural evolution is, it's not an easy one, but it's one that you're very well positioned to make. And before we talk about that casino content, I'm going to just draw you back a little bit because just to let you behind the curtain at SBC, myself, Scott Fulton, everybody will know Scott, and Callum too of Inside of Sport.

02:47
We're always talking about sports broadcasting, where different sports are going to end up and things like that. And it's really fascinating to me to hear you talk about the importance of being on this full range of platforms, being accessible to everyone, whether that's the full spectrum that you listed. How crucial is it that you really do deliver? When you're delivering sports content, you deliver it to...

03:13
consumers that are or viewers that are watching maybe on their phone on the train or they want to watch via the Samsung app or they've not got the best connection, but you're hitting the full range of platforms. Yeah, full range of platforms. 25 % of our viewership is based on mobile. The rest is on connected television. Interestingly, the bulk of our viewership is actually happening during live sports. So what we actually believe is happening is that, you know,

03:39
people are consuming traditional live feeds on their phones or other devices and their television is being used more as a second screen. And that's, think, a very interesting phenomenon. is absolutely fascinating, to be honest. And I'm kind of not guilty, but that's something I do myself with around. I'm big combat sports fan. And quite often you'll get an alternative commentary from a streamer or from

04:07
If Joe Rogan is not at the UFC, he'll get the boys together and they'll do a podcast and it's always kind of wild to do a live, they do a live watch along and they're always fantastic. So I can truly believe what you're saying. I think that's only going to grow, right? Yeah, it's absolutely growing. And you're actually seeing a number of businesses that are built around that. We've seen a number of potential partnerships where people are doing just that, right? There are platforms for fans that are, you

04:36
Calling the games themselves. So there's a lot of interesting things that are actually happening around live sports And I don't think that that gets enough attention. Yeah, I agree and one of those big things as well is a new player The Terrence Crawford Canelo Alvarez fight the latest To be announced on Netflix showing live on Netflix alongside WWE which is we're gonna call it, you know, it's kind of sports broadcasting but yet how big will the introduction of Netflix be into the

05:06
live sports realm and how significant a player can they be and what can they do? How can you evolve to continue to be so fundamental with the times that Netflix are a player? Netflix involvement in sports is absolutely massive. We saw tremendous viewership during the Jake Paul fight. They're broadcasting NFL games now and of course they are the largest player in streaming.

05:35
So as live sports continues to transition into those environment, it has an amazing impact for the overall ecosystem. As far as sports grid goes, we consistently provide shoulder programming alongside these events. We do syndicate our content onto other platforms. So we could potentially partner with somebody like a Netflix in the future. But all in all,

06:01
It's kind of rising tide lifts all boats because we need to get consumers comfortable with the fact that you are going to look to streaming for sports as opposed to turning on a traditional cable broadcast. And that's here and now. And that's something that's very exciting to sports grid. We often talk about cord cutters, but really what we're looking at now are cord nevers. People that have never known cable.

06:28
kids that go off to university or college, um, that just plug in their television and it works because they connect it to wifi. And that is, you know, becoming the biggest base and the biggest driver of viewership. So it's a very exciting time for everybody in streaming sports, whether you have live rights, whether you're doing shoulder programming or other supportive programming. Um, it really is a rising tide. That's all about situation. I agree. And, uh, the more, yeah, more generations get into the habit of.

06:58
or don't get into the habit of putting cable TV or normal TV on, should call it. Yeah. The more they are just so accustomed to streaming platforms, the more services like sports grid just continue to thrive because of the, uh, the original content. And one of those areas of original content that you're continuing to focus on is, uh, sports betting and also casino, but talk to me about the sports betting content first.

07:24
Yeah, just tell me around that. What type of sports betting content do you put out and how much has that evolved in the modern era? So we try to cover most sports. We cover all American sports that have betting lines and we do cover a variety of international events, particularly 10th pole events such as the World Cup, the Olympics, anything that is really going to capture some form of a broadcast audience.

07:52
Sports Grid is data centric, we're a news network, so we try to report facts, we try to discuss betting lines, we discuss in-game betting lines, we do have opinionated shows. So it's a very interesting area, there is always sports content. The beauty about sports is the content is ephemeral, right? What was relevant yesterday is not necessarily relevant today.

08:16
So the content itself is not evergreen. And that's why we're actually producing so much live content on a daily basis, because there's just so much to cover. feels like when I'm watching kind of sports betting content, you know, specific sports betting content, there's a bit more of a license to be informal and to have more casual chat and to have a bit more banter and a bit more back and forth as opposed to when I'm watching traditional sports broadcasting. Is that the case? How do you kind of format your sports betting?

08:47
How do you format your sports betting content so that it feels different and has a different flavor to the standard sports broadcasting content other than it, you you're talking about odds and stuff. So there's a mix, right? We are a news network, so we are reporting the news. But to your point, there is a lot of opinion that goes into sports betting. Sports is very difficult to predict. So everybody has their opinion as to what is going to happen.

09:15
And where we really differ from a traditional sports broadcast is because we do not have the live rights. We do not, we're not beholden to those formats where we have to be politically correct in reporting the news and reporting what's actually happening in a game. It is that informal setting that actually allows you to get those really good opinions out. And that's something that we know that, you know, consumers really appreciate. I agree. That's that is interesting.

09:44
Yeah, it feels like it can work towards building a community rather than just a just an audience of viewers to. Yeah, community is really important. We have three pillars at sports grid, community content and commerce. Obviously, the sports betting or the platform is the commerce component. But community is really important because what you talk about right in.

10:07
Influencer land is influence, but we believe it goes well beyond influence to be successful and it's advocacy. And the only way that you can actually get general advocacy is if you actually do foster that community component. And we think that that's really important. We want sports grid to be the home of not just sports betting, but all of gambling and wagering content. Interesting. And when, you have that community and you have your audience kind of so engaged.

10:34
It also makes it easier to deliver RG messaging and to deliver the messaging in a social responsible way. guess that's also a big focus for sports grid. is. Responsible gaming is important, not just sports good, but the entire industry. At the end of the day, we are an entertainment product and that is really important to get across that sports betting is entertainment. You definitely do not want to cross the line of getting into

11:03
problem gaming. So we try to keep responsible messages up and appropriate at all times. Yep. A really important message to go to break on. And when we come back from the break, we're going to talk about your next diversification into iGaming and Casino. And yeah, an interesting competition coming up too. yes, stick with us. We will be back after the break. Welcome back. And we're joined by Jeremy Steen of Sports Grid. We've heard about

11:32
sports broadcasting, we've heard about your sports betting content, but let's talk a little bit about Casino. Jeremy, how is the evolution and the diversification into Casino going and what have you noticed in terms of differences from the audience and audience engagement? So it's going really well. And interestingly, this stems from multiple areas. First, know,

11:57
We have this large audience that we have surveyed. We've been looking for another vertical for almost two years at this point. We've looked at crypto, we've looked at finance, and naturally we chose casino. And the reason we did this was in our audience surveys, 90 % of our audience was interested in some form of casino, whether it retail, online, sweepstakes, or social.

12:25
Then we looked at our customer base and our customer base is actually operators, whether it's a Fandle, a DraftKings or a Social or Sweepstakes casino. They all operate not just sports books, but they operate online casinos. So it is a way for us to super serve our customer who operates multiple business lines. And it's also a way for us to super serve our viewership base and delivering more

12:54
various types of content that they actually want to consume. So we actually don't have a discrepancy in any of our viewership data, so to speak, because we are actually producing the type of content that our audience craves. Casino content actually broadens the viewership base, believe it or not.

13:16
from sports and the sports audience. So we actually believe that over time we will reach a much wider audience than if we had just focused solely on sports. Yeah. I guess it makes sense, right? The demographic is wider. So you say you see a crossover too in the players that, or the viewers that want to watch the sports content also engage with the casino content. Yeah. There is a huge crossover and it makes sense because if you actually look at, you know,

13:45
sports betting. is lead generation and it is cross sale into casino that helps sports books and online casinos actually make money. Yeah. It does make sense for sure. I wanted to talk to you about another element of what you're doing that's going to certainly garner widespread engagement and that's your content with alongside influencers and streamers. I know wanted to talk about the spinvitational with Paige Spirinac. Yeah. How do you

14:15
Pick your streamers and can you tell us a little bit more about that one and why she works so well and that competition that is coming up? So Paige is a very dynamic talent. She has a very large audience that like sports, but when we looked more closely at her audience, her audience also mirrors that of an online casino and an online sweepstakes audience. So we thought that there was a really interesting opportunity.

14:42
to put her in a new type of environment and create a new type of show, which is called the spinvitational. And it's really interesting because it's sort of like a podcast, right? Meets Paige playing slots. So you get a lot of interesting tidbits about Paige's life, which her audience is really interested in. And you also get the casino element, which we know that her audience is interested in. So our goal when we're creating casino content,

15:11
is to try to differentiate ourselves from what's already out there. We don't want to just have our streamers or influencers playing games. We want to deliver a new type of format. And you're going to see a lot more of that over the next few months, particularly as we roll out shows with Brian Christopher, some of which are going to be called slot wheels. And we also have America's slot talent. So there's a lot that's coming down the pipe that's going to look very different from what you are used to seeing in casino content.

15:40
Brilliant. Brian Christopher, shout out Brian Christopher, is a friend of the iGame in daily. He spoke to us about his desires to be a game show host and we kind of told him how good he would be. I hope there's a spot for him on America's Slot Talent. It's a brilliant, brilliantly named show and he's fantastic. If you could give us a sneak peek into the content involving Brian Christopher, that would be brilliant. So we've got two shows coming out with Brian Christopher. The first is going to be called Slot Wheels.

16:09
It's going to be very similar to Publishers Clearing House, where Brian is taking a semi truck across America to introduce various types of social casino games to middle America. And that's something that's very exciting. It's something that's never really been done before in this industry. And then, of course, we have America's Thought Talent. Both are traditional game shows, if you will. So we're able to help

16:39
Brian become that game show host that he still wants to do and also introduce him to a new audience on connected television, which will not just be good for sports grade, but it also introduced Brian to a very large audience and really a new format on television that he's never had before. So I think that this is a partnership that's going to work well for everybody involved, including the sponsors. Awesome. Yeah, I can't wait to see that. And we've seen just on sportsbook.

17:07
on iGaming platforms across the UK and around Europe, the game show has really evolved. The game show format has really evolved and grown in the past year and gone back to the center stage, become more prevalent. yeah, it's interesting to see this because it could certainly be the next development of the game show. yeah, very interesting. is because when you look at sports betting, at least in the United States, when it first became legalized.

17:37
Nobody was really talking about it in the sense of, I bet money on this game. And that is now changed. Now that we're eight years in, everybody's talking about sports betting. You go to a bar and people are actively talking about how much money they bet. So you're kind of seeing that phenomenon in casino right now where people are, let's say, closeted online casino players. And we want to use this content in these types of new formats to actually change that perception where, you know,

18:06
you can go out and speak about this in front of your friends. We really want to change that perception. Yeah. It goes further to building that community, right? And building that engagement and bringing people together. Adding that social aspect of our gaming. Yep. Totally. Nice. And yeah, I'm very much looking forward to seeing that, especially with Paging with Brian too, because I think it would be brilliant in that role. A couple of things I do want to ask you about, kind of back to the start, back to sports broadcasting before we...

18:36
before we close off. are in the midst of, forgive me Jeremy, I know you are North American, but a little bit of soccer talk if that's okay. We are in the midst of the Club World Cup, a weird tournament, something that we're kind of trying to get to grips with. They've done an okay job of kind of making fans feel a little bit invested. are into it a little bit. I don't know if that's just because there's a dip in the calendar.

19:05
We've got clubs from all over the world for the first time we're seeing kind of. We've obviously had the club world cup before, but this feels different. Yes. You've got fans from all over the world. How much of an opportunity is this club world cup for you guys to put out soccer content that has everybody invested and how, yeah, how do you tap into this tournament? It's a big opportunity for sports grid. Um, it's sports grid. We love every major tent pole event, and this is a tent pole event.

19:35
whether or not it has to do with our viewership, it doesn't matter because it's an opportunity for us to pull in new viewers. And that's really what you want to leverage tentpole events for in broadcasting. It's not just to serve your existing customers, but it does generate new viewership where people who are seeking out this type of content, they have a chance to actually discover your platform and touch and feel your brand. So we are covering the Club World Cup.

20:03
And it's something that we're very excited about. do you ensure with a tournament like this, how do you ensure that you kind of, so you've got, you know, you've got Latin American fans, you've got Australian fans, you've got European fans, they're all kind of used to engaging with content that is kind of localized to them. How do you ensure that your content has a localized feel for a global audience, if you get what I mean? So we do have many international feeds and where we have international feeds, we actually tend to localize the content.

20:31
So I'm going to use Canada as an example. use Canadian broadcasters. We speak specifically about certain provinces. So it's very important to deliver content that is authentic to the actual viewership base. And one of the only ways that we have found that we've been able to do this is we have to use specific broadcasters that are in each given market. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I think that will resonate with viewers too.

20:59
And on on tent pole events, the tent poles don't get any more magnificent than the upcoming World Cup in North America. Yeah, there's no whiteboard behind you letting us know the plans, but I guess the plans are already in works for you guys to really maximize that tournament. It's going to be a big one, right? Yeah, look, it's in our backyard. Actually, the final is going to be at the Metal Land Stadium, which is probably about.

21:27
an hour from our headquarters in Holmdale, New Jersey. So it's something that we're very excited about again. And we do start planning for it now. You know, we start planning for live events about a year in advance. So we do have a few tricks up our sleeves. And if I could get one more cheeky one in just because this is a bit of a personal question just from me, just to, cause I'm so intrigued by it. The UFC broadcast deal is coming to an end with the ESPN. I think they've

21:55
I might be wrong, but I think the exclusivity period with ESPN ran out, so they're free to negotiate. I a lot of people anticipated that happening. Lots of rumors of Netflix. We don't know where it's going to end up. Any predictions on where that will end up and how big a coup would it be for a relatively new sports streaming site like Netflix to kind of get in on that pie? Look, I don't want to speculate on where the live rights will end up.

22:24
Live rights deals are very complicated. They're very nuanced. And what you actually might see happen is you might see broadcast rights going to multiple partners. And that's something that really happens in the digital age. The NBA is a very good example of this, where multiple partners got different live rights packages. So you might see something very similar happen with the UFC. And that helps them maximize their own revenues.

22:51
Really interesting and we could do a whole podcast on that. I'm sure so yeah, maybe maybe a part two down the line and we can talk about that but so much to look forward to Jeremy and I appreciate your time today. Enjoy the rest of the club World Cup and yeah, thank you so much. We look forward to all the content coming out with with page with Brian with all the streamers that you work with exciting times ahead. Great. Thank you so much for having me.