Photo credit: VSiN
Always on the periphery of the sports industry, Brian Musburger knew the mainstream sports media outlets were ignoring a large segment of the audience.
Believing sports betting legalization was inevitable, Musburger felt it was time to launch a media company focused on sports wagering, so in 2017, Vegas Stats & Information Network, or VSiN, was launched. Musburger’s inclination was right and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May 2018 made sports betting legal nationwide — and now states are gradually changing their laws.
Eight states have fully legalized sports betting, with 30 more with at least some talk of legalization.
Musburger even likened the stigma of sports betting to that of marijuana.
“We’re thrilled with how things have developed and the position we have now,” Musburger said. “Just about everybody participates in an NCAA pool or wagers on the Super Bowl, but no one wants to talk about it.”
The mission of VSiN is to offer insight beyond commentator opinions and inform bettors on how various aspects of the games might affect outcomes. Musburger believes VSiN is elevating the idea of sports-talk media and makes the content more interesting to every sports fan — not just those wagering with money on the line.
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“People thought we were crazy, but now they see it’s a more intelligent form,” Musburger said. “It’s not two guys yelling at each other about who’s the best point guard of all time; there’s no utility to that. I learn stuff every day in the types of content we’re creating.
“What we’re talking about is thought-provoking and enlightening, not necessarily things I’d associate with sports talk.”
Musburger brought on his uncle, legendary broadcaster Brent Musburger, but also wanted a lineup of contributors who aren’t traditional broadcasters. He wanted true experts in sports, those who are authentic and knowledgable, not just polished broadcasters, to help the audience learn something new every time they hit the airwaves.
The border between sports betting and the professional leagues has eroded quickly, as all big four leagues signed partnership deals with gaming companies — NBA, NHL, and MLB partnered with MGM, while the NFL went with Caesars — and more media companies are already thinking about the future of how in-game betting plays into broadcasts.
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Being based in Las Vegas gives VSiN a solid foundation in the capital of gambling and provides the contributors an inside look at the industry. Musburger said there’s been the negative stigma and fear of gambling interfering in sports. Instead, he said no entities have more invested in clean contests than the gaming companies.
“The folks setting the lines and running the books, they don’t want anything negative happening,” he said.
But the professional leagues easing barriers to the betting industry will open a floodgate of advertising. With perceived approval from the leagues to support content about sports betting, Musburger said there will be few better opportunities for mainstream advertisers to reach men aged 21-54.
“A lot of media companies will be chasing the advertising dollars coming into this,” Musburger said. “All of them need to have content. People will battle and spend a lot of money to bring those customers and bring in those relationships. It would be foolish to ignore this audience.”
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VSiN has 24/7 content on SiriusXM and fuboTV, as well as its website and apps. It also has one-minute updates on more than 100 radio stations and syndicated analysis in newspapers like the New York Post and Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Musburger said more streaming deals are in the works. For the Super Bowl this year, VSiN aired a 24-hour pregame show and discussed hundreds of prop bets. The network also broadcast a “bet cast” during the game.
Content is fed to consumers in a variety of ways, and Musberger said one of the more astounding stats to him is consuming video through devices at 27 minutes at a time.
“We’re thrilled with how we’ve grown in two years,” he said. “We had the benefit of being a new media company and our goal is to allow the consumer to take in our content in whatever method is most convenient to them.”
