Australia-based online sportsbook operator PointsBet is launching a sports betting newsletter through a partnership with sports media company Front Office Sports as it looks to expand its presence in the US.
Why it matters: Sportsbooks are looking for cheaper and more sustainable alternatives to accumulate customers and engage them instead of spending millions of dollars on paid digital marketing.
- For example, FanDuel said last week that it plans to launch FanDuel TV, which will include a linear TV network and FanDuel+, its streaming platform.
Details: The newsletter will be created by Front Office Sports’ in-house content studio, with editorial guidance from PointsBet senior editor Teddy Greenstein.
- It will initially be delivered three times a week (Sunday, Monday and Thursday), with plans to eventually expand to five times a week in the fall.
- The newsletter will go to PointsBet’s existing list of approximately 1 million free email subscribers, executive vice president of media and strategy Rick Martira told Axios.
- The company currently sends out a newsletter once a week called Hustle by PointsBet. The re-imagined newsletter will offer more of the latest betting news, in addition to betting tips and insights from PointsBet.
Between the lines: The purpose of the newsletter is to help existing bookies become more engaged, in addition to garnering new customers, Martira said. Success for online sportsbooks, he noted, “is really about the wallet part.”
- Martira said he is not opposed to one day making money from the newsletter with sponsorships, “as long as it is secondary to the primary objective”, which is to provide quality information to his customers to better engage with betting.
Background: PointsBet launched in the US in 2019 with a mobile betting app in New Jersey. It has since expanded to 11 countries. It hopes that media partnerships with well-known brands can help increase brand awareness.
- The company signed a five-year deal with NBC Sports to become its official sports betting partner in 2020. The nearly $500 million deal gave NBCUniversal an equity stake in the company.
The big picture: The deal marks a turning point for Front Office Sports, which until now has made money by selling sponsorships around its own content and newspapers, rather than licensing its technology to other companies.
- Front Office Sports has approximately 1 million free email subscribers to its daily newsletter. It previously sent out a series of specialized newsletters that covered things like the NBA and college sports, but has since subsumed those emails and consolidated those subscribers into its main newsletter.
- Front Office Sports CEO Adam White said the company is on track to bring in about $8 million to $9 million in revenue this year, roughly double last year, and is profitable.
- In February, Front Office Sports received a new round of growth equity funding from Crain Communications, valuing the firm at $25 million.
What to expect next: The first newsletter will be sent on September 8.
