The man in charge of Bleacher Report’s betting content says the key to attracting the largest possible audience is games that resolve themselves quickly. Raphael Poplock pointed to the company’s “No Runs First Inning” game, which asks users if they expect the opening frame of a Major League Baseball game to go scoreless. DraftKings then takes bets on the outcome.
Poplock noted that courting a more casual audience means Bleacher Report is courting a bigger audience than websites targeted at serious gamblers.
“You won’t see us doing a ton of hard-hitting information that will get the whales of the world smart for their bets in an upcoming game, 24/7,” he said in an interview with Business Insider. “Now, are we informative, at times? Yes. Do we give our two cents on pick or a bet? Absolutely. But our lean is far more around the entertainment side of this.”
Bleacher Report is closely aligned with both DraftKings and FanDuel. Poplock doesn’t ever see the brand licensing its name to a sportsbook. Instead, he is looking to be the best possible media partner for those brands.
Part of that motivation comes from the way sportsbooks are operating now. So many of them are acquiring or creating their own content. Poplock understands that may be an obstacle to overcome for Bleacher Report, but he also understands why sportsbooks are taking that approach.
“I would try to build my own ecosystem because, let’s be honest, to acquire users at the rate that they are with these large media deals is expensive, and they want to try to get their CPA levels lower. If they can create their own scalable, engaged platform, then they will become less dependent on massive exclusive media deals.”
Poplock says there is still plenty of time and money left in the sports betting bubble. As long as there are so many states without legal sports betting, there will be books looking to raise their brand awareness so that when those states do flip the switch, those books are top of mind for bettors.
