Following a 2018 overturning of PASPA by the Supreme Court of the United States, sports gambling has become big business for 38 states and Washington, D.C., which have legalized sports betting in some form as of February of this year. Broadcasters have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of wagering becoming legal in these states as sports book marketing dollars have flood your television, radio station, social media feeds among other places.
This newfound revenue stream has saved some broadcasters from going out of business, and some broadcasters have created a business model off the legalization of wagering across the United States. As sports betting becomes legal across more of the country, there is a growing desire for “wager-tainment” as the safeguards that once prevented wagering are now gone.
It leads one to ask what these same broadcasters, who are enjoying the benefits of this new profit stream, are providing their own talent to ensure they keep the trust of the consumer with more educated picks. While also asking what these broadcasters are providing, in a digital age, as far as protections for their talent from consumers who follow the talent’s pick to a personal loss.
“If you’re a broadcaster that has never wagered before or doesn’t know a lot about it; And you’re just looking for the extra couple bucks in your pocket, you should make it very clear to the people you’re asking to follow your lead that you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” said Craig Carton, host of Breakfast Ball on FS1 and also a FanDuel responsible gaming ambassador since 2021.
With the Final Four set to happen this weekend, it’s a guarantee that sports media talent around the country will tirelessly debate who should win in each of the basketball games to be played. In states where wagering is legal, it’s likely that some arm of sportsbook advertising will support that debate with their advertising dollar. This puts the trust between talent and consumer to the test, when a talent shares their pick only for the consumer to potentially follow their belief in the talent to make a personal wager.
“The one term that drives me crazy in the whole gambling industry is people are always saying this is my lock,” said Ben Mintz, a talent with the digital media company Barstool Sports. “You’ll never hear me say that. All this is educated guessing.”
Mintz, also known as Mitntzy, has built a massive social following through his wagering content on the Barstool Sports platform, with entertaining reactions off both winning big and losing large.
“I think what I’m giving are fairly educated picks,” said Mintz. “People obviously mess with you when you got a losing streak, and you hear about on social media.”
Are Broadcasters Prepared? Social Media With Legal Gambling
Social media has added a layer to sports gambling and especially the concerns surrounding it. With the launch of March Madness this year, the NCAA began airing a video throughout the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments called “Don’t Be A Loser,” which calls attention to the alarming prevalence of abuse and harassment student-athletes face from angry fans who lost a bet. According to a study by Signify Group, last year found 1 in 3 student-athletes received abusive messages from those with a betting interest; 80% of the abuse was directed at March Madness men’s and women’s student-athletes, with women’s basketball student-athletes receiving approximately three times more threats than men’s basketball student-athletes.
While athletes are becoming more targeted for their performance on the field of play from those who lose bets, broadcasters and media personalities are no stranger to this sort of harassment as well. Mitch Moss, host of Follow The Money on VSiN Live, believes it’s nearly impossible for broadcasters to avoid social media backlash in the sports gambling world on social media.
“Of course you’re going to get trolls out there every single day and it’s very easy to hit the mute button,” said Moss. “That’s what I’ve done to quite a few people, because they’re faceless, nameless, worthless accounts that provide nothing to society. What’s the point of aggravating yourself by looking at this stuff every single day? There is none.”
Mitch Rosen, BetMGM Network Vice President of Operations, says that all broadcast companies have built in some responsible gaming messaging on their platforms, but he trusts talent are taking the rights steps in making any thoughts or picks surrounding games.
“I think if you listen to our content, our talent are doing, ‘hey, this is what we think.’ It’s great interaction with the audience,” said Rosen. “I’m not saying it (social media backlash) would never happen, but I think our hosts are very cautious in giving out their thoughts and their picks. At the end of the day, it’s all about responsible practices and responsible gaming.”
While the messages about responsible gaming are present, for most brands they are also often in the tail end of the overall messaging or rushed to fit a hard timed commercial length.
“Should there be some kind of disclaimer that your favorite radio talk show host, whoever he or she may be, is not an expert at picking games,” questioned Carton when asked if there should be added layers of responsible gaming messaging. “I think it’s probably something there that you could be looked into.”
Investing In Sports Wagering Assets For More-Informed Talent
The American Gaming Association predicts that Americans will wager an estimated $3.1 billion in legal bets on the NCAA March Madness tournament this year. That’s even more than was bet on the Super Bowl, which was $1.39 billion.
This rise coincides with the rise in advertising dollars spent by gambling companies across all forms of media. According to iSpot, a company that measures the brand and business impact of TV and streaming advertising, gambling companies spent $434.4 million on sportsbook commercials in 2024, ranking 29th among all industries on TV.
While gambling companies advertise with broadcasters to leverage that trust between the talent and consumer in an attempt to convince them to use the product. In speaking with several managers of traditional radio brands on background, there are no additional resources provided to talent to make more informed picks on air from the same gambling companies who advertise. One unnamed source who manages a traditional radio brand stated that their talent is “just winging it,” because requests for added resources from a gambling company were denied.
VSiN Executive Vice President of Talent and Programming Steve Cohen says that, unlike others, his sports betting network does provide a plethora of assets to talent to help them in making more informed decisions with their VSiN Pro platform.
“We have a treasure chest of information that our talent can draw from and that is the VSiN Pro product,” said Cohen. “Everything they need to help them make informed decisions on who they want to wager on and then bring forth that information to our listeners and viewers is at their disposal.”
Cohen notes the information contained in the VSiN Pro subscription service, which is also available to the consumer, contains latest splits, odds, and other important information.
“Anybody can make picks, but what we do is very different,” stated Cohen. “It’s not good enough to just make a pick. For wagering, we have all this great information for our hosts to go through on VSiN Pro to help them make that informed decision.”
While every broadcasting entity cannot provide uniform coverage in both assets and protection for their talent when it comes to approaching “wager-tainment,” the overwhelming sense is there is limited concern about the trust factor between talent and consumer being lost over a bad bet. Brands and talent work years to earn that trust, yet are now gambling to keep it while reaping in the rewards of legalization with advertising. The overall sense is the advertising dollar has more importance to have any concern about losing trust with the listener. Broadcasters continue to take the risk of why prepare like the NCAA has when there is no issues with their side of the sports gambling equation, yet.
The NCAA is showing added emphasis this year by taking steps to further educate their consumer on the dangers of sports gambling due to consumer backlash against its student-athletes. Should broadcast companies do the same as their talent rosters continue to earn advertising dollars from gambling companies, as sports wagering becomes more legal around the country?
That may be a bet to wager on.
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John Mamola is the sports editor and columnist for Barrett Media. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. Honored to be a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Media and honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL). Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
