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FEATURE
MEETING FANS ON THEIR TURF
“ The sports betting ecosystem survives on one fuel , and that fuel is fans ,” says Gnat .
He and Playmaker are working to meet fans on their turf , with the content they actively seek out on a daily basis .
“ Our business model is to build an ecosystem of highly engaged sports fans and deliver them , at scale , to sports betting operators . We believe content matters . Not just quantity but authentic and relevant content .”
Gnat emphasises that sports fandoms love to consume content digitally , especially in North and South America .
“ It ’ s where they go , as fans , to engage with the sports and teams they follow ,” he says . “ Sports betting operators are very sophisticated digital marketers , and they will go where their audience is . We are one of those destinations .”
Gnat and Playmaker have built a user journey that meets sports fans where they ’ re already engaged .
“ In the US , our platform is Yardbarker . If you went to Yardbarker . com , and you wanted to read about the Chicago Bears , you ’ d head to the website , the NFL section , and then there ’ d actually be a section specifically for the Bears .”
Yardbarker features syndicated content from local publications . “ If you ’ re interested in a specific team , the Bears for example , there ’ s likely a beat reporter from Chicago who has written a few things about the team . We roll it up and syndicate that into our Yardbarker network , so we ’ re able to deliver Bears news and info , directly to a Bears fan .”
Rinse and repeat for any other team , and you ’ ve got a fully curated network of sports content tailor-made for casual and seasoned fans alike . But there ’ s more .
“ We also have a daily newsletter called The Morning Bark . It ’ s a curated newsletter that goes to 370,000 + people every morning . That newsletter can be curated by you , the fan . Every morning , you ’ ll get 10 things you need to know to be smart enough for the watercooler chat . Then on the right side , you ’ ll find what you , specifically , want to know .”
When you sign up for The Morning Bark , you can type in your favourite teams and tick boxes to select your favourite sports .
“ Whatever you want to know , whichever sports you want to know about , we will curate specifically for you ,” says Gnat . “ Imagine having in your inbox every single morning your own personalised sports section . That ’ s what we ’ re delivering to our fans .”
Gnat notes that the ultimate goal is to bring fans from the site or newsletter to a sports betting operator , where affiliate revenue or lifetime value revenue comes in .
BEYOND THE STATES : CANADA
Though the US is a natural target market for Playmaker , the company is finding success to the north and south as well .
It ’ s hard to compare Playmaker ’ s native Canada to the US market , according to Gnat . “ The US is just so big ,” he says . “ California is bigger than Canada .” The Golden State ’ s population beats Canada ’ s by roughly one million .
“ That said , Canada is hugely important to us , evidenced by our recent acquisition of The Nations Network and Daily Faceoff ,” he continues . “ We believe that the opportunity in Canada is quite large and that there is room for a challenger brand to the large media presences in the country . “ Hockey is key ,” Gnat continues . “ We believe the TNN assets and Daily Faceoff will become a place for independent hockey views , content , and opinions in Canada and the US .”
Canada differs from the US in many ways , namely the country ’ s mature grey market . Offshore operators have flourished historically in Canada .
“ In the absence of formal regulation , international operators have been operating freely in Canada for decades ,” Gnat says .
Plus , the government has been offering parlay betting since the early 90s . With the passage of C-218 , which legalised singleevent wagering in Canada , the country expects its first officially licensed operators to go live in Ontario in early 2022 .
“ This is a game-changer ,” Gnat says . “ This will accomplish two very important things . Firstly , it will bring grey market business into the light , and with that comes key player protection around responsible gaming , betting limits , and putting rules in place against money laundering . The second is that it delivers significant revenue to the government that has otherwise been going offshore .”
With The Nations Network and Daily Faceoff under the Playmaker umbrella , the company can capitalise on the Canada opportunity .
44 • ISSUE 89 • Q1 2022