SVG Sit-Down: Sportradar's Brian Josephs on the Future of Gambling and Live Sports Video As the market matures, streamed content can be leveraged for both wagering and fan engagement By Troy Dreier, Contributor, Streaming & Digital
Tuesday, February 5, 2019 - 10:58 am
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Legal sports gambling is now an option in several states, and, while it's starting slowly, look for it to make a big impact in five years. That's what Sportradar expects. Providing data to about 600 gambling-related businesses around the world, the company has a clear view of what's coming. We sat down for a one-on-one with Sportradar VP, Digital Sport, Brian Josephs to discuss what the intersection of live streaming and gambling will look like. The takeaway: It will make games more enjoyable even for people who don't wager.
Sportradar's Brian Josephs: [We'll be] growing the betting offering to be not just outcome - who's going to score the next goal or different things like that - but taking the expertise we have in creating those markets and applying it toward individual player markets.
Where is the U.S. now with sports gambling?
The U.S. is in the very early stages: tip of the iceberg or the frontend of the bell curve, if you will. Obviously, there have been a handful of states that have become regulated, but many of the major states, like New York or California or Illinois, have not regulated their markets quite yet, so we're looking at the very early days of the sports-betting industry here in the U.S.
What has the response been so far?
I think it's been, overall, fairly positive. A lot of the connotation around gambling has changed. The audience here in the U.S. is one that loves its sports, and betting had probably been taking place here for a while prior to the [Supreme Court decision] last summer. I think the timing is right. It's obviously a big story for those of us who work in sports.
What are those markets specifically? And what can people do now that they couldn't do before legalization?
Nevada's obviously one. New Jersey has received the most hype, and that's probably the one I'll focus on the most, being a resident of New Jersey. New Jersey has legalized the ability to wager both in retail locations, like out near the Meadowlands, and through online gaming. The online gaming is particularly important because that gives you the ability to wager wherever you are within the state.
What do you foresee for legalization in other states?
I think there's probably going to be another five-plus states that come online in 2019, but, realistically, we're looking at a three- to four-year window here, where we'll see more of the rollout and regulation take place. I know there's a lot of states currently considering legislation and others have actively put forth bills that are being evaluated. Hopefully, in the next three to four years, we'll start to see a much more mature market. By that I mean [we'll] start to get to critical mass in states going online and having a regulated sports-betting landscape.
Once we get past that three- to four-year window, what is the impact of gambling going to be?
There's going to be what I would consider a rising tide across sports, and sports where wagering is allowed and takes place on them. By that, I mean the content itself is going to become more valuable and there will be more time and attention paid on the sports here in the U.S. as a result of legalized gambling. That's because the relevance and prevalence of in-play betting that allows bettors not just to bet on who's going to win before the game but actively bet on that market and many others over the course of the game. You start to become less concerned with who is going to win and start paying closer attention to some of the betting markets that are changing and fluctuating in real time. In the case of a game that might be a blowout, it could keep it much more interesting. That will increase the value of sports content, sports rights, and media rights.
In the U.S., are we just talking about football, or will other sports see a real uptake of gambling?
I think we're looking at all sports here. NFL obviously has the largest fantasy backing to it. A lot of people look at that as a proxy for interest in betting and the like, but I think other sports are going to see the value of the regulated market as well. [In] a sport like baseball, there are 162 games over the course of the season. That offers ample time for bettors to engage in the sport. Same with 82-game seasons for basketball and hockey: that's a lot of opportunity for bettors to engage.
How will gambling be integrated into the streaming-video experience?
The concept of Watch&Bet is incredibly popular outside the U.S., where betting has already been regulated. We're going to see that become popular here in the U.S., both for actual wagering to take place and from a fan-engagement perspective with betting content: information being displayed for infotainment purposes. Streaming in particular offers an opportunity to leverage that content to create unique digital experiences and have that complement the viewing experience, whether it's a line that updates in real time over the course of the game or checking in on player props that might be getting close to being hit or surpassed and things of that nature.
What does the Watch&Bet interface look like?
A lot of them are typically offered by bookmakers. In that experience, there is the live stream of the game, but surrounding that are the real-time odds that are offered by that particular book for that game. At any point in the game, you can place any number of bets that you might like.
Latency is still a hurdle with live sports video. Is that something that ne
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SVG Sit-Down: Sportradar's Brian Josephs on the Future of Gambling and Live Sports Video As the market matures, streamed content can be leveraged for both wagering and fan engagement By Troy Dreier, Contributor, Streaming & Digital 
