Sports betting startup WinView today announced that it has raised $12M in a "new round of financing" with "prominent new backers" including Monumental Sports & Entertainment Chair Ted Leonsis, Discovery Communications, boutique investment bank LionTree and Graham Holdings, according to Michael de la Merced of the N. Y. TIMES. WinView lets iOS and Android users "make free wagers on sports games in real time," with the potential to win "cash prizes." It has about 130,000 users and claims that since it "does not charge an entry fee," it can "operate legally nationwide." Advertisers include PepsiCo (N.Y. TIMES, 5/15). WinView Exec Chair Tom Rogers appeared on CNBC this morning and said the company's model is based on "something that has become the rage in Europe, which is two screen, have a mobile phone in your hand ... and play along while you're watching live sports on TV." He noted 85% of millennials already are utilizing a two-screen experience "when they're watching live sports." Rogers: "Fathers and sons when they're watching sports together, buddies when they're watching sports together -- they're talking about what's going to happen next." WinView gives people a "tangible way to predict and compete, and win for prizes, cash, or pride, depending on how you want to do it.” Rogers stressed it is "not a game of chance," something that is "very important." He said, "That's a critical distinction. People when they hear, ‘Well, you can win money,’ they use the word betting. But it really involves a totally different approach to how you engage the viewer" (“Squawk Box,” CNBC, 5/15).
