The Athletic and Bleacher Report are looking at doing commerce marketing "around online sports betting," according to sources cited by Toonkel & Dotan of THE INFORMATION. Online betting offers an opportunity for sports media sites to "negotiate partnerships with online betting sites, in which the media sites will refer their readers in exchange for a cut of any betting revenue that results." Media execs said that the deals are "attractive" because people who bet on sports "tend to be the most avid readers of the content on sports sites." The Athletic is "hoping to work with a single partner in an exclusive deal, to ensure less clutter on its website." A source said that the two companies "could also work together on collecting betting data to create stories for the site." Industry execs said that five states so far have passed laws allowing online betting, including on phones, and "several more are expected to do so in the next several months," which is "prompting a surge of betting." Action Network CEO Patrick Keane said that betting referral deals have helped them "salvage what it expected would be a tough year as a result of the pandemic" (THEINFORMATION.com, 6/3).
