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FanDuel admits it has used roughly 30 Bryce Harper-style videos
In July, Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper stepped into a pile of No. 2, thanks to a personalized video purchased by FanDuel in order to ensure that a valued customer (i.e., a consistent loser) would keep losing.
The situation opened a can that contains more than a few worms. forumteam.blog
Via David Gambacorta of the Philadelphia Inquirer, a FanDuel executive recently admitted in a letter to Congress that, over the last two years, FanDuel has sent roughly 30 personalized videos from "athletes and entertainers" to other consistent losers.
“On occasion, FanDuel has arranged a personalized video message, almost always through publicly available services, as a token of appreciation for a customer’s loyalty in choosing FanDuel over its competitors,” FanDuel senior V.P. for public policy and sustainability Cory Fox wrote on September 24.
Fox claimed that the videos are not used to “induce customers to continue gambling.”
Of course they're aimed at getting the losers to keep losing. It's all part of the broader relationship between VIP (which should stand for "very inept prognosticators") hosts and their clients.
FanDuel declined to disclose the 30 "athletes and entertainers." They should. Without that information, it's possible that one or more of the videos came from NFL players.
Either way, it's another example of the things sportsbooks will do to keep the cash flowing. Their only commodity is money. The more of your money they keep, the more money they make.
And outfits like FanDuel don't end up being worth many billions of dollars without many billions of dollars flowing from the customer to the company.
The best news is that Congress is exercising oversight of the industry. As the Wild West days of Everybody Bet Now! continue, meaningful regulation of the industry is long overdue.
‘Game has never been better’: Bettman breaks down NHL’s success, growth
Eagles-Bears racks up 22.6 million viewers
Monday Night Football, which has morphed before our collective eyes from a cable property to an ABC production, is generating the ratings that typically flow from being on broadcast TV.
The Week 3 game between the Eagles and Bears racked up 22.6 million viewers on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN Deportes. (There was no ManningCast in Week 3.)
It's the second-largest Week 3 Monday night audience since ESPN acquired the package. The biggest audience happened for last year's Week 3 game between the Lions and Ravens, at 22.8 million.
To date, the Monday Night Football audience is up by 20 percent, thanks to the three-letter footprint and a little creative accounting.
Titans LB Anthony Hill is the defensive rookie of the month
Dolphins linebacker Jacob Rodriguez is the early betting favorite for defensive rookie of the year, but he wasn't the NFL's choice for defensive rookie of the month.
The NFL announced on Thursday that Titans linebacker Anthony Hill has taken that award. Hill joined the Titans as a second-round pick in April.
Hill leads the entire league with 34 tackles through the first three weeks of the regular season. He has also broken up a pair of passes so far this season.
What Hill has yet to do as a professional is win a game. The Titans are 0-3 and will take on the Ravens as they search for their first victory. If Hill can keep former Titan Derrick Henry under wraps, their chances of obtaining it will look a little better.