NBC Sports is integrating betting content into broadcasts
Viewers of NBCSN’s coverage of the Ally 400, the network’s first NASCAR broadcast of 2021, saw betting elements interspersed during the pre-race show and the race itself, as TV and league executives look to strike a balance between offering gamblers the content they seek while not turning off fans uninterested in betting.
As Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Paisley kicked off pre-race coverage on “Countdown to Green,” betting odds ran across the ticker on the bottom of the screen, along with Sunday’s lineup, Cup Series standings, and factoids about drivers and Nashville Superspeedway. From pit road toward the end of the show, after the odds were displayed on screen, Jac Collinsworth asked Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty for their picks. Jarrett offered Kyle Busch as value play at 10/1 odds, while Petty, asked by Collinsworth for a long shot, took a flyer on Tyler Reddick at 35/1.
The right side of the ticker served as promotional real estate for NBC, as teasers for the NBC Sports Predictor app (including a free-to-enter NASCAR pick ‘em game with a $100,000 jackpot) and NBC Sports Edge (which provides fantasy and gaming analysis across a number of sports, including NASCAR) ran concurrent with promos for the U.S. Open, Stanley Cup Playoffs and Olympics.
During the race, as Stage 2 came to a close, lead announcer Rick Allen reminded Fantasy Live players that this was their last chance to activate drivers in their garage. Then, on Lap 194, odds to win the race were displayed on the left side of the screen, underneath the leaderboard.
All of this betting content was branded by PointsBet, which signed on last year as NBC’s official sports betting partner.
As legal gambling expands, so too does the integration of odds and betting analysis within broadcasts. Networks and properties are mindful that not everyone cares for this content and that it is even annoying to some viewers.
‘One of the things we’re cognizant of is not all of our fans want to see betting content as they’re watching a race,” said Joe Solosky, managing director of sports betting at NASCAR. “We don’t want to over saturate and draw fans away from the sport because we’re putting too much betting content out there, and I think FOX and NBC are doing a good job of towing that line.”
During the race, as Stage 2 came to a close, lead announcer Rick Allen reminded Fantasy Live players that this was their last chance to activate drivers in their garage. Then, on Lap 194, odds to win the race were displayed on the left side of the screen, underneath the leaderboard.
All of this betting content was branded by PointsBet, which signed on last year as NBC’s official sports betting partner.
As legal gambling expands, so too does the integration of odds and betting analysis within broadcasts. Networks and properties are mindful that not everyone cares for this content and that it is even annoying to some viewers.
‘One of the things we’re cognizant of is not all of our fans want to see betting content as they’re watching a race,” said Joe Solosky, managing director of sports betting at NASCAR. “We don’t want to over saturate and draw fans away from the sport because we’re putting too much betting content out there, and I think FOX and NBC are doing a good job of towing that line.” More at NASCAR.com