Fox Bet Sportsbook & Betting App Goes Live in NJ

Over the past year, there has been a significant push forward toward the inclusion of legalized sports betting into the U.S. media/sports world.

It has seen the arrival of several companies that have become prominent fixtures in the sports betting industry in the country. This is set to take another major step forward with The Stars Group (TSG) and FOX Corp announcing last week that they have agreed to a partnership called FOX Bet. The partnership will focus on creating sports betting apps for both real-money and free-to-play contests. The Fox Bet NJ online sportsbook is set to launch soon as a rebrand of BetStars.

This will see FOX paying $236 million for a stake that is less than 5% in TSG. This also gives them the chance to acquire up to 50% percent of the company prior to the 10th year of their deal that can extend to 25 years. All of will be launched in the upcoming fall.

BIG NEWS via FoxBet / TSG deal…..

The BetStars Sportsbook brand will no longer be used, replaced with the obvious FOXBET.

Larger image below is of current BetStars desktop view, with new FoxBet logo. pic.twitter.com/bhr6JYTTwC

— Jason Ziernicki 🎲🏈➡️💰 (@jziernick) May 9, 2019

FOX SPORTS BETTING APP

This new app will have two features with the first being the ability to participate in the free-to-play game that has cash prizes for predicting the correct outcomes of sports games. This current structure exists through the NBA and other professional sports league apps as a way to introduce and influence users to the sports betting world.

The latter is the opportunity to place real-money bets on a variety of different sports. This is the primary part of the app that the two sides are relying upon to generate the most traffic and usage. In essence, it is where the deal came into place to take advantage of the ever-growing sports betting industry in the United States.

HOW DOES THIS IMPACT BETSTARS, FOX BET & NJ?

This new massive deal has put forth the expectation that the BetStars brand will no longer be used in the United States as FOX Bet will take its place. It should be noted that BetStars has struggled in the New Jersey market with other companies such as DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook and William Hill Sportsbook outperforming them in NJ.

Given that the extreme popularity and reach of Fox Sports, this should give them the upper hand of excelling in the area that BetStars has not. It should be noted that Fox previously was part of the funding for DraftKings and had taken equity in the company dating back to 2015.

WHICH STATES WILL FOX BET BE IN?

The only defined spot where the new app will be used is in New Jersey as it is the initial testing ground for it. The next potential locations are tied to Eldorado Resorts as TSG has a deal in place with them for sports betting in each state (11) where Eldorado Resorts is currently located. This obviously includes Las Vegas.

Another possibility will be Pennsylvania as BetStars previously laid out plans to launch in the state through a deal with Mount Airy Casino Resort. On that note, PA online sports betting is expected to finally launch in the near future.

Fox Bet should be available soon in West Virginia as Eldorado owns Mountaineer Casino. Online sports betting has already been legalized and launched in WV. On that same note, the company also owns Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf in Iowa, where sports betting is nearing legalization. Lastly, Eldorado also runs Tropicana Evansville in Indiana where they have recently legalized sports betting.

There are also several other states working toward having sports betting regulated, which could be presumed that the FOXBet app will make its way there too once that is complete.

HOW MUCH SPORTS BETTING WILL FOX PROMOTE?

This is still an open-ended answer given that the deal is still fresh after being announced last week. The sports betting industry is growing rapidly but it’s not a national reach at this point in the U.S.

There is plenty of different avenues that the promotion of Fox Bet can take. Various pre-game and post-game shows that they air for sports leagues seem to be the obvious choice. Fox also has a sports betting oriented show called “Lock It In” on Fox Sports 1 that can be utilized right away to promote the app.

We also have to remember that Fox purchased a 5% stake in TSG, which could be viewed as a “safe” amount of exposure to the gambling industry. Especially when the NFL is a major partner via TV game rights to Fox.

I asked @FOXSports CEO Eric Shanks about where he sees the main revenue boost from sports gambling this year. Here's his response: #SportsBiz pic.twitter.com/lcWryclvVK

— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) May 13, 2019

WILL OTHER MEDIA COMPANIES JUMP INTO BETTING?

This is a fairly new direction for the sports media industry as theScore has already gone this route with sports betting.

That said, we could see other major companies such as ESPN join the ranks as they have begun to increase the amount of work they do with sports betting. However, it’s hard to believe that they will dive right into it like Fox Sports due to Disney family-oriented brand concerns.

Meanwhile, NBC Sports has already expressed some interest in this industry that has included them registering a few betting-related domains. CBS Sports has also gone a little into this path as they have the Sportsline product. Lastly, Comcast possesses both a national reach and regional sports networks while also looking into daily fantasy and sports betting.

Ultimately, there appears to be plenty of room for growth in this industry as it gathers more legalization in more states. The deal that Fox Sports has made with TSG may just be the tip of the iceberg for this all.