It was at a gaming tradeshow two years ago when Brian Musburger first discussed some type of partnership between his Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN) and daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings.
At the time, just a handful of states had legalized the activity. Meanwhile, VSiN was building its programing and growing its content while DraftKings was expanding its presence into the legal sports betting space.
Tuesday afternoon, a few hours after DraftKings announced it was acquiring VSiN for an undisclosed price, Musburger recalled his brief conversations with DraftKings CEO Jason Robins and Ezra Kucharz, DraftKings chief business officer.
VSiN CEO Brian Musburger
“Jason and I were on a panel together,” Musburger said. “We just sat down afterward and talked.”
In the two years since those initial discussions, DraftKings has grown into one of the sports betting industry’s leading companies with mobile and/or retail sports wagering operations in 14 of the current 22 states with legal sports wagering.
DraftKings went public in April 2020 through a special purpose acquisition company and now has a market capitalization of more than $24 billion.
VSiN, which is headquartered in Las Vegas, produces more than 18 hours of daily sports wagering news, analysis, and data across multiple video, audio, and internet channels and operates out of permanent broadcast studios inside the sportsbooks at the South Point Casino and Circa Casino Resort in Las Vegas, and satellite facilities at sportsbooks inside Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Rivers Casino near Chicago and MGM Grand Detroit.
“We like this acquisition, as it expands DraftKings’ content capabilities and further broadens the company’s extensive reach,” Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon said in a research note.
“The media and sports worlds are colliding,” Beynon added. “Outside of the U.S., many use the traditional affiliate model, but in the U.S., companies believe in the whole vertical integration, which will help user growth and margins over the long term.”
Deals between sports betting companies and media outlets have become commonplace since legal sports betting began its rapid expansion across the U.S. nearly three years ago. For example, Penn National Gaming spent $163 million to acquire 36% of sports media platform Barstool Sports.
Credit Suisse gaming analyst Benjamin Chaiken suggested the deal could “efficiently” convert existing listeners or viewers of VSiN to DraftKings users.
“We imagine there will be scenarios where (marketing) spend that would have traditionally gone through paid TV or radio, may now be allocated essentially for free through VSiN,” Chaiken said.
The ‘My Guys in the Desert’ desk via VSiN website
Musburger, who founded VSiN in 2017, said the network will continue to maintain editorial independence from DraftKings. Musburger and his current leadership will continue to operate VSiN, which serves as the “CNBC of sports betting,” providing a resource for the sports betting community and sports fans interested in the activity.
“We’re an independent media company that now has an ownership with the deep pockets that allows us to grow and expand,” Musburger said. “This new ownership is going allow us to achieve some of our goals. Editorially, there will be no change. Our strength is our content.”
VSiN’s content is accessible through Comcast Xfinity, Sling TV, fuboTV, Rogers’ Sportsnet, MSG Networks, NESN, AT&T Pittsburgh, Marquee Sports Network, a dedicated channel on iHeartRadio and TuneIn. VSiN also produces podcasts and betcasts.
The network’s current talent roster includes legendary sportscaster Brent Musburger (Brian Musburger’s uncle), former NFL executive Michael Lombardi; Gill Alexander, host of the Beating the Book podcast; and Pauly Howard and Mitch Moss, co-hosts of VSiN’s morning show, Follow The Money.
“There are only a few folks in the media space that truly understand sports betting, and that’s a great advantage for us,” Musburger said. “We have built a great team earlier on in this process and I’m happy we’re able to keep it together.”
Boston-based DraftKings is buying 100% of VSiN, which had been owned primarily by an investment group. South Point owner Michael Gaughan and Circa Resort owner Derek Stevens were minority investors.
“We were fortunate to have a great partnership with Michael and Derek,” Musburger said.
DraftKings said it intends to fully integrate VSiN’s current employee base located in Las Vegas, including its on-air talent, into its 2,600-person global workforce.
DraftKings also recently announced a multi-year agreement to become a primary sponsor of the Center for Gaming Innovation, housed within the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
