- PointsBet has signed NBC Sports’ NFL and college football analyst Chris Simms to collaborate on sports betting content.
- PointsBet and NBC Sports announced a multi-year partnership in August 2020.
- PointsBet is now live in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, West Virginia, and New Jersey.
With the growth of US sports betting stagnating somewhat due to boneheaded regulation and political cronyism, sportsbooks have turned their focus into maximizing revenues in the states where they can operate. This has manifest itself not only in a slew of promotional partnership deals but also in a renewed focus on creating and distributing quality content. The unfortunate reality for US players is that the quality of sports betting related media throughout every channel just isn’t that good. There are exceptions–Las Vegas based VSIN is clearly the ‘gold standard’ of sports betting broadcast media which is why they were snatched up by DraftKings earlier this year. So far DraftKings has allowed them to operate independently and hopefully that will continue. There’s some other quality content out there but the overwhelming majority of sports betting related media ranges from ‘mediocre’ to ‘downright awful’. This is especially true for legacy sports media platforms jumping onto the bandwagon.
Given the demand for sports betting content and the general lack of quality available it’s easy to understand why a sportsbook would want to make it an emphasis. It isn’t hard to ‘move the needle’ and all of a sudden you’ve got steady traffic from a self selected bettor focused demographic. Throw in the ancillary benefits of content marketing that are well beyond the purview of this site and you’ve got a low risk/high reward proposition. This hasn’t been lost on Australian sportsbook import PointsBet–they’ve started to build out their content creation team and have just announced the addition of NBC Sports’ NFL and college football analyst Chris Simms. Simms has been charged with creating ‘unique and authentic betting content for distribution across NBC Sports and PointsBet platforms’.
One of the stronger moves PointsBet has made since launching in the US (aside from opening an office in the beautiful city of Denver) is entering into a partnership with NBC Sports to become the ‘Official Sports Betting Partner’ of the network across their various broadcast and streaming platforms. They’ve started to leverage this relationship to strengthen their promotional efforts–most notably, signing NBC broadcaster and former NFL quarterback Drew Brees as a brand ambassador. You can be sure that Simms won’t be the last analyst that PointsBet will tap from NBC Sports‘ roster of talent. Were it me, I’d be breaking off a phone call to the brutally talented Michael David Smith who can cover any sport and cover it well. Here’s the 411 on the Simms hiring from the press release:
PointsBet, a premier global online gaming operator and the official sports betting partner of NBC Sports, today announced a partnership with NFL and college football analyst Chris Simms to create unique and authentic betting content for distribution across NBC Sports and PointsBet platforms.
Simms, who played eight NFL seasons following a four-year career at the University of Texas, will create sports betting content around the NFL beginning this week. He will offer in-depth film breakdowns on teams and players, offering greater insight for those looking to bet on NFL games and player props. PointsBet will also incorporate a weekly betting segment in the Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast.
Simms’ betting content will help PointsBet users Live Your Bet Life™ and enhance the sporting experiencewhile showcasing our easy-to-use interface and lightning-fast app. Backed by our market-leading technology infrastructure, category-leading in-game betting capabilities, and strategic approach to the competitive sports betting space, PointsBet is bringing the game to bettors like never before, regardless of your skill level.
PointsBet USA CEO Johnny Aitken might be the best of breed when it comes to sports betting industry press release quotes. Here’s what he had to say about the Simms hire:
“PointsBet’s philosophy is to work with the best talent in the industry, and Chris is the perfect addition to our team. With a presence across multiple platforms in the NBC Sports universe, he will help to develop up-to-date and entertaining betting segments that will reach beyond our key demographics. As the amount of in-play betting increases, today’s users of the PointsBet app are looking for the kind of insight and information that someone with his experience can offer.”
Where can you find Simms’ work? Glad you asked:
Simms provides analysis across numerous NBC Sports programs and platforms, including Football Night in America, the most-watched weekly studio show in sports. He also co-hosts Pro Football Talk with Mike Florio, Peacock Sunday Night Football Final with Kathryn Tappen, and is the host of Chris Simms Unbuttoned, an NFL and college football program exclusively for NBC Sports’ digital, social and audio platforms.
Will McIntosh, EVP, Digital & Sports Consumer Business, NBC Sports Next also gets a blurb in the press release:
“We’re excited to have Chris’ perspective and insight across our sports betting content. This is a great fit and opportunity to further engage viewers, given Chris’ popular rankings and analysis of teams and players.”
The press release also highlighted other collaborative efforts between PointsBet and NBC Sports:
NFL betting content created by Simms is the latest collaboration between PointsBet and NBC Sports. This season, PointsBet launched integrations on the Football Night in America studio show and the Peacock Sunday Night Football Final postgame show. In addition, NBC Sports EDGE, part of the NBC Sports Next portfolio and one of the internet’s highest-trafficked fantasy sports and gaming websites, is providing more football content this season than ever before across Peacock and NBC Sports Digital platforms. NBC Sports EDGE’s shows include Bet the Edge: Blitzing the Board, which features guest appearances from PointsBet’s Head Oddsmaker Jay Croucher and Senior Editor Teddy Greenstein, and streams on Peacock’s NBC Sports channel on Fridays at 7 p.m. ET and Sundays at noon ET.
Viewers can also enjoy the Sunday Night 7 free-to-play NFL game on the NBC Sports Predictor app powered by PointsBet. The app allows viewers to participate in a seven-question contest focused on the upcoming game featuring a $100,000 jackpot.
Simms is an excellent analyst and this is a great hire by PointsBet. PointsBet is live in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and New Jersey.