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A daily podcast delving into the biggest stories of the day throughout the sports betting and igaming sector.
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Hello and welcome to the latest episode of iGaming Daily. I'm your host, James Ross. And today's episode is going to be, it's going to be a little different because. Well, well, first of all, I'm actually, I'm on my own. This is a solo podcast. Um, and this is essentially a little trial to see if you actually like this type of podcasting, but also just to see if you like this type of content. And really this is going to be. Well, I'll give you an idea of who I am. I'm a guy who loves to moan. I love to rant. So this is what this podcast might be. It might just be a space for me to just to get everything off my, get everything off my chest. And there was a story that kind of cropped up this week and it related to kind of fan led podcasts. And there was a bet and operator bet, bet MGM UK who sponsored a football led podcast and It kind of stirred up. I don't know if it stirred up mixed emotions or kind of a deep resented anger towards those type of podcasts or those series, but it's something that I thought it'd be an interesting discussion to have. And I've trained a large majority of my. Latter teenage and younger adult life to become a journalist, and I kind of and this might sound a bit naive. I always spent like my training period as a journalist believing that kind of informed and educated voices mattered most in kind of shaping the perception or like public discourse of what people should find out in terms of news. And when I actually did start out, I think the idea that some random kind of individuals in the nicest possible way. without any formal training could kind of influence public opinions, seem laughable. And yeah, that's probably kind of naive for myself thinking that way. But it was just something that I always had in mind. You know, these people who were giving informative information about football teams or, you know, sports journalists were that, they were journalists. And one of the, when I was younger, when I was a teenager, when I first really fell in love with journalism, one of the highlights of kind of a sports heavy weekend for me was the calm and collective review that was Sky Sports' Sunday supplement, which for those who are in the UK, it was a show that witnessed, or it was a show that had kind of UK-based newspaper editors sitting around a table and they were dissecting news in the UK tabloids. And it's no different to what you kind of see sometimes in the fan-led podcast approaches like Absolute Geordies or... You have Mark Goldbridge, you had Sayeed TV, you have the Stretford Paddock, the latter three were United based, or Manchun United based. But I just felt because there was a journalist or senior journalist and editors involved, there was some validity behind what they were saying. Because that's what every journalist has that kind of integrity complex, where if we don't have that integrity. If the viewers don't trust us, then what we're doing doesn't matter if that makes sense. But now in the age of social media and fan-led podcasts, we're kind of finding ourselves in a world where anyone with a microphone and opinion can reach millions. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know. I won't kind of answer that for you. That's probably something everyone's going to have a different opinion on. But it's an interesting concept moving forward. And as I've already mentioned, I'm, I'm a born and bred Manchester United fan. I've been, I've been a little red devil ever since I was a kid. And I'd actually say Manchester United have the most fan led social channels in the world. I've already mentioned three. You hear one of them. You hear the likes of Mark Goldbridge. they're offering, I'm using air quotes, you can't see that now. I'm offering air quotes. I'm doing air quotes. They're offering insights and believing that the modern consumer has kind of lost trust in journalists or journalists sources and people who are not a part of the UK or don't follow Mark Goldbridge. He essentially picked a fight with a well renowned reporter. And for me, that's quite troubling and damaging because you're questioning his integrity. and you were questioning kind of... this journalists kind of thought process and profession. And I just felt like it was quite damaging and kind of to go back onto kind of fan led podcasts. And then you have Sayid TV, who I worked with him for a company called, I won't name the name, but I worked with him. I would talk football like any normal person would on the street slash work, you know, in the work environment. At the time. Would I have looked to them for in-depth insight into my club, the runnings and goings on and transfer rumors, you know, you know, if there's any trouble with the board, what's happening behind the scenes? No. Why, why would, why would I think any kind of person like this would have that insight? However, they've made a career out of this and, you know, absolute credit to them. They've jumped on a trend and they've made themselves a huge success and it should be respected. So. This podcast is no stain on the people who chose to do this as a profession and a career, but it's more on the morality side of this with the betting sponsors coming in now. And over the last few years, this landscape, it's evolved. In fact, maybe my mentality kind of needs to evolve on the matter as well, actually, kind of thinking about it, but sort of kind of the ways in which businesses seek to exploit it. And I'd say kind of one of the troubling developments in recent years is the increasing prevalence of these betting brands sponsoring fan-led podcasts. Kind of from a business to business perspective, this trend presents a really good opportunity for betting companies. These podcasts, they provide access to deeply engaged, passionate fans, audiences who kind of trust the voice that they're following. Like people would listen to this podcast, you know, they would trust me for informative news on the gambling sector, you know, the daily breaking news, you know, bringing insight from experts on the podcast. They would trust me and they would follow my voice in guiding them through some of the breaking news. And a partnership with a kind of popular led podcast, it can offer a betting brand, a direct line into potential customers, leveraging the trust and the community spirit that these podcasts these platforms, you know, they built and, you know, they've built and built over time. However, you know, these synergies, if you want to call them synergies, between fan-led podcasts and, you know, betting companies, people don't aware that it carries potential complex implications. It really does. And traditional journalism... It operates on principles of like kind of objectivity, balance and accountability. Final Ed podcast, you know, while they're, while they're vibrant and community driven, they don't necessarily kind of adhere to these same ethical standards. You know, we have in journalism, we have the, well, in the UK anyway, we have Ofcom and we have the Ipsos code. You know, these are, these are strict rules that we have to follow. Final Ed podcasts don't have that. No. The passion and emotion that fuel these podcasts, I mean, they're precisely what makes them attractive to Ben and brands yet it's this emotional connection. It can also make the listeners more kind of susceptible to the, to the influence. I think it raises a few ethical concerns and for businesses, you know, the challenge it lies in navigating these new terrains responsibly and that's the key, what they have to navigate it responsibly sponsoring kind of a. a fan-led podcast, it can be, it definitely can be an effective marketing strategy. There's no way around it. There's no other way of seeing it. It can be that way, but it also requires a more thoughtful approach to avoid potential pitfalls. And particularly concerning problem gambling, that has to be at the forefront of everything. And this industry is, it's done so, so well. The gambling, the sports, better and I giving industry has done so well. in tackling problem gambling in the last decade. And I wouldn't want them to, I wouldn't want this influx in sponsoring fan-led podcasts to kind of stain that a little bit. Let's be honest, if we look at recent research in various responsible gambling reports, if we look at the demographics that struggle the most with problem gambling, they're mostly working class people from working class backgrounds. And those are the people who are listening a lot to this podcast because a large majority of football fans, they're from the working class background. A lot of people who've liked to listen to fans speak, they like them because they can resonate with them. They can, you know, they can see themselves in this person that they're listening to in the following. And This also kind of raises the concern that these are then the people who are more vulnerable to gambling issues. And this puts an added responsibility on both the podcast hosts, of these family podcast hosts, you know, it puts a lot of responsibility on them, and the sponsors to kind of ensure that partnerships don't inadvertently kind of contribute to harmful behaviors. No. Again, as someone who entered journalism with this profound belief, that the power of responsible and informed discourse, I kind of find this trend, I think I've said concern a bit too much, or I think the right word right now would be a cause for reflection. You know, it's not just about changing standards in the media, you know, it's about how these evolving platforms are being used by industries like Betting. You know, in this- This media landscape that we're in is so rapidly shifting. We've already stressed that everyone can have a platform. So it's crucial for businesses to consider not just kind of the potential profit in sponsoring these, but the broader impact on their audiences and kind of just the community at large. Betting brands, they have a unique opportunity to support fan-led podcasts, you know, in a way that aligns with both ethical standards and business goals. fostering this responsible partnership companies, they can contribute positively to the media ecosystem while still achieving their marketing objectives. But I believe this really requires a commitment to putting people before profits and showing that fan culture that these podcasts represent, it's respected and preserved. So I don't really know how to tie this podcast off, I suppose. So do we leave it with an open question? I think we should, I think. It's probably worth asking as we navigate through this new media environment. Are we comfortable with the direction of these partnerships are taken? Or do we think there's a balance to be had with kind of the commercial success with ethical responsibility? I'll leave that. I'll leave that open to the listeners. And if anyone's got any interesting thoughts on this, they can reach out to me. I'm more than happy to, you know, answer any questions or engage in any conversations from this, because I think this is probably what this podcast style is about. It's triggering a thought and triggering a conversation about an interesting topic or trend. But I've run it enough. I hope if you've made it this far, you've enjoyed the run. And yeah, this has been iGaming Daily. I've been James Ross and thank you for listening.