Turn Game Days into a Social Game with SpreadCaster

[bigurn]

SpreadCaster is a stealth startup that is going to disrupt the online sports book industry. We are looking to validate the idea and test early features/concepts.

We are looking for beta testers who are gamers, gamblers, fantasy sports fanatics, and sports fans to help us get an if we are onto something interesting.

Find out more and sign up at http://launch.spreadcaster.com

[adamsfallen]

I'm not sure I fully understand this product, but I have to confess I'm left with a lot of questions on various levels...

Copy says it's unique in that it "aggregates all picks giving something no other site gives you... real-time actual pick trends" - I'm not sure how this is unique. Isn't this the most basic responsibility of a betting agent (aggregating all of his better's picks to draw a balanced line on the game, and then make $$ off the vig)?

Secondly, are potential customers looking for a social layer on top of sports betting? It seems like there's certainly monopolistic incumbents but I'm not sure I understand the added value. For example, I see how it makes sense to "gamify" or "socialize" a ton of things that are boring, lame, or important, but I'm not sure betting is one of them.

If I really force myself, I can see how the idea of a social layer as such on top of gambling is interesting (e.g. what games my friends are betting on and how much), but feels more like a feature than a product. I wonder if this exists already.

Beyond that, I suppose I would want to know more about how it intends to monetize its product, how it fits in the bigger gambling and entertainment space (e.g. is it a stand-alone product or meant to be used in partnership with other gambling platforms), etc..

In general, I would say I'm not super excited by the idea, but I think perhaps I need to know more before really deciding. It would be helpful to see a response to some of these questions.

[bigurn]

1. The gamification aspect of sports is everywhere. Fantasy, March Madness, etc. SC uses that gamification to give risk averse people a way to play the same way gamblers do without the risk. People can make picks, invite their friends to pick and join their network. They earn achievements, real rewards (like tickets)from winning challenges, and status by being right on their picks that they share publicly. Sports are polarizing. There are always people on each side offering analysis and casting their picks. Competition among friends and the desire to be right will drive people to pick smarter and leave better analysis based on more info (ref: people study up before march madness pools each year).

2. This is where the game drives the real utility of SC. As people cast their picks, users are able to see in real-time where the public thinks the smart money is (this has nothing to do with the betting agent). There isn't a site out there that tells people how many people bet on each side. That's where SC comes in. People that are actually betting (not on SC) can use this data in a variety of ways. They can bet with or against the crowd or follow users who have a public track record of accurate picks and use them as their basis for wagering.

3. The social side of SC allows people to follow users who make great picks or give good advice. See weekly standings for friends, and overall. Checkin at games you are attending, share pics, videos, smack talk.

4. Stats - You can currently track who beats the spread more than others, but with SC you add the ability to know how accurate the crowd or specific users are over time to make more informed picks. Sort by game to see odds, crowd picks, expert picks, analysis, etc.

5. Monetizing it. Tapping the data to provide insight for Fantasy sports users or other gaming platforms, premium memberships giving you more insight into a broader array of data, content partnerships (where people can cast their votes on more than just lines sponsored by leagues, marketers, etc... ie Which jerseys should Maryland wear for next weeks game) are all ways we will monetize.

[adamsfallen]

Okay I think I understand the concept much better now. The comparison to Fantasy Leagues (which is essentially another way of gamifying games) makes the value seem a lot more real.

The data part is still a bit puzzling to me, but intriguing. I still am not sure I understand the concept of getting more transparency (e.g. the data of who is betting on either side). My admittedly gut-response to the two examples:

a) Betting with the crowd - surely the team that is favored to win is the team with the "crowd" on its side, right? That's how the line on the game is established in the first place...

b) Matching the bet of a smart friend - this makes sense to me, that if a friend or expert can "beat the market" you could follow along.

I guess my uninformed skepticism is based on the idea that it would be hard to produce a system that could predict sports outcomes more reliably than the market. If such a system worked, wouldn't it destroy the entire gambling industry?

E.g., if such a system worked well, and could reliably beat the market, more than helping people follow along good bets, you could just make a bazillion dollars betting on sports games. Monetization strategy solved ;).

[bigurn]

a - you'll at least get an idea of where the money is going vs the way it is now... you see a line and you bet it. This transparency isn't necessarily valuable on a per game basis, but when you start to look at trends of certain teams against the spread + the way the public (crowd) picks.. you start to see larger trends that can help you predict with higher probability of the crowds accuracy for certain types of bets or matchups, etc.

b - this drives people to become experts which means more informed analysis, and potential of beating the market through following the picks of 1 or more experts.

-- It's not about beating the market necessarily, it's about leveling the playing field (major disruption). Right now the markets have all the info on who is betting where... think of what would happen when people had that info too?