00:00Adam, you know, we were just talking with Andres Cantor.
00:02He, of course, is the famous play-by-play commentator for Telemundo.
00:07And he said that it was the Seattle games that really impressed him when it comes to the fan presence.
00:14I'm taking a look at some of the stats you sent over.
00:17And it was the U.S.-Belgium game in Seattle, actually, that was your most bet on soccer match ever.
00:24Talk to us a little bit about what you're seeing when it comes to some of these specific matchups.
00:28Yes, absolutely.
00:29Well, in aggregate, the World Cup has dramatically exceeded our expectations.
00:36I think there's a theme here, and I'm listening to the previous segment as well, exceeding expectations and breaking records.
00:43And BetMGM was no exception.
00:46This tournament has been the most bet World Cup in BetMGM history.
00:52Overall volume for BetMGM has tripled.
00:54And you heard that right.
00:563x compared with the 2022 World Cup.
01:00And it keeps going.
01:02You know, we've got two more games ahead.
01:04The Argentina-Spain matchup for the final is really capturing the bettor's imagination.
01:10And so I guess the question for us is why.
01:13And from our perspective, there are several factors why it has become such a successful betting event and so far
01:22ahead of 2022.
01:23And that's, I think, partly as a result of the expanded tournament format.
01:27So we have more betting content, so more games, a broader range of betting markets.
01:33So what we are offering our bettors is much wider.
01:37And we're also following with betting opportunities the player storylines that bettors have really got behind.
01:44Of course, our TAM has expanded since 2022 as well.
01:47And the fact that it's a tournament on our home soil has made all the difference.
01:52You know, the games are at the right time.
01:54And you heard the viewing public and the support for soccer is at unprecedented levels.
02:03Adam, every betting person that I've spoken with has been thrilled that this is the final.
02:09I wonder what was your immediate reaction when France and England lost earlier this week?
02:15You know, I went good on my knees.
02:17I looked up at the heavens above and I said, thank you.
02:20That was, you know, the fact that France was knocked out and isn't a finalist contender, that was gold for
02:28the sportsbooks.
02:30And, you know, it's funny.
02:31You mentioned that since 2022 that your TAM has expanded your total addressable market.
02:37But so, too, have your competitors because, I mean, you have the likes of the other sportsbooks.
02:42You have the fan duels of the world that you're competing with.
02:45But now you also have prediction markets, which have really just entered the public consciousness in the past few years
02:51or so.
02:52So how do you position BetMGM to sort of stay front of mind for these bettors looking someplace to place
02:59these bets?
03:02There's no doubt the competitive environment is fierce, but it's been fierce since the beginning.
03:07You know, we're focused at BetMGM, we're focused on how we win strategy, the BetMGM strategy, which frankly is creating
03:16legendary experiences both in person and in app.
03:20So that omni-channel strategy is very much central to BetMGM.
03:25And we cut through during the tournament with what we think some really innovative offerings to our players.
03:33We started with what we call the goal rush giveaway, where for every goal the U.S. team scored, we
03:41would give our bettors who participated half a million dollars.
03:45And so when the tournament started and, you know, the tournament opener against Paraguay, where the U.S.A. won,
03:52scored four goals, it had me worried, you know, worried about what was to come.
03:57But overall, we awarded five and a half million dollars to our players in bonus bets.
04:01So that was one of the areas.
04:02We also had a two-up, two-up early payout promotion, whereby if your team is up by two goals,
04:09regardless of the outcome, you get paid.
04:12We also teamed up with one of our partners, Mariette Bonvoy, on something called the SI Beyond the Pitch sweepstakes.
04:20And just this weekend coming up, actually, the winners of this sweepstake get to attend the SI Beyond the Pitch
04:29party right here in New York, which is this weekend, as I said.
04:32And this is always a who's who of the biggest names in sports and entertainment.
04:37Now, of course, given our relationship with MGM Resorts, we've put on watch parties and activations all around the country
04:44at MGM Properties.
04:45We also have one of our partners, one of our brand ambassadors, is the soccer icon Tim Howard.
04:52And so we've launched a Tim Howard casino game as part of the tournament activation.
04:58We also sent – it's a bit of fun – we sent Tim undercover at a bar in Chicago and
05:04created some social media vignette that has really gone viral.
05:10We've had millions of views.
05:11So I'm really pleased about that, too.
05:13So we've come at it in the way that BetMGM does, consistent with our strategy.
05:20Adam, I wonder, from your perspective, what I hear a lot is that when the fans love the Titans to
05:26compete – so we saw France, England, Spain, and, of course, Argentina in the semifinal – but we did not
05:33see as many underdogs.
05:35How does that fare for the sportsbooks when the top-ranking teams are ultimately the ones finishing?
05:40Is that good?
05:41Is that bad?
05:42What are you seeing from bettors in terms of how that forecasts for your company?
05:45Of course.
05:47Look, our product at the end of the day is an entertainment product.
05:51It's an emotional product.
05:52Our players follow their hearts most oftentimes.
05:56And so the favorites are favorites because of their global fandom.
06:02And so that reflects in the betting.
06:04So in the early stages of the tournament where the favorites were winning consistently, I'll be honest, the engagement was
06:13incredibly high.
06:14We saw record bet volume.
06:16In fact, the U.S.-Belgium game, the number of bets we took in that U.S.-Belgium game was more than
06:26any NBA Finals game ever, any Stanley Cup Finals game, and any World Series game.
06:32Now, of course, NFL is king and the Super Bowl is still king, and we took eight times more bets
06:38on the Super Bowl than on that game.
06:39But what this is telling us is that soccer is on the map.
06:43And to your previous question, yes, when the favorites win, generally speaking, that's bad for the sportsbook.
06:48But when we have very high-profile upsets like France's departure, in the end, we should, in theory, achieve our
06:58theoretical margin.
06:59And to your previous question, yes, it's a good question.
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