Ex-NFL Network CEO envisions betting-centric broadcast on Sunday Ticket

Steve Bornstein knows a thing or two about breaking the wheel in sports broadcasting. The former NFL Network president and CEO, who also served as the CEO of ESPN and president of ABC, helped create NFL RedZone, which has transformed the NFL viewing experience over the last decade and a half.

Bornstein, now serving as the president of Genius Sports, talked about sports betting alternate broadcasts (among other topics) with the Sports Business Journal . Bornstein is high on the idea of a betting-centric alternate broadcast, similar to NFL RedZone, coming to Sunday Ticket, now entering its second year on YouTube TV.

On the likelihood of the NFL adapting its Red Zone Channel, or launching a new betting-focused feed, as part of the “Sunday Ticket” package:

“It makes perfect sense. Whether that’s the next thing that happens or one of the things that’s going to happen, I can’t really predict. But to me, the NFL is at the cutting edge of this, and they have retained the rights they need to exploit.

“Whether it’s the next big thing on ‘Sunday Ticket,’ I don’t know. This year was a new distributor [in YouTube TV], and they were making sure the plumbing worked. They needed to deliver the game in a compelling fashion, and they achieved that. I know that if I were sitting in that chair where I would be driving that.

“[A betting-focused ‘Sunday Ticket’ channel] would be high on my list. The multicast is easy to talk about, but harder to execute. Next year’s iteration of ‘Sunday Ticket’ is going to be significantly more sophisticated. What they need to do, ultimately, is increase engagement and get more people to want to watch games on their platform. There’s a big history of iteration in ‘Sunday Ticket’ — Red Zone Channel being the most significant. So it’s a logical place to try new things and see what works and doesn’t work.”

A betting alternate broadcast, along with who knows how many other potential alternate broadcasts, makes all the sense in the world for YouTube TV’s Sunday Ticket presentation. YouTube and the NFL are in this relationship for the long haul, and adding more options for fans to watch games each Sunday isn’t a bad thing at all. When you also consider the popularity of betting-centric alternate broadcasts covering various sports on certain networks, launching a six-plus hour one on Sundays is a sensible decision, given how many people bet on the league.

[ Sports Business Journal ]

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