#2nd half NBA bets

[sportsbetting109]

Mastering the Art of Second Half NBA Picks: A Comprehensive Guide to Informed Betting

Introduction

In the ever-evolving landscape of NBA betting, second-half picks have become a strategic focal point for enthusiasts seeking to elevate their gambling experience. While the first half of a basketball game sets the stage, the second half introduces an element of unpredictability and dynamic shifts that savvy bettors can leverage. This article aims to provide a thorough guide on making informed second-half NBA picks, exploring key considerations, statistical analyses, and effective strategies to enhance your success in this exciting realm of sports betting.

Key Considerations for Second Half NBA Picks

Halftime Adjustments: Coaches play a pivotal role in shaping the outcome of an NBA game. Understanding how coaches adjust their strategies during halftime can offer valuable insights into a team's second-half performance. Analyzing past games and the effectiveness of halftime adjustments is a crucial factor in making informed picks.

Player Dynamics: The performance of key players often dictates the flow of the game. Monitoring individual player statistics, injury reports, and the impact of substitutions during the first half can guide your predictions for the second half. A player's presence or absence can significantly influence the team's overall performance.

Momentum Shifts: Basketball is a sport of momentum, and second-half picks should consider which team holds the momentum going into the latter part of the game. Identifying momentum swings, whether positive or negative, can be instrumental in predicting how teams will perform in the second half.

Statistical Trends: In-depth statistical analysis of the first-half performance can uncover trends that may continue or change in the second half. Factors such as shooting percentages, turnovers, and rebounding rates provide valuable insights into a team's strengths and weaknesses.

Strategies for Successful Second Half NBA Picks

Live Betting Expertise: Embracing live betting platforms allows bettors to adapt their picks based on real-time developments during the game. Quick thinking and the ability to analyze in-play situations can be advantageous in making successful second-half picks.

Key Player Impact: Identifying the impact of star players, especially in critical moments of the game, can be a game-changer. Understanding how key players influence the dynamics of the match enables bettors to make more accurate predictions for second-half outcomes.

Halftime Line Movement Analysis: Observing line movements during halftime provides valuable market insights. Rapid changes in odds may indicate breaking news, player adjustments, or other factors that can influence the second-half performance. Analyzing these movements helps bettors make informed picks.

Quarterly Performance Assessment: Some NBA teams exhibit consistent performance patterns in specific quarters. Analyzing team performance in the third and fourth quarters of past games can guide your picks for the second half. Teams that consistently excel or struggle in certain quarters offer valuable information for predictions.

Understanding Scenarios: Evaluating the context of the game, including the score difference and team dynamics, is crucial for making accurate second-half picks. Teams trailing at halftime may adopt more aggressive strategies, while those leading may focus on maintaining their advantage.

Conclusion

Mastering the art of second-half NBA picks requires a combination of strategic thinking, statistical analysis, and an understanding of the dynamic nature of basketball. By considering factors such as halftime adjustments, player dynamics, momentum shifts, and statistical trends, bettors can make more informed picks for the second half of NBA games. Leveraging live betting expertise, recognizing the impact of key players, analyzing halftime line movements, assessing quarterly performance, and understanding game scenarios are essential strategies for success in this exciting and challenging aspect of sports gambling. With a thoughtful approach, second-half NBA picks can elevate your betting experience and contribute to a more rewarding engagement with the sport read more.

[anna-mellgren]

side note: I am not competing in the Olympics (nor do I ever plan to lol) but I am attending as a supporter to a close relative of mine ❤️⭐️🇸🇪 I think the decision regarding Steven is a slap in the face to all the female athletes competing.

📍Update: The original plan was to spend a few days in Paris with my cousin + visit my old cafees & parks ☕️ & then go on to another part of France to visit an old argentine friend but unfortunately I got quite ill right before I was set to go and had to cancel my trip. I got covid again and I am not sure if it was exacerbated by my underlying autoimmune conditions or not but I was quite knocked out… but i’m on the mend now. I hadn’t seen my cousin for over a month because she had been on a training camp but she also had the misfortune to get sick during race week but she made it to the starting line & her insane mental strength carried her through. I am in awe of all the athletes competing in the olympics… to get to that level is far more than genetics & good luck… you have to be a force of nature with an iron will worthy of the gods 💫

My friend showed me Sinead Diver’s post and it made me so angry. I think she is an inspiration to all women after casually taking up running after having babies and making it to the olympics! I think she was absolutely brilliant in the last olympics and she got a DNF in this olympics bc of spasms out of her control. She has talked about the vitriol aimed at her for no reason? Extremely few people know what it takes to reach that level in athletics and have no right to put others down while they probably sit on the couch... there are journalists/people like this in Sweden too. I remember when Carolina Klüft was coming to the end of her career & not performing well… she was ripped apart by certain journalists even though she won an olympic gold in her prime. Piers Morgan went after Simone Biles in the last olympics for no apparent reason… perhaps people with a platform should focus on their own fitness instead of going after an athlete who has put down countless hours of work to chase their dreams (especially when the athletes in question are not making millions of dollars like NHL & NBA players). 

I personally really don’t like Mats Wennerholm. He is a swedish sports journalist who constantly talks trash about any swedish athlete who don’t make the podium. He is such a ”know it all” even though I bet he has barely ran a 5k in his life? Fair enough if you criticize an ice-hockey player who makes an absolute fortune while playing for a team with a salary cap but I don’t like how he goes after track ahletes. Many of them don’t earn much at all & they put school/careers/relationships on hold to try to achieve a dream. 

I know my cousin was hoping for more in her 2nd Olympics but we are still so proud of her. I will always admire her mental stamina which made her the fastest swedish woman in history at the Stockholm marathon & not to mention made her graduate at the top of her class. 

However, what I like most about my cousin is that she is an absolute dead ringer of my paternal grandfather when he we was young. Most importantly she has the same kind, genuine & unassuming soul as him. She is one of the most humble people I know despite being a two time olympian. Everything I loved about my grandfather I see in her 💙 

Last but not least, I hope I never see Steven’s face again… still makes me so angry. Perhaps it was for the best I stayed home because I was only half-joking about this post… at least my parents don’t have to think about bail money 😂 But cheers to Sweden for winning gold in beach volleyball… pretty sure nobody saw that coming!

[superasentes]

The Benefits of Using a Systematic Approach to Betting

Clients must have numerous sportsbook accounts at different operators to watch and also contrast lines, probabilities as well as also promotions. Novice https://medium.com/@casinohowtowin/a-comprehensive-comparison-of-major-gambling-and-betting-strategies-74099f8fd8bc wagerers will generally keep it easy simply by banking on the cash line. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this as it's a good way to comprehend just how sportsbooks work and it's a bet that's basic to recognize. However, even more experienced wagerers will certainly recognize that betting on alternate lines represents a better means to obtain additional value. Don't fall into the trap of just using one sportsbook for your wagers.

What is one of the most effective wagering approach?

An over or under bet.Over or under bets per team.Handicap success, i.e. success with

a difference of numerous goals.Low winning odds.Half-time bets.Early or late goals.

These are likewise the times when the mismatches appear the most. Choosing Neymar to score as well as Brazil to win may be as reduced as -300 contrasted to the initial -500. One more option can be Brazil to win the first fifty percent and win the 2nd half if a leading efficiency is expected between the two. Take a look at the latestFree Sports PicksandBest Betsfrom our group of professional sports handicappers. Obtaining adjusted with the fundamentals will enable consumers to concentrate on the real selection in contrast to being fretted about every little thing else that is connected the sportsbook experience.

Fading The Public

It's. similar to hedging, but also for this to work you need to produce the exact same profit/loss on all outcomes. As an example, the LA Lakers are one of one of the most preferred groups in the NBA and obtain a lot of bets based upon popularity. If a first spread was at -5.5 which after that drifted to -7.5 then this is not since they have a lot more possibility of covering, yet rather, there has actually been more money based. Once you discover this team's propensities, you will only need to research their opponents. Yet, this wagering method does not suggest you need to bet on that team each time. If you see a competition that doesn't look appropriate or the line really feels incorrect, hold off.

While this may not be a problem for a beginning punter, as soon as you start making a significant ROI for your wagers, you require to stay clear of being gubbed.

Many thanks to all authors for creating a page that has actually been read 716,152 times.

This means setting limitations on just how much you are willing to bet on each video game, and also not taking the chance of greater than you can pay for to shed.

Keep in mind, 5 mins of top quality research can be a winning element.

Among one of the most important things to recognize about sports wagering is the concept of the point spread.

Numerous professionals recommend not betting on your residence team in any kind of sporting activity, due to the fact that your prejudice can cloud your reasoning, and also this can result in wonderful losses. The martingale strategy has additionally been related to roulette, as the possibility of striking either red or black is close to 50%. You'll also obtain an e-newsletter with information on major sports wagering updates, new wagering website reviews, as well as the latest bonuses and also promotions every few weeks. Obtain special betting overviews and the current chances from top-rated bookies, straight to your inbox or social feeds.

Best Sporting Activities Betting Methods

It put a percentage possibility of a distressed based upon variables that prevailed in previous troubles. By converting moneyline probabilities to a percentage, we could detect which moneyline wagers Slingshot determined as a good worth. What the Labouchere approach does is allow players to go broke, gradually. It would not matter if they were wagering arbitrary amounts randomly times, your home edge does not alter. All that adjustments arebetting patterns as well as our good old friend, variation. As gamers get nearer the objective, losses end up being a lot more crippling.

Warriors At Kings Game 7 Betting Breakdown - OutKick - OutKick

Warriors At Kings Game 7 Betting Breakdown - OutKick.

Having accounts at multiple wagering sites will assist you go shopping the line. If you ever before discover on your own on full throttle, it's important to relax. Whether you had a great or awful betting week, relax. Throwing cash away on bad wagers as if you have nothing to lose. Alternatively, investing the upcoming week to games doing your research repays.

Don't forget to have a look at all of our wagering overviews, where we dive into each details esports title and the specific details of exactly how to bet on it. Discovering these opportunities with excellent odds is the most convenient in football wagering, due to the number of suits and championships. Not recognizing or not recognizing the significance of probabilities as well as real probability is a straight roadway to losing money. Bonuses used this way are a big waste of chance in making guaranteed make money from sports betting. Most of the times, this is not real because of the easy fact that many informants can manipulate their betting background. By this, they can transform a losing streak into long-lasting profits by simply transforming risks or erasing some wagers.

Matched Betting - Get the best matched betting offers & tips... - talkSPORT

Matched Betting - Get the best matched betting offers & tips....

A head instructor could say his No. 3 WR will certainly "obtain even more work quickly." Numerous attentive bettors may wager as necessary. In a week where 5 gamers rack up 30 DFS factors, if your schedule doesn't contend least three of them, you most likely won't complete in the top 10. Overall, as shared throughout weekly of the season on PFN's site, this strategy netted a 65% win rate in 2022. I have numerous dozens of wagering versions concentrated on positional "old age," volume-based regressions, positional blow-up potential, and more. All are currently actionable because they yield intelligence that enhances the probabilities of betting success.

[bitchyllittlebimbo]

What Is A Unit In Sports Betting? How To Build A Bankroll

NBA complete betting strategy is yet an additional approach which you need to not play down, particularly if you want to gain some serious money. It's important to bear in mind that while live roulette approaches can be a good starting factor, they can only take you thus far. Live roulette is a game of chance as well as there's constantly a home edge to consider.

What is one of the most successful wagering method?

An over or under bet.Over or under bets per team.Handicap triumphes, i.e. success with

a difference of a number of goals.Low winning odds.Half-time bets.Early or late objectives.

These are also the moments when the inequalities show up one of the most. Selecting https://medium.com/@casinohowtowin/a-comprehensive-comparison-of-major-gambling-and-betting-strategies-74099f8fd8bc Neymar to rating as well as Brazil to win might be as low as -300 contrasted to the original -500. Another option can be Brazil to win the very first half as well as win the 2nd fifty percent if a dominant performance is expected between both. Check out the latestFree Sports PicksandBest Betsfrom our group of skilled sports handicappers. Obtaining acclimated with the basics will certainly allow customers to focus on the actual selection in comparison to being fretted about whatever else that is attached the sportsbook experience.

Fading The General Public

This is due to the fact that the sporting activities wagering legal situation stands out for each and every state. Naturally, bookies may even earn a profit no matter the overround, as several naïve punters simply double up on their success and also chase their losses. A couple of sportsbook collectors also let you integrate bookmakers on a solitary system. This allows you to go shopping odds without the demand to develop multiple accounts.

The fact is that to win cash at a casino site, you need to be lucky.

Sometimes you'll see something like "Ohio State is 7-3 versus the spread as a favorite in the house this year" in sports wagering protection.

Regardless of how much you can pay for to play, gambling is a fun means to complement seeing sporting activities weekly.

Whilst card counting is not unlawful, if a gambling enterprise thinks a gamer of counting cards they will normally be gotten rid of from the video game.

You are totally free to develop any type of system you desire in order to rate the high quality of groups or specific professional athletes, however Elo Ratings can be a great base.

Continue till all numbers in the series have actually been gone across out.

After you have actually made your bet, you see the factor spread out transfer to -10 on video game day. This can take place for a couple of different reasons including way too much action being positioned on the underdog by the betting public or by points like injuries or various other gamer aspects. Hedging likewise works the same way when you've made a multiple wager parlay and you've won a lot of your bets. With parlays one loss is all it requires to lose the entire parlay. If there's simply one video game to go, take into consideration hedging by wagering against your initial parlay wager to lock in an earnings. There are possibilities in sports betting where a punter can make a. wager that is contrary to his initial bet.

Are There Software Application That Assist You Establish The Most Effective Wagers To Make?

It calls for players. to double their bets after each win up until they reach the quantity of systems that they started with. This is an excellent way to maximize your earnings because it allows you to proceed playing without losing all of your cash after just one loss. Being upset overs success and also losses is natural, but sports betting should never get to a point where the outcome of a result is affecting other decisions outside of sports wagering. Consumers never ever wish to bet on sports with money they can not manage to shed. This overview has actually shown you that it is possible to generate income with sports wagering in a reasonably consistent method. You can just use an US informant solution like the one recommended over to get more regular victories when banking on sporting activity while benefiting from the sportsbook's chances to optimize your returns.

We all want our favored teams to win every time, but that's never ever the situation. If you can not be unbiased when betting on a video game involving your favorite team, it's finest not to bet on that game in any way. Discoloring the general public is just one of the most common sports wagering techniques. The concept of fading focuses on waiting to see where a lot of the most effective are going and after that betting on the opposite side.

Soccer Betting Strategy # 2: Bank On The Underdog Sparingly

Several organizations have a main ranking system, though anybody can create their own. While there are a lot of paid alternatives for the tail end, a basic Excel file can be a good begin to aid you keep an eye on your wagering record. Being patient is type in looking for outliers, as doing so might take both time as well as study.

Best March Madness Promos: Grab $3,600 in Bonuses for Tonight's ... - 4for4

Best March Madness Promos: Grab $3,600 in Bonuses for Tonight's ....

There are likewise plenty of services that present probabilities and also prices for a particular competition across multiple sportsbooks. It might be just a couple of bucks here and there, but over the course of a sports betting period, consumers can win an additive amount of money from shopping the lines. This is why numerous bettors look for the sportsbook with the best factors spread out which basically degrees out the having fun field.

[secondcityson]

Bad Beats Monday (1&2): WNBA

I stepped outside my usual realm of games and made some picks for the WNBA matchups. I started off taking the Minnesota Lynx (5-1) over the LA Sparks (3-3). Seeing as how I know no one on the team I was betting numbers to kick things off. I would parlay this pick and take the NY Liberty over the Las Vegas Aces it what would be a solid Sunday matchup. Especially with rookie sensation Sabrina Ionescu (#1 Draft pick via Oregon).

I had previously taken the over when the Aces lost in a comeback victory to my Chicago Sky. This time around I just went with the Liberty ML so my fate is not determined by that Wildcard. Don’t get me wrong, the Liberty were not favorites but fortune favors the brave in this venture. The first half came to a close and the Lynx were down by 10. At this point I was just hoping for a momentum change and a comeback here.

There’s a nice return on the line here, plenty of game left, and it is Good Vibes Only from here on out. Cue the end of the third quarter and the Sparks are up 66-61. Leads attained by the Lynx are short lived, just as hard as they fought to get a point (let alone a point ahead) the Sparks fought twice as hard on defense AND offense. Sure enough as the clock struck 0.00 my pick was murdered by the offense of the Sparks 97-81. This was not the type of game where a lead was blown or an upset victory.

The Sparks did their job as the favorites and held down the Lynx while they were drowning in buckets. I still have the Liberty game, granted there are no stakes in this game anymore but a game to watch nonetheless. After having tasted a bitter loss I made a backup parlay to see about recovering the losses.

I tried my hand at Underdogs the first time around. So this game I took the Aces (ML) and the Under for the Washington Mystics vs. Indiana Fever.

Sure enough the Aces are down at the half. Fuck me what a Sunday this is was becoming on the gambling front. The Aces were pretty much playing catch up with the Liberty. This goes to show how I go with my gut and it sometimes goes in my favor. The moment I get money involved it’s up in the air.

I’ve had some success with baseball bets but for the NHL and W/NBA I cannot seem to crack yet. Had I done singles instead of a parlay for this game there would have been more of a chance to be cashing in a ticket. But again, fortune favors the brave. Fast forward:

and I hate this shit so much. 6.9 seconds left in the game and the Aces sink a basket from 18 feet and damn near have me shitting myself...

In a stunning turn of events...WE ARE SO BACK

This game had me feeling every emotion in what was truly great story telling. A comeback victory in the fourth and the Aces throw me a W for the evening. Now I just need the under for the final game on the lineup.

The last song for the night, WAS-IND. I didn’t really start watching this game until the 2nd half. Also my first instance taking the Under. I’m aware of why Marty Mush and Big Cat from Barstool say life is too short to bet the Under. You find yourself rooting for defense and start sweating when points rack up.

4 fucking minutes left in the 3rd quarter and they only needed 52.5 points to hold off before the Over hit. Each basket sunk made a little ding in my brain and stress was slowly creeping up on me. This is without a doubt the only time I take the Under. Should this have hit it still wouldn’t be enough backing for me to go through this again. In accordance with my earlier writing my bets usually go the opposite because, bad things happen to good people.

Embrace the suck. 2 minutes left and 14.5 points are the numbers to hold off until the clock strikes zero. At this point I’m sweating a mean ring around my hat. Fast forward to 20 seconds left in the fucking game and free throws put me out of my misery. I fucking hate this shit so much.

I only have myself to blame for going against my training. I take the Over it goes Under and vice versa. This is a sick twisted punishment I carry. Before placing the bet I even had a feeling it was possible for the Over to hit. In the end the sun will come up again tomorrow and it’s only money

[bad-beats]

Bad Beets Ch. 1 (11/04-11/10)

Do you find enjoyment in other people’s gambling misery? Do you live by the phrase “Life is too short to bet the under?” Would you rather place a sports bet that seemingly has no chance of winning right after tip-off, or would you rather lose a heartbreaker on a meaningless Furman breakaway dunk that covers the +13 in the closing seconds? 

Welcome to Chapter 1 of the Bad Beets Blog. I am your degenerate gambling host, Jonah, and I am happy you have decided to take this rollercoaster journey with me. I hope you find enjoyment in my gambling misery, as you will soon realize that I am the unluckiest gambler in the world (*Please note I had action on all of these games, and yes, my bank account was harmed in the making of this blog).

11/4/19

League: Turkish Super Lig

Bet: Ankaragucu PK (+105)

Units: 0.8 to win 0.85

I can tell you from firsthand experience that betting on an 11am Turkish soccer game generally doesn’t end well. Ankaragucu went down 0-1 early, but my guy I. Parlak found the back of the net to equalize in the 68th minute. That was the score up until stoppage time. My bet was looking fine, but I wasn’t expecting a win by any means. I was hoping to escape with a push (because as they say in the world of gambling degenerates, “A push is a win”). It was my bet against the clock, and then this happened…

P. Djilobodji (is it legal to have that many j’s in a name?) scores a 90+3 minute heartbreaker. That is a beet that committed arson. Bad Beet #1 of the week came at the hands of Gaziantep.

11/4/19

League: NBA

Bet: 76’ers vs Suns Over 224 (-110) as part of a 3x2 round robin

Units: 3.7 to win 8.6

This was a classic bad beat. The Suns and 76’ers both have high powered offenses, and they were well on pace to hit the over after scoring a combined 116 points in the first half. My round robin was looking great - the other legs of Wizards ML and Blazers vs. Warriors 1H over 106.5 had both hit and I was in good shape for a great Monday payday. However, the Suns and 76’ers had other plans for me.

This Beet committed a double-homicide (my hopes and dreams). I still made a profit on this bet. Just take the 8.6U winnings that I had basically in the bag, drop the 8, and that’s how much I took home. Bad Beet #2 (I am going to feel like The Count from Sesame Street once this blog is over).

11/5/19

League: NBA

Bet: Bulls ML (+260)

Units: 0.7 to win 1.7

I have lived in Chicago my entire life, so naturally, I blindly bet on my teams regardless of their actual skill. Gambling with your heart never ends well, especially on this specific Tuesday when Lebron and Lakers came to town. The Bulls were up a cool 17 points at halftime and really had me believing that they could pull off this miracle. Hopes were high after the Bulls took a 13-point lead into the 4th quarter. And then the Bulls did exactly what the Bulls do - blow 4th quarter leads.

The Lakers went on a 16-0 run to start the 4th quarter and it was all but over from then on (The Bulls, however, did hit a miracle 3 with 15 seconds left to cover the +7). You know what they say, “Good teams win, but great teams cover.” Those 1.7 units would’ve been a nice addition to the bank account, but Bad Beet #3 got in the way. 

This is a bad beet. Thanks to our friends over at https://userbeets.com/signs-that-your-beets-have-gone-bad/ for providing us with some wonderful tips on when it might be time to “toss that beet as far as you can.” 

11/6/19

League: UEFA Champions League

Bet: Man City vs Atalanta 1H over 1.5 (-123) (Bonus: live bet at halftime over 2.5 (-176))

Units: 2 to win 1.65 (and the live bet was 4.4 to win 2.5)

This was the kind of game that screamed ‘Goal Fest’ from the beginning. Raheem Sterling slotted the ball into the back of the net in the 7th minute of the game, and I thought the 1H over 1.5 was going to be the easiest bet of all time. Throughout the next 30 minutes, both teams had some chances to score that they couldn’t capitalize on. Then controversy struck! Man City got pulled down inside the box (or so I thought) and were awarded a penalty kick, which is ever over bettor’s wet dream. However, V.A.R decided to be a cock-block and determined that the Man City player was fouled just outside of the box. Great, just my luck. The following free kick looked like it was headed for the upper left corner of the goal, but an Atalanta defenseman stuck his arm out and handled the ball. Back to V.A.R and just like that, Man City was awarded a penalty kick (ball don’t lie). Gabriel Jesus stepped up to the spot with swagger, and I knew my bet was going to cash. 

He struck the ball with the strength of an 83 year-old grandmother and put the ball wide of the left post. Fuck. That 1.65 unit win turned into a 2 unit loss real quick.

Naturally, as a gambling degenerate, I had to chase my losses (word to the wise - Do Not Chase Losses). I loved the pace of play and the scoring opportunities from the first half, so I live bet the game over 2.5 (and naturally threw 4.4 units on it to cover my losses from the first half). Four minutes into the second half, Mario Pasilic netted the equalizer for Atlanta, and once again I was sitting pretty. There was no doubt in my mind that at least 1, if not 3 more goals would be scored in the remaining 41 minutes plus stoppage time.

Many moments later the final whistle blew and that was that. The teams combined for 18 shots, and only 2 found the back of the net. What a horrible and cruel world we live in. Bad Beet #4 slaughtered 15 innocent ducks (and my checking account).

11/6/19

League: UEFA Champions League

Bet: Dinamo Zagreb ML (+117)

Units: 0.75 to win 0.9

As I was getting annihilated by Atalanta and Man City, Dinamo Zagreb simultaneously decided that they didn’t want my future children to be able to afford college. This game gives me PTSD, so I will just post the results of the game and you can laugh at my misery.

How you let up not 1, but 2 (!!) stoppage-time goals to blow a 3-1 lead along with my +117 ML bet is beyond me, but Bad Beet #5 of the week kidnapped my sanity and will give me nightmares for months. 

11/7/19

League: UEFA Europa League

Bet: Under 2.5 (+117), Under 2.5 (-122), and Under 2.5 (-143)

Units: 0.75 to win 0.85, 1.05 to win 0.85, and 2.15 to win 1.5

Classic cases of “Life is too short to bet the under.” Stoppage time is where unders go to die. I present to you Bad Beets #6, #7, and #8.

Thursday afternoon signals the middle of a gambling week, so naturally, this is the halfway point in the blog. I would recommend you get up to stretch, grab a snack, and take your dog for a walk, because we are just getting started. 8 Bad Beets before Thursday night is cynical. 

11/7/19

League: NFL

Bet: Keenan Allen over 68.5 Receiving Yards

Units: 2 to win 1.5

If you don’t bet player props often, I would recommend you start. It’s like fantasy football on crack. They are an absolute thrill. Speaking of thrills, that Chargers vs. Raiders Thursday night football game was full of them for every party involved; the outright winner, spread, and full game total were all still in the balance heading into the last drive of the game. Phil Rivers and his Bolts got the ball back with 1 minute left, down by 2, after Josh Jacobs rumbled into the endzone from 18-yards out to give the Raiders a 2-point lead. Phil Rivers has seemingly lead his team down the field for more game-winning drives than he has children. At this point in the game, Keenan Allen had 8 catches for 68 yards. Keenan is one of the most dynamic receivers in the league along with being one of Phil’s favorite targets. I needed ONE SINGULAR YARD from Keenan on the last drive of the game.

FUCKKKKKKKKKK! Three targets on the final drive, 0 catches and 0 yards. I hate everything. Bad Beet #9. 

11/7/19

League: NCAAF

Bet: UCF vs. Tulsa Over 68 (-120)

Units: 1.5 to win 1.25

There’s a lot to unpack in this one. The two teams combined for 45 first-half points. Needing just 3 TD’s and 1 FG in the 2nd half seemed like a cakewalk to me. The offenses in the 2nd half just weren’t as crisp as they were during the first 30 minutes of the game. I knew this game was destined to be a nail-biter heading into the 4th quarter. With 5 minutes left, I needed a field goal for a push and a touchdown for the win. Here are the last few drives of the game…

Trailing Tulsa by 3, UCF turned the ball over on downs and gave the ball back to Tulsa with just a few minutes to play. UCF stuffed the Golden Hurricanes on 4th down to get the ball back and keep the Over 68 hopes alive...or so I thought. ILLEGAL SUBSTITUTION PENALTY GIVES TULSA AN AUTOMATIC FIRST DOWN AND INTO VICTORY FORMATION THEY WENT! FUCK ME IN THE BEARD! Bad Beet #10. I am running out of ways to describe these horrible losses and it’s only Thursday.

11/10/19

League: Swedish Allsvenskan and English Premier League

Bet: Under 2.25 (-108) and Under 2.5 (+102)

Units: 1.2 to win 1.1 and 0.75 to win 0.75

“Life is too short to bet the under” Part 2! Bad Beets #11 and #12.

11/9/19

League: NCAAF

Bet: TCU vs. Baylor Over 48 (-110) as part of a 3x2 round robin

Units: 5 to win 11.5

This is a bit of a different entry, as for the first time in seemingly my entire life, I was on the right side of a Hero Win. The Over 48 in the TCU vs. Baylor game was basically dead from the opening kick. The game was 9-6 Horned Frogs with just a few minutes left in the game. Overtime in college football is every over bettor’s best friend (and every under bettor’s worst nightmare). The Bears kicker drilled a 51-yard field goal with 30 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

This is probably the best comeback hero win I have ever had. If I had been on the other side of this bet, I would have jumped off of a bridge. Luckily, Hero Win #1 saved me.

11/10/19

League: NFL

Bet: Panthers vs. Packers 1H Over 24 (-110)

Units: 1.4 to win 1.25

I would make a far bigger deal about this upcoming bad beet if it was a loss instead of the push that it was, but man this was an all-time push. Check out the final drive of the half for the Packers, leading 14-10. 

This drive had it all. A touchdown that was reversed by replay. Matt LaFleur whipping out his big boy balls, only for Jamaal Williams to get stuffed on 4th and Goal. And of course, a legendary push for 1H Under 24 bettors. 

11/10/19

League: NFL

Bet: Devonta Freeman over 40.5 Rush Yards (+105) and Lamar Jackson over 65.5 Rush Yards (-130)

Units: 1.2 to win 1.25 and 2 to win 1.55

Remember what I said about player props two paragraphs ago? I would like to now state that I hate player props. Devonta Freeman had 30 rush yards in the 1st half and then got injured, and Lamar broke a sweet, video game-like TD run in the 3rd quarter against the Bengals, and didn’t run the ball a single time after that (along with getting pulled in the 4th quarter because the Ravens were up by a billion). Take a look…

Bad Beets #13 and #14 come at the hands of two weak things: Devonta Freeman’s bones and the Bengals’ secondary. 

11/10/19

League: NBA and NCAAB

Bet: Hawks +8.5 (-110) and Fighting Illini 1H ML (184)

Units: 1 to win 0.9 and 0.5 to win 0.9

Every degenerate knows that Sunday night basketball games are known as “bailout specials.” After 12 Bad Beets throughout the week, I was in desperate need of a few bailout wins. However, as the self-proclaimed “unluckiest gambler in the world,” I should’ve guessed that more Bad Beets were on the way. My fingers are getting tired from typing due abundance of horrible beats I had this week, so I’ll just leave the screenshots here to show you my Sunday night demise…

The Hawks not covering was a sick joke, and of course I would lose Illinois 1H moneyline on a buzzer-beater three-pointer. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Bad Beets #15 and #16. 

For those of you who stuck with me throughout this post, thank you. I hope you found the enjoyment that your gambling careers can’t be anywhere near as bad as mine. Here are some final tallies from the week:

Bad Beet Count: 16 (with 1 Horrible Push and 1 Hero Win)

Unit Swing: 28.85 to win 30.8 (Basically a 50+ Unit swing due to Bad Beets)

Hopefully, next week’s blog is far shorter than this as I would love to not go through the gut-wrenching destruction of a backdoor cover. Unfortunately, there will likely be many more where these came from. Thanks again for taking the time to read through this! Please leave comments, suggestions, and tell me some of your Bad Beets so that I don’t feel alone on Bad Beet Island. See you next week! 

[rickjsposts]

MLB Season to date through the end of July, along with other observations.

New Post has been published on https://www.rickjshandicappingpicks.com/mlb-season-to-date-through-the-end-of-july-along-with-other-observations/

MLB Season to date through the end of July, along with other observations.

Thinks are settling down a bit around here so I am going to start posting regularly again. It has been a hectic 5 months.

MLB is now through the end of July and here are the season to date results:

  2021 Season to date: +1.72

Overnight Sides: with additional stats  (April) 20-21   +.33 (.003% ROI) Advantage to closing line +6.90 per game over closing line  31-8-3 (79.48%) Top to Bottom swing to date 5.48 (+2.98/-2.50)Overnight Sides: with additional stats (MAY) 22-28  -6.13 Advantage to closing line +3.98 per game over closing line  29-19-3 (60.41%) Top to Bottom swing to date 14.96 (+8.81/-6.15) Regular 1 Unit Total 0-4    -4.40 Combined: May to date:  -10.55 Top to Bottom Swing on Regular total Plays (0-4.4)Overnight Sides: with additional stats (June) 28-29  +2.61 Advantage to closing line +3.79 per game over closing line  39-19-1 (67.24%) Top to Bottom swing to date 10.98 (+10.98/0) Regular 1 Unit Total 6-3    +2.95 Combined: June to date:  +5.56 Top to Bottom Swing on Regular total Plays (2.0-.05)Overnight Sides: with additional stats( July) 16-16  -1.30 Advantage to closing line +5.45  per game over closing line  14-15-2 (.50%) Top to Bottom swing to date 4.00 (+0/-4.00) Regular 1 Unit Total 9-1    +7.85 Combined: July to date:  +6.55 Top to Bottom Swing on Regular total Plays (2.0-.00Combined Season to date results: Overnight Sides: with additional stats (April May June July) 86-95��-4.68 Season to date -4.68 (Overnights) Season To Date: Regular 1 UNIT Totals 15-8  +6.40 2021 Season to date: +1.88 Advantage to closing line +4.39  per game over closing line  109-58-10 (65.8%) Top to Bottom swing to date 11.80(+7.83/-3.97) Top to Bottom swing to date 6.40 (2/-4.4)  1 Unit

A lot of information here:)

We are +1.72 units through the end of July. We started out 0-7 on the MLB Totals and now sit at 15-8 , a 15-1 run since the slow start. The totals have kept up in the positive for the year overall. These Totals are not overnights but a method I have been using successfully over the last 15 years or so in MLB.

As you know my special is that If I do not have a winning season in MLB everyone that subscribed from day 1 gets a 50% refund.  I run this every MLB season.

The NBA is now past. And here is the final tally:

Season to Date Sides Regular Season: 36-32-1 Post Season Sides : 8-5 Combined regular and post season sides : 43-37-1 Season to Date Live bets: 1-0 Season to Date Sides: 2nd half 0-1 Season to Date Totals: 7-15 Season to Date Totals 1st Half 0-4 Season to Date Sides: Post Season Live Bets 1-0 Season to Date Sides : Post Season 1st Half 2-1 Season to Date Sides: Post Season full game 6-5 Combined Season to date: 53-58-1

Sides were disappointing but yet again totals were solid. But not enough to give us a winning season this year.

The NFL and College football is right around the corner.

Last Season we had a nice gain:

Season to Date Sides: 17-8-2

9:43

Season to Date Totals: 8-7

9:44

Combined Season to date: 25-15-2  62.5%

NCAA Football was a break even year last yet:

Season to date Sides: 21-24

12:10

Season to Date Totals: 9-4

12:11

Combined Season to date: 30-28

And yet again the Totals were exceptional.

I have been getting quite a few emails regarding the football season, and I am impatient like everyone else for the games to start. College football begins this month:)

To subscribe just go to the PayPal menu and pick the monthly subscription. Its only 49.00 a month. I will sign you up right away. If you sign up now you get the MLB  plays as soon as you sign up.

All subscriptions have a 3 day free trial, even if you are a returning subscriber.

Let me add, what has been remarkable about the plays, the drawdowns have been minimal. This is a result of my tweaking everything to attempt to minimize drawdowns.

Finally as a subscriber you get my stock market trades, which have been very profitable since I have been posting them.

A new method I adopted was the 2 day weekly short  put trade. Since posting these I have had 326 trades with 307 winners and 19 losers for a profit factor of 3.94. That is a 94.17% success rate with a high profit factor. The drawdowns have been minimal.  I developed this when sports was put on hold and I had nothing else to do:)

These are among the trades I share , all on my slack channel. Other categories of trades are mean reversion , swing trades along with income trades.

I am also working on a post to update the political odds section of the site. Lot of interesting wagers coming up. I should have that finished in the next several days.

In the meantime if anyone has any questions, you can send me an email and I will respond.

RickJ

RickJ’s Handicapping Picks

rickjshandicappingpicks.com

Twitter: Rickjsportplays

Slack: Once you sign up I will send you out an invite for all the slack channels.

[stacy41716gussel]

EPL Odds: EPL Spreads & Soccer Betting Lines | Odds Shark

Epl match odds - Premier League Odds, English Premiership EPL Betting Lines | Vegas Odds Premier League

The road team can pull here the upset. But Leicester should provide a bounce back performance. LC lost their last to the Sky Blues. West Ham is a reprieve after facing KDB and his mates.

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Leagues PGA International. Epl match odds Odds. Favorites 0 Bet Card 0. Explore our brands: Contests. Sportsbook Review. English Premier League Odds. Full Game 1st Half 2nd Half. Box Scores. Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Fulham FC. Saturday, April 10, Leeds United. Manchester City FC. Aston Villa FC. Liverpool FC. Chelsea FC.

[jewelvandyke0-blog]

Where To Find The Best On-Line Sportsbook Bonuses And No Deposit Bonuses

By staying away from betting scams and picking the correct products from the sports betting business, you can make a lot of cash from gambling. There are some fantastic ebooks out there that will assist you build a powerful betting technique that will bring you profits over and more than once more. You cannot jump from one strategy to another or only try a technique half way although. Make certain to do your study, discover a good e-book, and adhere to the strategies that are taught. Coming to American soccer, it is not same as Worldwide soccer. Also it is definitely not same as rugby. Although rugby and American football share numerous similarities, they have their personal differences. There is a huge following for football in the Usa and therefore betting money flows like rivers and massive cash is at stake in every sport. Let's focus on this small 2%twenty five of online sports bettors aka bookie buster that really defeat the bookie constantly. 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Even if you're not having to pay for them, you'll definitely be paying if you lose your bets. Finally, remember that spreads and more than/unders consist of any extra time perform. In a shootout, one objective is allotted to the successful club. With these basics in mind, consider some time to hunt around for some primary wagering opportunities in NHL hockey.

[sportsleague365]

West Virginia vs. Oklahoma State college basketball fearless prediction and game preview. West Virginia vs. Oklahoma State BroadcastDate: Tuesday, February 18 Game Time: 7:00 ET Live Stream:fuboTV (click to watch for free) Venue: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, WV Network: ESPN2 – All of the CFN Fearless Predictions West Virginia (18-7) vs. Oklahoma State (13-12) Game PreviewIf want in on this week’s games,sign up with BetMGM WHY OKLAHOMA STATE WILL WIN On a nice run of three wins in the last four games – with the only loss to Baylor – the Cowboys are finding their groove after losing eight in nine. How are they doing it? They’re crushing teams on the boards. This was an okay team on the glass earlier in the year, but they’ve been hitting it hard over the last two weeks. With a good inside presence and solid D from three, they have the right mix to stop a West Virginia team that doesn’t do a whole lot from the outside and live on rebounding margin. Want a 2nd opinion on who to bet in the Oklahoma State vs West Virginia game? Click here to get WinnersAndWhiners.com’s predictions on the side, total, first half, and exotic bets! All Free! WHY WEST VIRGINIA WILL WIN Don’t get too hung up on the three-game losing streak. The Mountaineers lost to – arguably – the two best teams in the country in Baylor and Kansas, and that’s coming off a loss at Oklahoma. Yeah, Oklahoma State is doing a great job on the boards lately, but West Virginia rebounds at a whole other level – it leads the Big 12. OSU doesn’t move the ball well enough to overcome the WVU D that forces a whole lot of turnovers. Points in transition will be a big deal, and the home team will get more of them. WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN At home, West Virginia will get past its rough run with a strong performance on the defensive side to turn things back around. The forced mistakes will take their toll as the game goes on. West Virginia vs. Oklahoma State Prediction, LineWest Virginia 67, Oklahoma State 62 Bet on this with BetMGM, or for latest line West Virginia -10.5, o/u: 136 Live Stream:fuboTV (click to watch for free) ATS Confidence out of 5: 3 – Get Tickets For This Game MUST SEE RATING: 3 5: NBA All-Star Game 4th quarter 1: A game ending on a free throw #WestVirginia #OklahomaState #WestVirginiaVsOklahomaState

[bad-beats]

A Bowl of Bad Beets - Bad Beets Ch. 5 (12/16-1/5)

Ladies. Gentleman. Boy. Girls. Cats. Dogs. Degenerate Gamblers. Bookies. Welcome back to the Bad Beets Blog! I hope you had a fantastic holiday season and that your Sunday Scaries weren’t as bad as mine after my two-week absence from the office. This past month was full of NCAA bowl games, and bowl game szn and bad beet szn are basically synonymous. I already broke my New Year’s Resolution of having zero Bad Beets in 2020. Nonetheless, I am here to provide entertainment for all of you (albeit that it is in the form of my gambling misfortune). Let’s get after it.

12/17/19

League: NBA

Bet: Magic vs Jazz Under 209 (-110)

Units: 1.1 to win 1

Welcome back to another thrilling episode of “Life is too short to bet the under.” Thanks for being a recurring viewer. This is a classic NBA scenario: Magic down 1 with a minute left. Jazz score two buckets in a row. Magic play the fouling game to try to decrease the deficit. Jazz don’t miss free throws. 10 points scored in the final minute.

Bad Beet #1 just dips its feet in the water compared to the beets that are to come in the rest of this article.

12/18/19

League: NBA

Bet: Cavaliers -3 (-110)

Units: 2.2 to win 2

I will definitely take part of the blame for this beet. Why the hell I thought it was feasible that the Cavs could cover a 3-point spread at home is beyond me. The Cavaliers should never be favorites. Unfortunately, I didn’t listen to logic and took them -3 anyway. For most of the game, I was pretty proud of myself for this bet - I thought I had outsmarted Vegas. The Cavs were up double digits almost wire to wire. They took a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter. They were up 10 with 3:08 left in the game.

Enter “Scary Terry” Rozier. The guy couldn’t miss a three during the final 60 seconds. He channeled his inner Jimmer Fredette, pulling threes from 28+ feet.

Larry Nance Jr. missed a free throw with 31 seconds left with the Cavs up 5, and of course, Scary Terry drained a 28-footer just seconds later to cut the deficit to 2. Not to fear though, the Cavs got the ball back and were about to get fouled and head back to the line to try to cover again, right? WRONG! Colin Sexton dribbled the ball of his foot, turning the ball right back over to the Hornets. Scary Terry had a chance to win the game, but it rimmed in and out and the Cavs secured the rebound. With only a few seconds left, the Hornets didn’t foul, the Cavs didn’t get to shoot free throws, and they somehow didn’t cover the -3, and I couldn’t even escape with a push.

I forgot to mention that the Cavs had a 96% chance to cover with just three minutes left in the game according to The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ on Twitter). Bad Beet #2 of the week can be attributed to Scary Terry and the Lebron-less Cleveland Cavaliers.

12/19/19

League: NHL

Bet: Blackhawks vs Jets 1P over 1.5 (-150)

Units: 2.75 to win 1.85

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, there is little that is more exhilarating than betting first-period hockey totals. These bets can be instant wins if you take the over and the score is 1-1 after 2:33 seconds, or you can lose an under on a last-second goal 19:54 into the period. I love betting on the Blackhawks first-period overs this season because their defense ranks in the bottom third in goals allowed and they give up the most shots in the entire league at a whopping 35.95 per game. On the flip side of the puck, Patrick Kane can find the net faster than a fat kid can find a sleeve of Oreos.

The Hawks scored on the first shot of the game, 0:59 into the period. Alex Nylander beautifully put it home, and my bet was already halfway there with 95% of the time in the period remaining.

Someone please explain to me how the fuck one goal is scored on this first shot, and zero goals are scored on the following 28 shots. FUCK. Bad Beet #3 of the week. No words for this one.

12/21/19

League: NHL

Bet: Jets vs Wild 1P under 1.5 (Even)

Units: 0.8 to win 0.8

Remember how in the previous beet the Winnipeg Jets scored 0 goals off of 17 shots in the first period and screwed me out 1.85 units? These mother fuckers are the worst. In an uneventful first period against the Wild, they committed a penalty in a 0-0 game with just 6:30 remaining, proceeded to score a SHORTHANDED GOAL with 5 minutes left in the period, and for good measure scored with 6 seconds left to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

Fuck me. The Jets are on my shitlist. Bad Beet #4 of the week would have been non-existent if the Wild keeper could have not sucked for just 6 seconds longer (P.S. The Jets would go on to win this game 6-0).

3/26/2003

This is the day that the “Catch me outside, how bout dat,” girl was born. Also known as Danielle Bregoli, or by her rap name “Bhad Bhabie,” she is the queen of producing some absolutely horrific music during her short rap career.

I think it would be more appropriate to call her “Bhad Bheets.” Sheesh.

12/23/19

League: NCAAF - Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl

Bet: Live Bet - UCF vs Marshall over 73.5 (+155)

Units: 2.5 to win 3.85

I LOVE COLLEGE BOWL SEASON. I am a big proponent of these games: coaches are more inclined to go for it on 4th down, there are generally some crazy trick plays, and both teams have a similar chance to win the game. You all know how much I love betting the over, and for college bowl season, I bet the over 85% of the time (which doesn’t end up working out for me). However, on this game, I had such a good read on the over that I obviously took over 59.5 before the game started. UCF plays such with a rapid tempo, and I had a feeling this could turn into a shootout-esque game. Feeling greedy, I took the live bet over 73.5 (+155) sometime in the 2nd quarter. The score at halftime was 24-7. After a 39-point third quarter, I only needed 4 points in the last quarter of the game to hit my live bet. UCF kicked a field goal with 9:04 remaining in the game. I needed one singular point over the last 9 minutes of the game. Here are the final two drives...

Marshall went on a 12 play, 48-yard drive that stalled with a turnover on downs and ate up 4 minutes of clock. With UCF up 23, they weren’t using their usual fast-paced tempo to run their offense, which was unfortunate. However, they broke a 38-yard run with just over a minute left but got tackled at the Marshall 2-yard line. I was hoping they could just punch it in with a quick HB dive, which they attempted, and utterly failed, getting stuffed at the half-yard line. And that is how the game ended. 3 total points in the 4th, 73 overall and just a half-yard away from cashing this bet. Bad Beet #5 of the week gave me kidney stones.

1/1/2020

League: NCAAF - Sugar Bowl

Bet: Georgia vs Baylor over 42 (-120)

Units: 12 to win 10

I am not even going to go into how much this one hurt. I was having a rough New Year’s Day of gambling, so I decided I wanted to chase my losses (never a good idea, 10/10 would not recommend). I needed a bailout special just one day into the new year. I won’t go into a description of what happened in this bet because it will trigger me. I’ll just leave this here...

96% chance to cover the over 44 with 4:10 remaining in the 3rd quarter. 20 minutes of the game left, and I had the over 42, not even 44. I surmise that the cover % for the over 42 was closer to 98% at that point in the game. This beet motherfucked me. One of my worst of all time. #6 of the week and the first one of 2020. Definitely not a good omen for what is to come this gambling year.

1/3/2020

League: NCAAB

Bet: Illinois 1H +5.5 (-110)

Units: 2.2 to win 2

The Fighting Illini (my alma mater) basketball team has had a tail of two seasons. They have played like a top 25 team in the country at times, beating Michigan and annihilating Purdue at home, and also have choked away games at home to Miami and away at Maryland. This beet is unexplainable. Illinois hit a bucket with 0:34 left to decrease the deficit to just 5. MSU missed a layup with 27 seconds left and the Illini grabbed the board. There was no reason for MSU to even get another possession. With the shot clock turned off, Illinois could have held for the last shot of the half, and more importantly guaranteed a cover of the 5.5 point spread.

Just by reading the play-by-play, it looks like Trent Frazier committed the dumbest foul in the game with just one second left in the half, fouling a 3-point shooter as time expired. However, it was actually just the single worst call in basketball history (maybe an exaggeration, but my god was it a horrendous call). Take a look for yourself...

I hate how referees aren’t held accountable for their mistakes. The only job in the world where you can repeatedly mess up and have no repercussions. Going to be sending this ref a Venmo request for my 2.2 units back. Bad Beet #7 of the week was just plain assault.

1/2/2020

League: NBA

Bet: Heat 1H -3 (-110)

Units: 2.75 to win 2.5

The Miami Heat are 12-5-1 against the 1H spread at home this season. However, they could be 13-5 against the spread in the first half at home this season, if not for this horrible push. Miami was up 8 with the ball with 45 seconds left in the half. That’s all you need to know. They had no business not covering the 1H spread in this game.

The Raptors very eloquently executed the 2-for-1 situation at the end of the half, made a layup to shrink the deficit to 5, got a defensive board, and then OG Anunoby hit a buzzer-beater 3 to send the game to halftime with a 39-42 score. The Heat went scoreless over the last 2:14 of the half. Miserable push.

1/3/2020

League: NCAAF - Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Bet: Live Bet - Ohio vs Nevada over 53.5 (-115)

Units: 3.5 to win 3

With a crazy name like the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, obviously, something out of the ordinary was going to happen to my bet. Nevada was getting trounced by Ohio most of the game, but finally found some life in the 4th quarter, attempting to mount a furious comeback. They scored an early TD in the quarter, but botched the snap on the XP and could only come away with 6. They scored another TD soon after, which made the score 30-21.

*Insert inexplicably bad coaching decision #1*

The Nevada coach decided that he wanted to go for two points, down 9, to get that 2-point conversion out of the way. Literally every statistic screams to go for 1 in that scenario, make it an 8-point game to keep the deficit to only one score, and move on with the game. Obviously, Nevada didn’t successfully convert the 2-point try, so the score remained 30-21 with 8:49 remaining in the game. At this point in time, I only needed a FG to win my live bet of the over 53.5. Nevada stopped Ohio on their next drive, and got the ball down to 1st and goal with 4 minutes left, down by 2 scores.

*Insert inexplicably bad coaching decision #2*

Here is the play call on 1st and goal that the Nevada coach came up with...

WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU RUNNING A DOUBLE REVERSE ON 1ST AND GOAL WITH YOUR TEAM DOWN TWO SCORES?!?! OF COURSE YOU ARE GOING TO TURN IT OVER. FUCK. YOU FUCKED MY BET.

Turns out this wasn’t the play that sent my bet to the grave, although I wish it was because how I actually ended up losing was far worse. After the fumble, Nevada used all 3 of their timeouts and stopped Ohio again. They got the ball back with 2:45. On the first play of their drive, a Nevada receiver broke free down the middle of the field for what would have surely been a touchdown. The only problem was that Carson Strong overthrew him by about 6 inches. Two plays later, Strong aired one out to their best receiver, Elijah Cooks, who hauled the ball in at the Ohio 8-yard line. Down 2 scores, Nevada needed both a TD and a field goal to win the game. After 3 straight incomplete passes, the field goal kicker trotted out to make it a one-score game with 1:54 remaining.

Wait...where was the field goal kicker?

*Insert inexplicably bad coaching decision #3*

YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS - THE ONLY EXPLANATION FOR WHY THE COACH WENT FOR IT ON 4TH AND GOAL FROM THE 8 WITH NO TIMEOUTS AND DOWN TWO SCORES WITH 1:54 LEFT IN THE GAME IS THAT HE BET ON OHIO! NO OTHER EXPLANATION. I NEED AN INVESTIGATION YESTERDAY! FUCK! BAD BEET #8 WAS ONE OF THE WORST BEETS OF MY LIFE!

1/4/2020

League: NCAAF - Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

Bet: Live Bet - Tulane vs Southern Miss over 49.5 (-115)

Units: 5.75 to win 5

Frankly, I am out of breath after describing that last beet. I placed this live bet early in the 3rd quarter. Tulane scored 24 unanswered in that quarter, leading 30-13 heading into the last 15 minutes of the game.

After a scoreless first 13 minutes of the 4th quarter, Southern Miss threw a pick in the endzone on 1st and goal. Icing on the shit cake. Bad Beet #9 committed necrophilia with the corpse that was left after Bad Beet #8.

Well, folks, I hope reading this blog was far less miserable than my gambling experiences have already been in 2020. Let’s recap:

Bad Beet Count: 9

Unit Swing: 36 to win 31.5 (67.5 unit swing)

Well, that’s all for this week folks. Please Like and Share on https://www.facebook.com/badbeetsblog/ to offset some of my gambling misery. See you next week!

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How Did WWE Become a 'Most Valuable Sports Brand'? And a 'Most Innovative Company'? By Betting On (and Disrupting) Itself

New Post has been published on http://www.1701host.com/cloud-hosting/how-did-wwe-become-a-most-valuable-sports-brand-and-a-most-innovative-company-by-betting-on-and-disrupting-itself/

How Did WWE Become a 'Most Valuable Sports Brand'? And a 'Most Innovative Company'? By Betting On (and Disrupting) Itself

On Sundays when I was young I watched professional wrestling with my grandfather on his black-and-white TV. Even then I could tell the show — designed primarily to drive attendance at live events — was low-budget and, well, kinda seedy.

Later when I was in college I went with friends to a professional wrestling event at the local high school. In person the show seemed even lower-budget and seedy. And as we left I saw one of the wrestlers in the parking lot (a guy I had watched years ago nearly every week on TV) arguing about his pay; evidently he had been promised $50 but had only been given $30.

Pro wrestling in the 60s and 70s was a lot like the carnival business: A few performers made decent money, and a few promotions made decent money… but it definitely wasn’t big business. If one end of the spectrum was Coca-Cola, professional wrestling was a ratty guy in the parking lot selling RC Cola out of a cooler.

And everything is different. Forbes placed WrestleMania in its Top 10 Sports Brands. Fast Company named WWE one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.

Last year, WWE generated $801 million in revenue, its highest revenue in company history and a 10% increase over 2016. In the 2nd quarter of this year revenues increased by 31 percent to $281.6 million, marking the highest quarterly revenues in WWE history.

On TV, WWE negotiated contracts to keep Raw on USA Network and bring SmackDown to FOX networks in 2019, increasing the average annual value of WWE’s U.S. TV distribution to 3.6 times the previous deals. Raw is the longest-running weekly episodic television program (by number of episodes) in the U.S.; SmackDown is second.

Online, the WWE Network is the #2 sports OTT (over the top, meaning delivered on the Internet without involving a multiple-system operator) service, trailing only MLB.tv. Average paid subscribers increased 10 percent to 1.8 million in 2018. Elsewhere, video views increased 32 percent to 20 billion (yep, 20 billion), and media engagement rose to 1.2 billion.

The WWE YouTube channel is the most-viewed sports channel (yep, beating NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL…) and, with 24 billion total views, the second most-viewed channel on YouTube.

And if that’s not enough, WWE performed more than 500 events in 2017 — including 80 international events in 25 countries — for a total live audience of more than 2 million fans. And global sponsorship rose 30 percent year-over-year due to deals with major brands.

So no: This ain’t my grandfather’s professional wrestling.

The rise of the WWE is an incredible story, not least because the company is not afraid to disrupt itself. Case in point, the WWE Network. In hindsight it looks like a no-brainer, but choosing to pivot away from the major revenue stream of Pay-Per-View (PPV) events to an online subscription service was met with broad disdain by the business media. In fact…

In fact, let’s let an insider tell the story. Michelle Wilson is co-President of WWE and is responsible for strategy, day-to-day operations, and all revenue lines. She’s also on the Board of Directors and was named to the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports list, the Adweek 50 list, and one of Sports Illustrated’s 10 Most Influential Women in Sports. 

Half the world thought you were crazy to stop holding major events on PPV (and give up all that revenue) and shift to online delivery. 

It wasn’t half the world. It was the whole world. (Laughs.)

At the time the majority of our broadcast content was on cable TV, but to get the payoff of some storylines our fans had to pay $55 for a PPV. I recognized quickly that was a limited portion of our fan base. We had a sizable fan base watching weekly, but the PPV buying universe was limited to those willing to give us $55 dollars for the big events. I felt we should have a broader audience for those events.

So we talked to Vince about it. In his mind there would always be a day when there would be a WWE Network; he always had hte idea one would exist. Combine that with the fact our premium content wasn’t getting broad distribution and we knew there was an opportunity. 

But you still had to figure out the right business model.

We did a tremendous amount of research. Along the way we decided to do a linear network like the NFL Network. We had a deal on the table, were ready to do that deal… but we really dug into our research and realized that the WWE fan base over-indexed for watching digital video content. They were twice as likely to subscribe to a streaming service and watched 5 times the amount of digital content.

That data frankly made us think. Plus, Vince — who is truly a serial entrepreneur — pushed us by saying, “Do we really want to go the traditional route… or will the future be going direct?” 

We finally decided that’s where the future is: Direct to consumer.

Maybe so, but shifting away from PPV was a huge risk. 

Absolutely. Take Netflix or Hulu — their business is digital first. They were developed specifically to be digital first.

Our business was deeply rooted in PPV, in closed-circuit before that… PPV was extremely important to us.

We knew it was a calculated risk. But we objectively believed we didn’t want to go the traditional way of premium cable and should instead go direct to consumer. We felt we were right.

We had no idea the market would react the way it did when we made the announcement, though. (Laughs.) 

A new player disrupting an industry is one thing. An established player disrupting its own business….

Nobody else had done it. No one else had done what we wanted to do. We described it as direct to consumer but there was no playbook. It was absolutely a calculated risk on our part.

Ultimately we were disrupting a legacy business model to go where consumers were going. It came down to one question: “Where do we think our fans want to enjoy our content?” The data showed digital consumption and subscription services were the future, and we thought it was a smart choice to go that way.

Even though it was a long process to make that decision.

Feeling confident in a prediction is one thing. When did you realize you had made the right decision? 

The day we launched. Our launched focused on WrestleMania 30 since that was obviously an opportunity to capture a big audience. I remember sitting in the bowels of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, watching our subscriber numbers… and realizing we were absolutely on to something.

After that WrestleMania we had 700,000 subscribers and by January we had hit 1 million. And we really knew we were on to something.

Here’s the key: We wanted a live live stream where all of our big events would air, and we also wanted to launch a library of on-demand content. And we wanted those things because we knew that’s what our fans want.

Of course plenty of people said, “Why would you do that? No one watches old sports content.” We knew our fans would. We knew they would watch our library content.

And every piece of data we have absolutely supports that premise. We’re now up to 10,000 hours of content on our service, and every single minute of that content has been consumed by at least one subscriber.

Like many hugely successful things, that seems obvious in hindsight. If I’m a Brock Lesnar fan, I want to see his journey.

Absolutely. Our fans are already interested. We just had to give them a user interface that made doing that easy.  We created a collections area where you can look at old storylines. To your point, we curated the history and story of Brock Lesnar. 

In a broader sense, we made the decision from day one to be available on 10 platforms: Android, iOS, Roku, PlayStation, Xbox… we wanted to be on multiple platforms and create a user experience that is easy for our fans to do you just said: Watch live, but also relive some of your favorite moments. And learn about the history of your favorite superstars. 

There really was no playbook, but we had enough data to know that if we provided every PPV and thousands of hours of content, and if we delivered it right… we could succeed.

That doesn’t mean we got everything right, though. (Laughs.)

I wasn’t even going to ask what you got wrong.

I’ll tell you anyway. (Laughs.)  We didn’t know what the turnover would be. Would you leave after WrestleMania? So we established a six-month commitment to protect the economics around losing $55 per person in PPV revenue for WrestleMania. 

Our fans really didn’t like the six-month commitment. Their reference points were Netflix and Hulu where you had the right to cancel at any time. We got the value proposition right. We, and our fans, were happy with the subscription rate. The perceived value was definitely greater than the cost. 

So ultimately we moved to a one-month free trial offer, and that has become a great acquisition tool. 

If I’m a wrestling fan, all you need to do is get me to check out what you offer. Once I do, I’m in. 

Let’s talk about live events. Your approach to your “tent pole” events has changed.

Our “big four” events are Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and WrestleMania, which is our our biggest event: It’s our Super Bowl, our Oscars… it’s a huge event. 

We saw the opportunity to make our major events bigger than just one night. Take WrestleMania in New Orleans last year: We had an NXT Takeover event, a Hall of Fame event, WrestleMania itself, Monday Night Raw, Tuesday Smackdown… we create week-long activities around live events. We have WWE Fan access, our version of the NFL Experience, we have meet and greets, community events, sponsor activations… 

Greatly expanding our tent pole events has been a major business driver.

So much so that even choosing the cities and venues has changed. In the past we would book WrestleMania just like any other live event, negotiating with the building. 

Now, because those events are so successful, because we typically generate $150 million in economic activity for the market, we have a formal bidding process in place. Cities bid for our events just like they would for the Super Bowl, the NCAA Finals, etc. We have multiple cities hoping an event like WrestleMania will come to their market. 

You mentioned sponsor activation. Your roster of brand partners has come a really long way.

Ten years ago we felt we were one of the best-kept secrets in sports and entertainment. When I talked to Vince about rejoining the company in 2009, the year before that WWE had shifted to TV PG. Our TV product was family entertainment. But the business community had no idea.

I had no idea. When I was interviewing and he said, “We’re family entertainment,” I said, “I didn’t know that. We have to get the word out on what WWE really is.”

Our audience, and the number of viewers, beats every sports property besides the NFL. And we have scale. We’re turn-key. Our talent works for us: We can write, produce, deliver creative content across platforms… versus sports leagues where if you want to do a deal with, say, Serena Williams, you have to deal with the tennis association, agents, managers…

We had scale and could deliver turn-key, cross-platform, family friendly… and no one knew.

So we set out on a journey to do the B2B work. Stephanie (McMahon) was out on the road, I was out on the road… and after we got a couple of great wins under our belt, after well-known brands like KFC and Mars Snickers came on board, after agencies saw the results we delivered… that really built momentum. 

NBC Universal has also been a terrific partner. They recognized they had to tell our story to the advertising community, too.

Now if you look at the roster of advertisers, we have over 200 blue-chip companies. Ten years ago our major advertisers tended to be video games and theatrical releases. Not anymore.

Our sponsorship revenue has quadrupled since 2010. I told Vince when I took over that we should be doing 5 times the sponsor revenue we were doing, and he said, “Okay, let’s see you do it.” And we’re almost there. (Laughs.)

But a lot of hard work brought us to this point.  To borrow Vince’s words, we bet on ourselves a lot. We knew if we got a brand in the door we would deliver for that brand… and that would start the dominos falling.

You mention telling your story. There’s another story that doesn’t get nearly the attention it should.

When we were talking about our brand, I found out WWE has been a partner with Special Olympics for 30-plus years, with Make a Wish, we great work in the community…

That goes back to Vince and Linda (McMahon, Vince’s wife.) Their feeling has always been that as we travel all around the U.S. and host live events, we don’t just want to just take — we also want to leave something. It has always been in the DNA of WWE to make the communities part of what we do.

But we never really talked about it. So we decided to tell our corporate partners, not because it made us look good but because they could help us make community outreach an even bigger part of what we do. Our athletes and performers care about giving back — so how can we be even more strategic and offer a platform to community organizations?

Some years ago John Cena said, “We know female fans love WWE.” (Forty percent of the audience are women.) “We should have an initiative that supports breast cancer awareness.”  So I cold-called the Susan G. Komen foundation and said, “We want to help your organization.”

Their first response was, “We don’t get it. Why would we want to do that?” We explained our audience demographics, how we over-reach for certain demographics… one of their priorities was to make women aware of the resources they provide and I said, “We can do that.”

For a number of years we’ve been a partner, helping raise awareness about the importance of screening, and we can reach an audience they weren’t able to reach. Not only can we help raise money but our platforms really help get the message out.

Overall we feel we have made a huge difference in an area that matters to our audience. We believe we should leverage our platform for social good. It’s an important priority for our organization. We love doing it, and our superstars love being a part of it.

That raises an interesting point. Data shows that your women’s segments are often among your best-rated.

For a time our female performers got time on our shows… but it tended to be limited. 

Then in 2015 a match between two female performers literally lasted 30 seconds. That match created a social media firestorm. The popularity of the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance really opened our eyes to the fact our fans wanted to see more of our female performers. They’re great, incredibly talented athletes. And men were vocal about wanting to see our female performers more. 

In response, Vince tweeted #keepwatching. And things have definitely changed. Our female performers aren’t Divas anymore; they’re WWE Superstars. They do matches they had never done before: Hell in a Cell, all-female royal rumble, the first ever-all women’s live event will be in New York at Nassau Coliseum…

Any opportunity we give our women, they knock out of the park. in front of our women they knock out of the park. According to Nielsen ratings the women’s segments do extremely well. We’re not surprised: They have great storylines, they’re incredibly entertaining… they’re great.

And it’s all because our fans told us they wanted more. 

Let’s talk about social media. One factor in whether a wrestler moves up from a development program to the main roster is social media engagement.

Once upon a time Nielsen ratings were literally the only metric we had to measure whether a product, storyline, performer, etc. was doing well.

Social media has obviously changed all that. Now we look at how content is consumed across all platforms. Time is a huge metric: If we see significant time is spent watching certain talent on YouTube, on our platforms, if there’s significant engagement on social platforms… that’s extremely meaningful.

Our access to data has fundamentally changed the way we do business. Our live events used to be our focus groups: Audience response was all we really had. Now we have a massive amount of data we can use to determine what our fans want.

A friend in the TV business says WWE programming on TV is DVR-proof. I’m sure that’s just one reason why your new TV deals are huge.

Another is that our brand perception has evolved dramatically. Another is our numbers: Week in, week out we deliver more live viewers than any major sport than the NFL.

TV partners look for live eyeballs, an audience at scale, a product that is DVR-proof… all of that allowed us to get higher revenue on a dollar per viewer hour basis. We deliver eyeballs, at scale, with live content.  Eighty-five to 90 percent of our content is viewed live or same day.

Our fans want to know what happens, and they want to know now. And if they do miss a live show, we make sure they can stay engaged with our storylines. TV, digital, direct to consumer… 

What are the plans to keep that flywheel going? 

We’ll continue to create great content. We’ll continue to leverage data and technology.

But one thing we haven’t talked about is international. International growth is a huge priority. Seventy percent of video hours are consumed from outside the U.S., but only 30 percent of our revenue is international. There’s a huge opportunity to leverage and monetize what we’ve done in the U.S.

One of the keys is to localize our content. We already have a huge digital and social and TV footprint, but monetizing by localizing in language, in short form on digital and social, is a big priority.

Take India. Or the U.K. Both have been large markets for a long time, but we believe there’s significant opportunity to grow in those markets. 

And we’ve been very open in talking about our interest in replicating our performance center and recruiting presence in those markets. We’d love to get local talent from India. Or China; we’d love to find our Yao Ming, if you will.

That’s the best part of my job. Looking back at how we got to this point is fun, but it’s even more fun to think about where we’re going.

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[lazilysillyprince]

How Did WWE Become a 'Most Valuable Sports Brand'? And a 'Most Innovative Company'? By Betting On (and Disrupting) Itself

New Post has been published on http://www.1701host.com/cloud-hosting/how-did-wwe-become-a-most-valuable-sports-brand-and-a-most-innovative-company-by-betting-on-and-disrupting-itself/

How Did WWE Become a 'Most Valuable Sports Brand'? And a 'Most Innovative Company'? By Betting On (and Disrupting) Itself

On Sundays when I was young I watched professional wrestling with my grandfather on his black-and-white TV. Even then I could tell the show — designed primarily to drive attendance at live events — was low-budget and, well, kinda seedy.

Later when I was in college I went with friends to a professional wrestling event at the local high school. In person the show seemed even lower-budget and seedy. And as we left I saw one of the wrestlers in the parking lot (a guy I had watched years ago nearly every week on TV) arguing about his pay; evidently he had been promised $50 but had only been given $30.

Pro wrestling in the 60s and 70s was a lot like the carnival business: A few performers made decent money, and a few promotions made decent money… but it definitely wasn’t big business. If one end of the spectrum was Coca-Cola, professional wrestling was a ratty guy in the parking lot selling RC Cola out of a cooler.

And everything is different. Forbes placed WrestleMania in its Top 10 Sports Brands. Fast Company named WWE one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.

Last year, WWE generated $801 million in revenue, its highest revenue in company history and a 10% increase over 2016. In the 2nd quarter of this year revenues increased by 31 percent to $281.6 million, marking the highest quarterly revenues in WWE history.

On TV, WWE negotiated contracts to keep Raw on USA Network and bring SmackDown to FOX networks in 2019, increasing the average annual value of WWE’s U.S. TV distribution to 3.6 times the previous deals. Raw is the longest-running weekly episodic television program (by number of episodes) in the U.S.; SmackDown is second.

Online, the WWE Network is the #2 sports OTT (over the top, meaning delivered on the Internet without involving a multiple-system operator) service, trailing only MLB.tv. Average paid subscribers increased 10 percent to 1.8 million in 2018. Elsewhere, video views increased 32 percent to 20 billion (yep, 20 billion), and media engagement rose to 1.2 billion.

The WWE YouTube channel is the most-viewed sports channel (yep, beating NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL…) and, with 24 billion total views, the second most-viewed channel on YouTube.

And if that’s not enough, WWE performed more than 500 events in 2017 — including 80 international events in 25 countries — for a total live audience of more than 2 million fans. And global sponsorship rose 30 percent year-over-year due to deals with major brands.

So no: This ain’t my grandfather’s professional wrestling.

The rise of the WWE is an incredible story, not least because the company is not afraid to disrupt itself. Case in point, the WWE Network. In hindsight it looks like a no-brainer, but choosing to pivot away from the major revenue stream of Pay-Per-View (PPV) events to an online subscription service was met with broad disdain by the business media. In fact…

In fact, let’s let an insider tell the story. Michelle Wilson is co-President of WWE and is responsible for strategy, day-to-day operations, and all revenue lines. She’s also on the Board of Directors and was named to the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports list, the Adweek 50 list, and one of Sports Illustrated’s 10 Most Influential Women in Sports. 

Half the world thought you were crazy to stop holding major events on PPV (and give up all that revenue) and shift to online delivery. 

It wasn’t half the world. It was the whole world. (Laughs.)

At the time the majority of our broadcast content was on cable TV, but to get the payoff of some storylines our fans had to pay $55 for a PPV. I recognized quickly that was a limited portion of our fan base. We had a sizable fan base watching weekly, but the PPV buying universe was limited to those willing to give us $55 dollars for the big events. I felt we should have a broader audience for those events.

So we talked to Vince about it. In his mind there would always be a day when there would be a WWE Network; he always had hte idea one would exist. Combine that with the fact our premium content wasn’t getting broad distribution and we knew there was an opportunity. 

But you still had to figure out the right business model.

We did a tremendous amount of research. Along the way we decided to do a linear network like the NFL Network. We had a deal on the table, were ready to do that deal… but we really dug into our research and realized that the WWE fan base over-indexed for watching digital video content. They were twice as likely to subscribe to a streaming service and watched 5 times the amount of digital content.

That data frankly made us think. Plus, Vince — who is truly a serial entrepreneur — pushed us by saying, “Do we really want to go the traditional route… or will the future be going direct?” 

We finally decided that’s where the future is: Direct to consumer.

Maybe so, but shifting away from PPV was a huge risk. 

Absolutely. Take Netflix or Hulu — their business is digital first. They were developed specifically to be digital first.

Our business was deeply rooted in PPV, in closed-circuit before that… PPV was extremely important to us.

We knew it was a calculated risk. But we objectively believed we didn’t want to go the traditional way of premium cable and should instead go direct to consumer. We felt we were right.

We had no idea the market would react the way it did when we made the announcement, though. (Laughs.) 

A new player disrupting an industry is one thing. An established player disrupting its own business….

Nobody else had done it. No one else had done what we wanted to do. We described it as direct to consumer but there was no playbook. It was absolutely a calculated risk on our part.

Ultimately we were disrupting a legacy business model to go where consumers were going. It came down to one question: “Where do we think our fans want to enjoy our content?” The data showed digital consumption and subscription services were the future, and we thought it was a smart choice to go that way.

Even though it was a long process to make that decision.

Feeling confident in a prediction is one thing. When did you realize you had made the right decision? 

The day we launched. Our launched focused on WrestleMania 30 since that was obviously an opportunity to capture a big audience. I remember sitting in the bowels of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, watching our subscriber numbers… and realizing we were absolutely on to something.

After that WrestleMania we had 700,000 subscribers and by January we had hit 1 million. And we really knew we were on to something.

Here’s the key: We wanted a live live stream where all of our big events would air, and we also wanted to launch a library of on-demand content. And we wanted those things because we knew that’s what our fans want.

Of course plenty of people said, “Why would you do that? No one watches old sports content.” We knew our fans would. We knew they would watch our library content.

And every piece of data we have absolutely supports that premise. We’re now up to 10,000 hours of content on our service, and every single minute of that content has been consumed by at least one subscriber.

Like many hugely successful things, that seems obvious in hindsight. If I’m a Brock Lesnar fan, I want to see his journey.

Absolutely. Our fans are already interested. We��just had to give them a user interface that made doing that easy.  We created a collections area where you can look at old storylines. To your point, we curated the history and story of Brock Lesnar. 

In a broader sense, we made the decision from day one to be available on 10 platforms: Android, iOS, Roku, PlayStation, Xbox… we wanted to be on multiple platforms and create a user experience that is easy for our fans to do you just said: Watch live, but also relive some of your favorite moments. And learn about the history of your favorite superstars. 

There really was no playbook, but we had enough data to know that if we provided every PPV and thousands of hours of content, and if we delivered it right… we could succeed.

That doesn’t mean we got everything right, though. (Laughs.)

I wasn’t even going to ask what you got wrong.

I’ll tell you anyway. (Laughs.)  We didn’t know what the turnover would be. Would you leave after WrestleMania? So we established a six-month commitment to protect the economics around losing $55 per person in PPV revenue for WrestleMania. 

Our fans really didn’t like the six-month commitment. Their reference points were Netflix and Hulu where you had the right to cancel at any time. We got the value proposition right. We, and our fans, were happy with the subscription rate. The perceived value was definitely greater than the cost. 

So ultimately we moved to a one-month free trial offer, and that has become a great acquisition tool. 

If I’m a wrestling fan, all you need to do is get me to check out what you offer. Once I do, I’m in. 

Let’s talk about live events. Your approach to your “tent pole” events has changed.

Our “big four” events are Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and WrestleMania, which is our our biggest event: It’s our Super Bowl, our Oscars… it’s a huge event. 

We saw the opportunity to make our major events bigger than just one night. Take WrestleMania in New Orleans last year: We had an NXT Takeover event, a Hall of Fame event, WrestleMania itself, Monday Night Raw, Tuesday Smackdown… we create week-long activities around live events. We have WWE Fan access, our version of the NFL Experience, we have meet and greets, community events, sponsor activations… 

Greatly expanding our tent pole events has been a major business driver.

So much so that even choosing the cities and venues has changed. In the past we would book WrestleMania just like any other live event, negotiating with the building. 

Now, because those events are so successful, because we typically generate $150 million in economic activity for the market, we have a formal bidding process in place. Cities bid for our events just like they would for the Super Bowl, the NCAA Finals, etc. We have multiple cities hoping an event like WrestleMania will come to their market. 

You mentioned sponsor activation. Your roster of brand partners has come a really long way.

Ten years ago we felt we were one of the best-kept secrets in sports and entertainment. When I talked to Vince about rejoining the company in 2009, the year before that WWE had shifted to TV PG. Our TV product was family entertainment. But the business community had no idea.

I had no idea. When I was interviewing and he said, “We’re family entertainment,” I said, “I didn’t know that. We have to get the word out on what WWE really is.”

Our audience, and the number of viewers, beats every sports property besides the NFL. And we have scale. We’re turn-key. Our talent works for us: We can write, produce, deliver creative content across platforms… versus sports leagues where if you want to do a deal with, say, Serena Williams, you have to deal with the tennis association, agents, managers…

We had scale and could deliver turn-key, cross-platform, family friendly… and no one knew.

So we set out on a journey to do the B2B work. Stephanie (McMahon) was out on the road, I was out on the road… and after we got a couple of great wins under our belt, after well-known brands like KFC and Mars Snickers came on board, after agencies saw the results we delivered… that really built momentum. 

NBC Universal has also been a terrific partner. They recognized they had to tell our story to the advertising community, too.

Now if you look at the roster of advertisers, we have over 200 blue-chip companies. Ten years ago our major advertisers tended to be video games and theatrical releases. Not anymore.

Our sponsorship revenue has quadrupled since 2010. I told Vince when I took over that we should be doing 5 times the sponsor revenue we were doing, and he said, “Okay, let’s see you do it.” And we’re almost there. (Laughs.)

But a lot of hard work brought us to this point.  To borrow Vince’s words, we bet on ourselves a lot. We knew if we got a brand in the door we would deliver for that brand… and that would start the dominos falling.

You mention telling your story. There’s another story that doesn’t get nearly the attention it should.

When we were talking about our brand, I found out WWE has been a partner with Special Olympics for 30-plus years, with Make a Wish, we great work in the community…

That goes back to Vince and Linda (McMahon, Vince’s wife.) Their feeling has always been that as we travel all around the U.S. and host live events, we don’t just want to just take — we also want to leave something. It has always been in the DNA of WWE to make the communities part of what we do.

But we never really talked about it. So we decided to tell our corporate partners, not because it made us look good but because they could help us make community outreach an even bigger part of what we do. Our athletes and performers care about giving back — so how can we be even more strategic and offer a platform to community organizations?

Some years ago John Cena said, “We know female fans love WWE.” (Forty percent of the audience are women.) “We should have an initiative that supports breast cancer awareness.”  So I cold-called the Susan G. Komen foundation and said, “We want to help your organization.”

Their first response was, “We don’t get it. Why would we want to do that?” We explained our audience demographics, how we over-reach for certain demographics… one of their priorities was to make women aware of the resources they provide and I said, “We can do that.”

For a number of years we’ve been a partner, helping raise awareness about the importance of screening, and we can reach an audience they weren’t able to reach. Not only can we help raise money but our platforms really help get the message out.

Overall we feel we have made a huge difference in an area that matters to our audience. We believe we should leverage our platform for social good. It’s an important priority for our organization. We love doing it, and our superstars love being a part of it.

That raises an interesting point. Data shows that your women’s segments are often among your best-rated.

For a time our female performers got time on our shows… but it tended to be limited. 

Then in 2015 a match between two female performers literally lasted 30 seconds. That match created a social media firestorm. The popularity of the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance really opened our eyes to the fact our fans wanted to see more of our female performers. They’re great, incredibly talented athletes. And men were vocal about wanting to see our female performers more. 

In response, Vince tweeted #keepwatching. And things have definitely changed. Our female performers aren’t Divas anymore; they’re WWE Superstars. They do matches they had never done before: Hell in a Cell, all-female royal rumble, the first ever-all women’s live event will be in New York at Nassau Coliseum…

Any opportunity we give our women, they knock out of the park. in front of our women they knock out of the park. According to Nielsen ratings the women’s segments do extremely well. We’re not surprised: They have great storylines, they’re incredibly entertaining… they’re great.

And it’s all because our fans told us they wanted more. 

Let’s talk about social media. One factor in whether a wrestler moves up from a development program to the main roster is social media engagement.

Once upon a time Nielsen ratings were literally the only metric we had to measure whether a product, storyline, performer, etc. was doing well.

Social media has obviously changed all that. Now we look at how content is consumed across all platforms. Time is a huge metric: If we see significant time is spent watching certain talent on YouTube, on our platforms, if there’s significant engagement on social platforms… that’s extremely meaningful.

Our access to data has fundamentally changed the way we do business. Our live events used to be our focus groups: Audience response was all we really had. Now we have a massive amount of data we can use to determine what our fans want.

A friend in the TV business says WWE programming on TV is DVR-proof. I’m sure that’s just one reason why your new TV deals are huge.

Another is that our brand perception has evolved dramatically. Another is our numbers: Week in, week out we deliver more live viewers than any major sport than the NFL.

TV partners look for live eyeballs, an audience at scale, a product that is DVR-proof… all of that allowed us to get higher revenue on a dollar per viewer hour basis. We deliver eyeballs, at scale, with live content.  Eighty-five to 90 percent of our content is viewed live or same day.

Our fans want to know what happens, and they want to know now. And if they do miss a live show, we make sure they can stay engaged with our storylines. TV, digital, direct to consumer… 

What are the plans to keep that flywheel going? 

We’ll continue to create great content. We’ll continue to leverage data and technology.

But one thing we haven’t talked about is international. International growth is a huge priority. Seventy percent of video hours are consumed from outside the U.S., but only 30 percent of our revenue is international. There’s a huge opportunity to leverage and monetize what we’ve done in the U.S.

One of the keys is to localize our content. We already have a huge digital and social and TV footprint, but monetizing by localizing in language, in short form on digital and social, is a big priority.

Take India. Or the U.K. Both have been large markets for a long time, but we believe there’s significant opportunity to grow in those markets. 

And we’ve been very open in talking about our interest in replicating our performance center and recruiting presence in those markets. We’d love to get local talent from India. Or China; we’d love to find our Yao Ming, if you will.

That’s the best part of my job. Looking back at how we got to this point is fun, but it’s even more fun to think about where we’re going.

Related Posts:

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How Did WWE Become a 'Most Valuable Sports Brand'? And a 'Most Innovative Company'? By Betting On (and Disrupting) Itself

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How Did WWE Become a 'Most Valuable Sports Brand'? And a 'Most Innovative Company'? By Betting On (and Disrupting) Itself

On Sundays when I was young I watched professional wrestling with my grandfather on his black-and-white TV. Even then I could tell the show — designed primarily to drive attendance at live events — was low-budget and, well, kinda seedy.

Later when I was in college I went with friends to a professional wrestling event at the local high school. In person the show seemed even lower-budget and seedy. And as we left I saw one of the wrestlers in the parking lot (a guy I had watched years ago nearly every week on TV) arguing about his pay; evidently he had been promised $50 but had only been given $30.

Pro wrestling in the 60s and 70s was a lot like the carnival business: A few performers made decent money, and a few promotions made decent money… but it definitely wasn’t big business. If one end of the spectrum was Coca-Cola, professional wrestling was a ratty guy in the parking lot selling RC Cola out of a cooler.

And everything is different. Forbes placed WrestleMania in its Top 10 Sports Brands. Fast Company named WWE one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.

Last year, WWE generated $801 million in revenue, its highest revenue in company history and a 10% increase over 2016. In the 2nd quarter of this year revenues increased by 31 percent to $281.6 million, marking the highest quarterly revenues in WWE history.

On TV, WWE negotiated contracts to keep Raw on USA Network and bring SmackDown to FOX networks in 2019, increasing the average annual value of WWE’s U.S. TV distribution to 3.6 times the previous deals. Raw is the longest-running weekly episodic television program (by number of episodes) in the U.S.; SmackDown is second.

Online, the WWE Network is the #2 sports OTT (over the top, meaning delivered on the Internet without involving a multiple-system operator) service, trailing only MLB.tv. Average paid subscribers increased 10 percent to 1.8 million in 2018. Elsewhere, video views increased 32 percent to 20 billion (yep, 20 billion), and media engagement rose to 1.2 billion.

The WWE YouTube channel is the most-viewed sports channel (yep, beating NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL…) and, with 24 billion total views, the second most-viewed channel on YouTube.

And if that’s not enough, WWE performed more than 500 events in 2017 — including 80 international events in 25 countries — for a total live audience of more than 2 million fans. And global sponsorship rose 30 percent year-over-year due to deals with major brands.

So no: This ain’t my grandfather’s professional wrestling.

The rise of the WWE is an incredible story, not least because the company is not afraid to disrupt itself. Case in point, the WWE Network. In hindsight it looks like a no-brainer, but choosing to pivot away from the major revenue stream of Pay-Per-View (PPV) events to an online subscription service was met with broad disdain by the business media. In fact…

In fact, let’s let an insider tell the story. Michelle Wilson is co-President of WWE and is responsible for strategy, day-to-day operations, and all revenue lines. She’s also on the Board of Directors and was named to the Forbes 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports list, the Adweek 50 list, and one of Sports Illustrated’s 10 Most Influential Women in Sports. 

Half the world thought you were crazy to stop holding major events on PPV (and give up all that revenue) and shift to online delivery. 

It wasn’t half the world. It was the whole world. (Laughs.)

At the time the majority of our broadcast content was on cable TV, but to get the payoff of some storylines our fans had to pay $55 for a PPV. I recognized quickly that was a limited portion of our fan base. We had a sizable fan base watching weekly, but the PPV buying universe was limited to those willing to give us $55 dollars for the big events. I felt we should have a broader audience for those events.

So we talked to Vince about it. In his mind there would always be a day when there would be a WWE Network; he always had hte idea one would exist. Combine that with the fact our premium content wasn’t getting broad distribution and we knew there was an opportunity. 

But you still had to figure out the right business model.

We did a tremendous amount of research. Along the way we decided to do a linear network like the NFL Network. We had a deal on the table, were ready to do that deal… but we really dug into our research and realized that the WWE fan base over-indexed for watching digital video content. They were twice as likely to subscribe to a streaming service and watched 5 times the amount of digital content.

That data frankly made us think. Plus, Vince — who is truly a serial entrepreneur — pushed us by saying, “Do we really want to go the traditional route… or will the future be going direct?” 

We finally decided that’s where the future is: Direct to consumer.

Maybe so, but shifting away from PPV was a huge risk. 

Absolutely. Take Netflix or Hulu — their business is digital first. They were developed specifically to be digital first.

Our business was deeply rooted in PPV, in closed-circuit before that… PPV was extremely important to us.

We knew it was a calculated risk. But we objectively believed we didn’t want to go the traditional way of premium cable and should instead go direct to consumer. We felt we were right.

We had no idea the market would react the way it did when we made the announcement, though. (Laughs.) 

A new player disrupting an industry is one thing. An established player disrupting its own business….

Nobody else had done it. No one else had done what we wanted to do. We described it as direct to consumer but there was no playbook. It was absolutely a calculated risk on our part.

Ultimately we were disrupting a legacy business model to go where consumers were going. It came down to one question: “Where do we think our fans want to enjoy our content?” The data showed digital consumption and subscription services were the future, and we thought it was a smart choice to go that way.

Even though it was a long process to make that decision.

Feeling confident in a prediction is one thing. When did you realize you had made the right decision? 

The day we launched. Our launched focused on WrestleMania 30 since that was obviously an opportunity to capture a big audience. I remember sitting in the bowels of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, watching our subscriber numbers… and realizing we were absolutely on to something.

After that WrestleMania we had 700,000 subscribers and by January we had hit 1 million. And we really knew we were on to something.

Here’s the key: We wanted a live live stream where all of our big events would air, and we also wanted to launch a library of on-demand content. And we wanted those things because we knew that’s what our fans want.

Of course plenty of people said, “Why would you do that? No one watches old sports content.” We knew our fans would. We knew they would watch our library content.

And every piece of data we have absolutely supports that premise. We’re now up to 10,000 hours of content on our service, and every single minute of that content has been consumed by at least one subscriber.

Like many hugely successful things, that seems obvious in hindsight. If I’m a Brock Lesnar fan, I want to see his journey.

Absolutely. Our fans are already interested. We just had to give them a user interface that made doing that easy.  We created a collections area where you can look at old storylines. To your point, we curated the history and story of Brock Lesnar. 

In a broader sense, we made the decision from day one to be available on 10 platforms: Android, iOS, Roku, PlayStation, Xbox… we wanted to be on multiple platforms and create a user experience that is easy for our fans to do you just said: Watch live, but also relive some of your favorite moments. And learn about the history of your favorite superstars. 

There really was no playbook, but we had enough data to know that if we provided every PPV and thousands of hours of content, and if we delivered it right… we could succeed.

That doesn’t mean we got everything right, though. (Laughs.)

I wasn’t even going to ask what you got wrong.

I’ll tell you anyway. (Laughs.)  We didn’t know what the turnover would be. Would you leave after WrestleMania? So we established a six-month commitment to protect the economics around losing $55 per person in PPV revenue for WrestleMania. 

Our fans really didn’t like the six-month commitment. Their reference points were Netflix and Hulu where you had the right to cancel at any time. We got the value proposition right. We, and our fans, were happy with the subscription rate. The perceived value was definitely greater than the cost. 

So ultimately we moved to a one-month free trial offer, and that has become a great acquisition tool. 

If I’m a wrestling fan, all you need to do is get me to check out what you offer. Once I do, I’m in. 

Let’s talk about live events. Your approach to your “tent pole” events has changed.

Our “big four” events are Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and WrestleMania, which is our our biggest event: It’s our Super Bowl, our Oscars… it’s a huge event. 

We saw the opportunity to make our major events bigger than just one night. Take WrestleMania in New Orleans last year: We had an NXT Takeover event, a Hall of Fame event, WrestleMania itself, Monday Night Raw, Tuesday Smackdown… we create week-long activities around live events. We have WWE Fan access, our version of the NFL Experience, we have meet and greets, community events, sponsor activations… 

Greatly expanding our tent pole events has been a major business driver.

So much so that even choosing the cities and venues has changed. In the past we would book WrestleMania just like any other live event, negotiating with the building. 

Now, because those events are so successful, because we typically generate $150 million in economic activity for the market, we have a formal bidding process in place. Cities bid for our events just like they would for the Super Bowl, the NCAA Finals, etc. We have multiple cities hoping an event like WrestleMania will come to their market. 

You mentioned sponsor activation. Your roster of brand partners has come a really long way.

Ten years ago we felt we were one of the best-kept secrets in sports and entertainment. When I talked to Vince about rejoining the company in 2009, the year before that WWE had shifted to TV PG. Our TV product was family entertainment. But the business community had no idea.

I had no idea. When I was interviewing and he said, “We’re family entertainment,” I said, “I didn’t know that. We have to get the word out on what WWE really is.”

Our audience, and the number of viewers, beats every sports property besides the NFL. And we have scale. We’re turn-key. Our talent works for us: We can write, produce, deliver creative content across platforms… versus sports leagues where if you want to do a deal with, say, Serena Williams, you have to deal with the tennis association, agents, managers…

We had scale and could deliver turn-key, cross-platform, family friendly… and no one knew.

So we set out on a journey to do the B2B work. Stephanie (McMahon) was out on the road, I was out on the road… and after we got a couple of great wins under our belt, after well-known brands like KFC and Mars Snickers came on board, after agencies saw the results we delivered… that really built momentum. 

NBC Universal has also been a terrific partner. They recognized they had to tell our story to the advertising community, too.

Now if you look at the roster of advertisers, we have over 200 blue-chip companies. Ten years ago our major advertisers tended to be video games and theatrical releases. Not anymore.

Our sponsorship revenue has quadrupled since 2010. I told Vince when I took over that we should be doing 5 times the sponsor revenue we were doing, and he said, “Okay, let’s see you do it.” And we’re almost there. (Laughs.)

But a lot of hard work brought us to this point.  To borrow Vince’s words, we bet on ourselves a lot. We knew if we got a brand in the door we would deliver for that brand… and that would start the dominos falling.

You mention telling your story. There’s another story that doesn’t get nearly the attention it should.

When we were talking about our brand, I found out WWE has been a partner with Special Olympics for 30-plus years, with Make a Wish, we great work in the community…

That goes back to Vince and Linda (McMahon, Vince’s wife.) Their feeling has always been that as we travel all around the U.S. and host live events, we don’t just want to just take — we also want to leave something. It has always been in the DNA of WWE to make the communities part of what we do.

But we never really talked about it. So we decided to tell our corporate partners, not because it made us look good but because they could help us make community outreach an even bigger part of what we do. Our athletes and performers care about giving back — so how can we be even more strategic and offer a platform to community organizations?

Some years ago John Cena said, “We know female fans love WWE.” (Forty percent of the audience are women.) “We should have an initiative that supports breast cancer awareness.”  So I cold-called the Susan G. Komen foundation and said, “We want to help your organization.”

Their first response was, “We don’t get it. Why would we want to do that?” We explained our audience demographics, how we over-reach for certain demographics… one of their priorities was to make women aware of the resources they provide and I said, “We can do that.”

For a number of years we’ve been a partner, helping raise awareness about the importance of screening, and we can reach an audience they weren’t able to reach. Not only can we help raise money but our platforms really help get the message out.

Overall we feel we have made a huge difference in an area that matters to our audience. We believe we should leverage our platform for social good. It’s an important priority for our organization. We love doing it, and our superstars love being a part of it.

That raises an interesting point. Data shows that your women’s segments are often among your best-rated.

For a time our female performers got time on our shows… but it tended to be limited. 

Then in 2015 a match between two female performers literally lasted 30 seconds. That match created a social media firestorm. The popularity of the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance really opened our eyes to the fact our fans wanted to see more of our female performers. They’re great, incredibly talented athletes. And men were vocal about wanting to see our female performers more. 

In response, Vince tweeted #keepwatching. And things have definitely changed. Our female performers aren’t Divas anymore; they’re WWE Superstars. They do matches they had never done before: Hell in a Cell, all-female royal rumble, the first ever-all women’s live event will be in New York at Nassau Coliseum…

Any opportunity we give our women, they knock out of the park. in front of our women they knock out of the park. According to Nielsen ratings the women’s segments do extremely well. We’re not surprised: They have great storylines, they’re incredibly entertaining… they’re great.

And it’s all because our fans told us they wanted more. 

Let’s talk about social media. One factor in whether a wrestler moves up from a development program to the main roster is social media engagement.

Once upon a time Nielsen ratings were literally the only metric we had to measure whether a product, storyline, performer, etc. was doing well.

Social media has obviously changed all that. Now we look at how content is consumed across all platforms. Time is a huge metric: If we see significant time is spent watching certain talent on YouTube, on our platforms, if there’s significant engagement on social platforms… that’s extremely meaningful.

Our access to data has fundamentally changed the way we do business. Our live events used to be our focus groups: Audience response was all we really had. Now we have a massive amount of data we can use to determine what our fans want.

A friend in the TV business says WWE programming on TV is DVR-proof. I’m sure that’s just one reason why your new TV deals are huge.

Another is that our brand perception has evolved dramatically. Another is our numbers: Week in, week out we deliver more live viewers than any major sport than the NFL.

TV partners look for live eyeballs, an audience at scale, a product that is DVR-proof… all of that allowed us to get higher revenue on a dollar per viewer hour basis. We deliver eyeballs, at scale, with live content.  Eighty-five to 90 percent of our content is viewed live or same day.

Our fans want to know what happens, and they want to know now. And if they do miss a live show, we make sure they can stay engaged with our storylines. TV, digital, direct to consumer… 

What are the plans to keep that flywheel going? 

We’ll continue to create great content. We’ll continue to leverage data and technology.

But one thing we haven’t talked about is international. International growth is a huge priority. Seventy percent of video hours are consumed from outside the U.S., but only 30 percent of our revenue is international. There’s a huge opportunity to leverage and monetize what we’ve done in the U.S.

One of the keys is to localize our content. We already have a huge digital and social and TV footprint, but monetizing by localizing in language, in short form on digital and social, is a big priority.

Take India. Or the U.K. Both have been large markets for a long time, but we believe there’s significant opportunity to grow in those markets. 

And we’ve been very open in talking about our interest in replicating our performance center and recruiting presence in those markets. We’d love to get local talent from India. Or China; we’d love to find our Yao Ming, if you will.

That’s the best part of my job. Looking back at how we got to this point is fun, but it’s even more fun to think about where we’re going.

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