centsports

I come from the school of thought that ads should have some level of utility. Not just from the goal of trying to get people’s attention in a very fragmented and saturated advertising world, but in a weird “we owe them at least that much” way. If someone is asking for your time/interest, the least they could do is provide you with something. I don’t mean that an ad has to say “here is a tip on how to refloor your kitchen on a budget. PS, switch to AT&T.” Utility can take a variety of forms, be it entertainment, information, a technology, or, the newest one I have come across, giving you money to gamble on sports.

Centsports works like this: Watch an ad and receive 10 cents. Bet that $.10 on sports. From there it works like any sports betting operation with the added bonus that if you lose your bet, [for example let's say you took the Bruins and somehow the Coyotes beat them (Really Bruins??!?! At home to Phoenix?!?!?! You're killing me!)], then you just click a button and get another $.10. If you don’t make terrible gambling choices, they will actually pay you out once you get to $25 or more. As of publishing this, the highest standing account had over $900. Not too shabby.

This is a sportsbook where advertisers are the house and you can never lose your money (aka, awesome). Actually, it’s even better than that because it is a sportsbook where the house continues to give you the money you’re going to bet with, no questions asked. What makes this business model so interesting is the simplicity of it. When an advertiser pays to run on the site, the money goes to site maintenance, whatever profit the owners/operators are looking for, payouts, and an additional $.10 for new players or people who lost money. That last item is the least likely needed considering people with a lot of bravado will attempt 5 game NHL parlays and consistently lose their money. It’s the same reason that sportsbooks in Vegas make money. It’s a self sufficient model. For those familiar with sports betting, they do still have the vig, which means they are making money off of that, guaranteed.

I have seen A LOT of ads on this site because they simply can’t be ignored. Initially there were some smaller advertisers that you commonly see (flatten your belly!) or things that just made too much sense not to advertise (come wager at sportsbook.com!). But lately the advertisers have gotten more diverse and even bigger. Most notably is Domino’s (now that your belly is flat, treat yourself to some pizza!). I’m ecstatic to see that this site may be getting some footing. It’s a great demonstration on how to provide something to the consumer while still getting your message across. There is no requirement to change your messaging to be contextually relevant because the whole site is founded on a deal between consumer and advertiser of “watch my ad and I will give you money.” And honestly, I can’t think of anything more useful than that.

 

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