UP408 What Just Happened? How the opening up of the US betting market explains the NBA's $75billion rights bonanza

Unofficial Partner Podcast

Why has the value of the NBA's media rights tripled, from $25billion to $75billion this week?
"Purely because of gambling,' says Sam Sadi, CEO of LiveScore Group, the media and gambling platform, referencing the opening up of the US gambling marketplace. 'Nothing else that would drive that. Everything was trending downwards until five years ago, and nothing changed in the environment. It can be easily isolated and all of a sudden you see these increases that are much higher than what were projected five years And the NBA timed it perfectly."
We recorded this conversation yesterday at LiveScore's Soho headquarters in London with fellow guest James Liddy, an investment banker with a hugely impressive track record as a deal maker in the gaming leisure and hotel sector, first with Deutsche Bank in London, and now at Jefferies's where he leads on that sector across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
This is a conversation that changed my view on what's happening in the macro environment for sport. Hopefully you'll find it as enlightening as I did.
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