Alternate Broadcast Part II

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Last week, I wrote about data collection and how it will be used. In most cases, the collected data will be used against you, the unsuspecting sports bettor (be sure to follow the links in the story to understand exactly what is happening).

Well, Action Network is holding another contest, where you, the eager sports bettor, get to play for up to $3,000 in cash, “betting” on various proposition bets they will offer during the NFL Championship games. I guess it’s cash, they don’t really say. Perhaps it will be a check? Or deposited into some online account? But, again, they don’t tell us in the story how the winner will be paid.

You gotta ask yourself – why are they doing this? I have not signed up for the contest, for all the reasons stated in the prior article. Perhaps they tell participants exactly why they are doing this and exactly what they are doing with the collected data. If so, perhaps they also have a bridge they want to sell you.

Don’t buy it. The bridge or the contest.

As near as I can tell, this contest is not being sponsored by an outside entity. It appears your pals at Action Network are digging deep into their own pockets to pay out the winner. Again, you gotta ask yourself – why are they doing his? Is this really about fan engagement and enhancing the fan viewing experience? If you think so, contact ME about the bridge I have for sale.

Sorry if this is too cynical. But, really, these people are not your friends. And this contest is Free Money for Action Network. They will make plenty of money off the free data you happily provide to them in the guise of this “contest,” in hopes of cashing their check.

And, while we are here, let’s follow up on the Alternative Programming and its linked contest. I scoured the interwebs and found precious little information. But Action Network was helpful in providing this updated story.

Turns out, the betting-centric broadcast was a big hit, being called “impressive.” Josh Robison of somewhere in Maryland gushed:

“I live in the D.C. area and haven’t watched a game all year long,” Josh Robison of Maryland told The Action Network. “Yet I’m playing along on a Friday night. This idea is brilliant.”

Indeed it is brilliant, Josh, if you really exist.

The story goes on to say: The winner won a measly $500, but that wasn’t the point.

As I suggested in my prior article, of course the $500 was not the point. It was never the point. The point is the free data collected from the 4,000 or so eager stooges who happily surrendered their data to be collected, crunched and sold.

We then find out this is the first time there was a rightsholder, MGM National Harbour, (read: owner) of this collected information – There have been plenty of predictive win products that let you play along with the game, but this was the first time there was an integrated product with a rightsholder.

I will leave it at that, as the writing is all over the wall. But I’ll finish with the question I asked previously: You gotta ask yourself – why are they doing this?