Betting Across America: VSiN and BetMGM’s New Show
This week, representatives from VSiN and BetMGM announced a new nationwide sports betting show, Betting Across America, which will be available to viewers beginning August 31. The show will bring together experts in the field of sports wagering, providing real-time analysis for sports betting fans nationwide. Hosts on the show will include Tim Murray, James Salinas, and Mike Pritchard, and fans can begin watching the show at the end of August in both the US and Canada.
Betting Across America is an ambitious new project by VSiN and BetMGM. ©dawnfu/Pixabay
Betting Across America: A New Joint Effort
Betting Across America is the joint brainchild of VSiN and BetMGM. The show will broadcast both on radio and television in the US and Canada beginning August 31, and will be on air from 3-5 PM Eastern Standard Time on weekdays, and 1-3 PM Eastern Standard Time on weekends.
Viewers will be able to access the show via a number of different providers, from Sirius XM to fubo TV, SlingTV, and Comcast Xfinity. The show will be hosted by a number of different sports commentators, athletes, and journalists, including former NFL football star Mike Pritchard, journalist and sports bettor James Salinas, and former NBC personality Tim Murray.
The show will be broadcast from locations around the US, but most centrally in Denver, Colorado; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Detroit, Michigan. Betting Across America aims to provide informed reporting and analysis on sports games directed to sports betters, and will turn sports betting itself into a form of sports entertainment.
The hosts of the show will provide their takes on betting lines and likely odds for upcoming matches, and will often include a local angle when speaking about sports games happening locally. In a year when the coronavirus pandemic has severely challenged the current reality of sports betting, Betting Across America offers an inventive, entertaining solution.
What Is VSiN?
VSiN is a Las Vegas-based multi-platform sports betting entertainment network. According to the company’s website, it prides itself on being the very first of its kind: a platform which branches from live streaming to television and radio all centered specifically around sports betting.
In addition to the celebrity hosts attached to Betting Across America, some of VSiN’s personalities include Jimmy Vaccaro, Brent Musburger, Chris Andrews, and Vinny Magliulo. Though Betting Across America will only be broadcast for a few hours a day, VSiN proudly offers live streamed content available seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
Shows offered by VSiN include options like Follow The Money, My Guys In The Desert, The Edge, A Numbers Game, and The Lombardi Line. Coverage of sports betting events on VSiN includes analysis of the biggest sports leagues in the US, including the NHL, the NFL, the MLB, the NBA, NASCAR, horse racing, and UFC.
What Is BetMGM?
BetMGM is the online sportsbook option provided by international casino giant MGM. Because online sports betting is not available universally across the United States, the BetMGM app is available on a limited basis in states where sports betting is legal. This includes Nevada, Indiana, New Jersey, Colorado, and West Virginia.
According to the BetMGM website, sports bettors in states where sports betting is legal can use the app to place their bets on both professional and college-level sports, including tennis, soccer, MMA, football, hockey, and baseball. The ability to use the BetMGM app streamlines the sports betting experience.
While the BetMGM app was developed before the novel coronavirus, it offers a COVID-19-friendly solution to enthusiastic sports bettors who may no longer be able to visit their sportsbooks IRL. Plus, the collaboration between VSiN and BetMGM means that players will get a high-quality source of analysis before using the app to place their bets.
For BetMGM, It Hasn’t All Been Smooth Sailing
The announcement of Betting Across America comes less than two months after BetMGM suffered a tremendous faux pas — in fact, what some considered to be the largest sportsbook error in Vegas history. In a human error, more than 50 bettors were allowed to place their bets on a baseball game after the game had already begun.
Because of this, BetMGM had to pay off close to $250,000 to bettors who had, under normal circumstances, placed their bets when the time to do so had already passed. According to a representative from the company, following the mistake, BetMGM began working with the Nevada Gaming authorities to attempt to void the late-placed bets.
States Across the US Warming to Sports Betting
Betting Across America comes at a good time. With the American gambling market in a state of flux due to ongoing state-wide lockdowns which have had a devastating effect on some of the largest economies of the national gambling industry, states are eagerly looking for a new, technologically-up-to-date option to bring in much-needed revenue.
As of now, eighteen US states have made sports betting legal, with four more — including Massachusetts — in ongoing discussions. While there has been longstanding opposition to legal sports betting in the US for fears of encouraging addictive behavior, many see it now as a means through which some money can be recouped for the state.
If these four additional states should legalize sports betting, this will likely be a great benefit to Betting Across America and the BetMGM app paired with it, meaning that thousands — if not millions — of new sports bettors can access the high-quality commentary offered by the show and legally place their bets using BetMGM.
Bettors Prefer The Legal Option
In an interesting study released at the end of July, 2020, it was discovered that sports bettors in the US were enthusiastically turning from illegal to legal sports betting options when given the possibility to do so. This speaks volumes for the future of legal sports betting in the country, indicating that it will be a valuable resource for bettors.
