- Sinclair Broadcasting purchased 21 regional sports networks.
- The company plans to let viewers place wagers from their television screen.
- Sinclair plans to start its in-game sports betting with the Tennis Channel.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Sinclair Broadcasting bought 21 regional sports betting networks from Disney. The mega-company sold its regional sports networks to avoid antitrust litigation.
Sinclair paid $10.6 billion for the regional sports networks.
Sinclair President and CEO Chris Ripley spoke to Reuters about his plans for sports gambling using it’s purchased sports channels.
“If you’re interested in gaming, we’re going to add on extra stats, the ability to do prop bets in the game, pitch by pitch, play by play,” said Ripley. “You can play along and wager while you watch.”
The broadcasting company will start its in-game wagering with the Tennis Channel as part of its purchase from Disney. Negotiations are already in-progress between Sinclair and sportsbook operators.
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Sinclair owns Stadium, Ring of Honor Wrestling, and the Fox College Sports channel. The company also holds the exclusive local broadcast rights to 12 MLB teams, over 16 NBA teams, and 12 NHL teams.
Sinclair will offer in-game sports betting through their television broadcasts. The company does not want to become a sportsbook, however, and will partner with a sportsbook operator. It is unclear to USAOnlineSportsbooks.com as to which operator Sinclair is going to choose.
“Our preliminary conclusion is that it doesn’t make sense to be the licensee and run the book,” said Ripley.
Sports betting is not currently legal in Maryland, which is where the headquarters of Sinclair Broadcasting is located. The company aims to have sports betting content air before and after live sporting events on their channels, which includes 200 local channels and 25 regional networks.
Reggie started writing for USAOnlineSportsbooks.com in 2019, shortly after graduating with his bachelor’s degree. Reggie has experience with technical writing, making him one of our experts on how-to guides and more complex betting topics. Outside of traditional sports betting, he also dabbles in financial markets.
