Forever Network’s $6 million raise highlights the blurred lines of ‘sports media’ and betting

Last week, Folklore Ventures announced a successful $6 million Series A round for the Forever Network. A press release shared by Folklore celebrated this achievement, casting Forever Network as a standout sports media publisher with a social audience bigger than the AFL, NRL and Cricket Australia.

But this isn’t entirely inaccurate. The Forever Network’s flagship brand, Basketball Forever, presents itself as a premier destination for basketball enthusiasts seeking news and insights. Its suite of products includes a website, podcast, and an Instagram page with a notable 1.2 million followers.

However, the media company portrayal somewhat diverts attention from the significant iGaming (wager-based games on digital platforms) and betting infrastructure that forms the backbone of the company’s revenue.

It’s worth noting Folklore did not participate in the Series A funding round. However, Folklore did invest in the Forever Network in 2015 — the same year the company launched. Folklore founder and managing partner, Alister Coleman, also holds a non-executive directorship within Forever Network. This was not disclosed in the press release.

Yolo Investments led this latest round, with participation from Three Kings Capital, and Astralis Capital. The latter was also a seed investor in PrizePicks, a fantasy sports iGaming platform.

“Folklore Ventures invested into Forever Network in our first fund, and since then, we’ve supported Alex [Sumsky] and the team as they expanded internationally,” a Folklore spokesperson said in an email to SmartCompany.

“Folklore supports our founders and portfolio companies as they scale, and we’ve built the firm around a Support Stack, which includes a platform called Campfire, that provides our founders and teams with services and resources to help them move quickly alongside 1:1 engagement directly with our investors and the firm more broadly.”

Media company x betting and iGaming revenue

Sports betting wasn’t entirely ignored in the release. There was a small mention at the end, nestled within a quote from Yolo Ventures, one of the participants in the Series A. This mention praised the combination of media company and betting.

“Their ability to then create a bridge between its users and its betting and fantasy partners is invaluable,” Tim Heath, founder and general partner at Yolo Investments, said.

“Forever Networks’ continued venture into sports betting in the North American and global market will establish them as leaders in the space, and a model for other media companies to follow for years to come.”

The vast majority of the media release focused on positioning the Forever Network as the “#1 ranked sports media company amongst 18-35 year olds”.

A closer look at the footnotes reveals this data is from Sharablee’s Comscore rankings and only relates to user engagement with the brand.

The announcement also outlined an ambitious trajectory of expansion into the US market, buoyed by the startup’s latest financial infusion, and leveraging its flagship brand, Basketball Forever, which allegedly commanded 11% of Australia’s social actions last year.

“As one of Forever Networks platforms, Basketball Forever operates as a media and social platform for true basketball fans — offering the latest news, insights and cultural commentary,” Folklore’s Alister Coleman said when questioned on the VC’s understanding of the betting component of the Basketball Forever brand.

When pressed, Folklore Ventures articulated the firm’s support for Forever Network’s operational model. It emphasised the network’s activities in affiliate marketing and free-to-play gaming, stating that it steered clear of any direct association with real money gaming or sportsbook operations.

“Forever Network’s Basketball Forever is a digital media platform creating and publishing news and content about the global basketball market. Basketball Forever shares a range of content including game analysis, long form editorial, affiliate marketing, podcasts and advertiser-sponsored content,” a Folklore Ventures spokesperson said.

“Similar to comparable sports and vertical media companies, at times, some of its advertisers are wagering companies. The company does not directly offer monetary sports betting or wagering, or operate as a sportsbook.”

This distinction, while important, seems to obscure the significant role betting-related content and partnerships play in Forever Network’s business model and growth plans.

It’s certainly gratuitous on the Basketball Forever website, which reveals a notable emphasis on sports betting content alongside traditional basketball journalism.

The ‘latest news’ section on the homepage dedicates a significant portion of its screen real estate to betting articles such as “NBA Best Bets” and “NBA Best Player Prop Bets” These pieces, accounting for half of the featured stories, indicate a strong inclination towards serving the interests of the betting community.

Scrolling further down the page, a section labeled ‘Forever Betting’ is prominently displayed, complete with a large button encouraging visitors to explore ‘more betting articles’ — a feature that’s absent from the site’s news-related content.

On Instagram, Basketball Forever’s engagement with sports betting and iGaming takes a more subdued approach. The account primarily focuses on basketball news in its grid content. However, the bio link has served as a gateway to betting and iGaming platforms.

This includes directing followers to Draft Kings — a fantasy sports contest and sports betting company — through an affiliate link as well as guiding users to the “sports prop bingo” website Hot Hand.

In the specific case of the Draft Kings link seen by SmartCompany, it wasn’t clear what users were clicking on as the link was just a jumble of letters.

At the time of publication, the bio link now circles back to the Basketball Forever homepage.

“As of right now, everything on the branded content and advertising side of things would make probably around 80% of our revenue,” Forever Network co-founder and CEO Alex Sumsky told SmartCompany.

“But the pendulum is going to start swinging in the other direction. By the end of 2024, we should see it at about 50/50 between the advertising and transactions and affiliate revenue.

“By the end of 2025, it could be 60/40 or 70/30 in the other direction.”

Sumsky confirmed with SmartCompany that the startup does engage with other sectors when it comes to traditional advertising. However, when it comes to affiliate revenue it is focused on wagering.

Media as a funnel for iGaming and sports betting

With a spotlight on the US market, where the iGaming sector is still burgeoning, Sumsky candidly outlined a vision that extends beyond conventional media, hinting at a future for the company that is more deeply intertwined with iGaming.

“The media side right now is the strong short-term focus. We’re trying to build everything we possibly can on the basketball side and continue to scale that and then expand into new verticals while we continue to work on our products,” he said.

“Once they’re ready we’ll use those to essentially funnel our audiences into the games and the formats that are most appropriate for them and they’re engaging with the most.”

This suite of products includes Forever Network’s own iGaming app, V.O.A.T. The self-professed “better than betting” platform offers users daily questions based on that day’s NBA games to vote on. For example, if any NBA player that day will have a triple-double. Users have the ability to win prizes or a share in the monthly $5000 prize pool.

The company was also poised to launch an NFT project called Hoop Hounds. Initially envisioned as a blockchain project with digital avatars, it wasn’t executed due to the downturn in the crypto market in the past couple of years. While the placeholder site is still live, Hoop Hounds is now being folded into V.O.A.T. According to Sumsky, more game modes will be available on V.O.A.T in the future.

The Forever Network’s vision for ‘sports media’ is supported by a strategic ensemble of investors, many of whom are deeply entrenched in the gaming space.

“Some of the investors that [sic] we have that haven’t had a mention are pretty significant in iGaming space,” Sumsky disclosed.

“It’s help navigate those waters, remain compliant, and make sure the way we’re operating is more or less non-predatory.”

With Basketball Forever existing on platforms easily accessible by underage people who may have an interest in sports and online games, there is a question to be asked around guardrails and regulations.

This also applies to regions, such as certain states in the US, where sports betting is illegal.

“For the affiliate stuff we operate on a license, we geogate content, or we set it to 18 plus. In the US we’ll set it to 21 plus,” Sumsky said.

According to Sumsky, this prevents potential underage customers from signing up and depositing money into these accounts. It’s worth noting that while Forever Network’s own iGaming app V.O.A.T does ask for a user’s date of birth upon sign-up, it doesn’t require any proof.

He also defends games such as Hot Hands and the notion that if underage people did manage to play it, it could be a gateway for them to become interested in iGaming or sports betting-style games.

“It doesn’t really mirror a betting experience. There’s no selecting your markets or making picks. You’re not putting money on it and trying to create a multiple of that,” Sumsky said.

“It’s really more just like a raffle.”

According to statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,  Australians lose over $25 billion to legal gambling annually, the highest per capita in the world. According to the same report, 33.8% of adult Australians participated in some form of sports betting in 2022.

The entanglement of sports media and betting isn’t just a business model but a reflection of a pervasive cultural phenomenon. 

This intersection raises pivotal questions about the role media companies and their investors play in promoting gambling behaviors, especially when that content can be accessible to underage and vulnerable people.