It would be easy for me to jump on the outrage bandwagon right now considering one of our values is that we will never partner or integrate with any betting companies.

But rather than do that I thought I’d point out some things that I feel are being lost in the outrage here.

Firstly, I think it is deeply unfair to dig up old tweets from Joe and Az and others where they (quite rightly) call out betting companies for what they are, which is predators.

They have been put in an awkward situation by their employer, don’t attack them.

Secondly, Scout are not the only ones to work with betting companies. All of their competitors and basically everyone in the fantasy industry is in bed with them and the unfortunate truth is they want you to lose money so they make money.

This is because of the strong correlation between the underlying motivations of why people play fantasy and bet on sports. Right now, this is a negative correlation but we believe it can be a positive one by offering an alternative not an extension.

I spoke to the founder of Fanduel recently and he told me that we will drive betting companies crazy by not wanting to work with them as fantasy players are the easiest audience to convert and they are willing to pay those with that audience to do so.

Unfortunately as a fantasy company as the industry exists today, this is one of the best ways to make money. In my eyes this is worse than the way Facebook treats you as a product (selling your data) as not only are you the product, you actually need to lose money to be of value.

My point here is that unfortunately Scout and others rely on these deals to continue to exist and grow. While I hope Scout reconsider (as a paying member myself) I also think we need to reflect on what we hope/want from fantasy companies in order to help them exist.

Anyway, I am happy to see the outcry here, not just because it aligns with our values but because it gives me hope that others also see the opportunity that fantasy can one day replace sports betting as the primary way we get additional enjoyment from watching live sports.

P.S If we ever break this promise, you can delete Playmaker immediately.