Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 9:37 am Link for full article: https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/282 ... l-gambling

It was a seemingly meaningless shot on goal, at least within the context of the St. Louis Blues' Western Conference finals Game 3 against the San Jose Sharks. It was Ryan O'Reilly, with a wrister 19 feet from where Martin Jones would turn it aside, for the Blues' third shot of the game.

It didn't produce a point for O'Reilly.

It produced 5,000 of them for fans who predicted it would happen.

During the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring, the Blues became the first NHL team to create a free predictive gaming platform for their fans called "Enter The Zone." Before and during each game, there were seven to 10 questions to answer, ranging from how many saves Jordan Binnington would make to the faceoff success between specific players to the first team to reach three shots on goal in the game.

Winning predictions earned fans points. Those atop the leaderboard at the end of games won prizes ranging from gift cards to signed merchandise. Fans atop the leaderboard at the end of the series had a chance to win prizes that included season tickets.

It was fun. It was popular. It offered a glimpse of the future of wagering on professional hockey.

"The big thing for us was starting to see what appetite our fans had for a predictive environment, as a prelude to where we think things are heading with sports gambling," said Matt Gardner, vice president for digital media and emerging technology for the Blues. "Knowing that it may very well one day be legalized in Missouri, we wanted to get a better understanding of what our fans thought about an experience like this and how it would serve a different type of second-screen experience during the game."

The results exceeded expectations: 70% of all users played the game at least twice, and 30% played in 12 of the 13 games in which the app was offered.

The NHL was watching.

"Fans playing in the arena, or at home, with the opportunity to win unique prizes that the NHL could provide them is really attractive. All these gaming companies want to talk to us about it," said Keith Wachtel, the NHL's chief business officer.

Same with the Blues. Gardner said he received calls from teams in every other professional sport after his team's successful test program. "Predictive gaming and sports betting are on everyone's radar right now," he said.

The Blues were contacted in the spring by a company called Tally, which was cofounded in 2017 by Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Tally earlier partnered with the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers on a predictive gaming pilot project and sought to test it in the hockey space.

The Blues told Tally that they were interested in implementing it if they got past the Dallas Stars in the second round of the playoffs. They ended up winning in seven games, which meant it was time for Gardner and his team to work quickly. "We had about three days to pull everything together -- a very short time frame to get it launched," he said.

One of the first questions that needed to be answered was when fans would play the game. A priority for the pilot program was not interrupting play, especially given the high stakes of the playoffs. The game would be launched several hours before puck drop and reactivated during intermission. Fans would have to lock in answers before puck drop.

"We tried to modify the questions so they made sense as the series went along," Gardner said.

Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 9:42 am

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 9:37 am Link for full article: https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/282 ... l-gambling

It was a seemingly meaningless shot on goal, at least within the context of the St. Louis Blues' Western Conference finals Game 3 against the San Jose Sharks. It was Ryan O'Reilly, with a wrister 19 feet from where Martin Jones would turn it aside, for the Blues' third shot of the game.

It didn't produce a point for O'Reilly.

It produced 5,000 of them for fans who predicted it would happen.

During the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring, the Blues became the first NHL team to create a free predictive gaming platform for their fans called "Enter The Zone." Before and during each game, there were seven to 10 questions to answer, ranging from how many saves Jordan Binnington would make to the faceoff success between specific players to the first team to reach three shots on goal in the game.

Winning predictions earned fans points. Those atop the leaderboard at the end of games won prizes ranging from gift cards to signed merchandise. Fans atop the leaderboard at the end of the series had a chance to win prizes that included season tickets.

It was fun. It was popular. It offered a glimpse of the future of wagering on professional hockey.

"The big thing for us was starting to see what appetite our fans had for a predictive environment, as a prelude to where we think things are heading with sports gambling," said Matt Gardner, vice president for digital media and emerging technology for the Blues. "Knowing that it may very well one day be legalized in Missouri, we wanted to get a better understanding of what our fans thought about an experience like this and how it would serve a different type of second-screen experience during the game."

The results exceeded expectations: 70% of all users played the game at least twice, and 30% played in 12 of the 13 games in which the app was offered.

The NHL was watching.

"Fans playing in the arena, or at home, with the opportunity to win unique prizes that the NHL could provide them is really attractive. All these gaming companies want to talk to us about it," said Keith Wachtel, the NHL's chief business officer.

Same with the Blues. Gardner said he received calls from teams in every other professional sport after his team's successful test program. "Predictive gaming and sports betting are on everyone's radar right now," he said.

The Blues were contacted in the spring by a company called Tally, which was cofounded in 2017 by Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Tally earlier partnered with the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers on a predictive gaming pilot project and sought to test it in the hockey space.

The Blues told Tally that they were interested in implementing it if they got past the Dallas Stars in the second round of the playoffs. They ended up winning in seven games, which meant it was time for Gardner and his team to work quickly. "We had about three days to pull everything together -- a very short time frame to get it launched," he said.

One of the first questions that needed to be answered was when fans would play the game. A priority for the pilot program was not interrupting play, especially given the high stakes of the playoffs. The game would be launched several hours before puck drop and reactivated during intermission. Fans would have to lock in answers before puck drop.

"We tried to modify the questions so they made sense as the series went along," Gardner said.

The part of the story I don't believe is that it says Martin Jones made a save in the conference final last year.