A ‘disrupter’ who silences all doubters
TheScore CEO Levy launched app that draws millions of users a month
Check out John Levy’s profile on LinkedIn and you’ll see “Founder & CEO of theScore” in the title. Elliotte Friedman has another word for his former boss.
“He’s a disrupter,” said the Sportsnet hockey insider who cut his teeth in the television business as an anchor and reporter with the Headline Sports network (later renamed The Score) that Levy created in the 1990s.
From creating the 24-hour sports highlights network and selling it to Rogers in 2012, to launching the second-most popular mobile sports app in the U.S. behind behemoth ESPN and, more recently, creating and operating a mobile sportsbook in four states south of the border — with plans for expansion as more states open up to legal sports betting — Levy continues to silence the doubters.
“I’m not surprised,” said Friedman, one of many broadcasters who used The Score as a launching pad for their careers, among them Sportsnet colleagues Martine Gaillard, Tim Micallef and Arash Madani, TSN’s Sara Orlesky and Craig Button and Citytv’s Sid Seixeiro. “He wanted The Score to be a disrupter, but in 1997 we didn’t know what a disrupter was. John was ahead of his time.
“Back then, one of our slogans was ‘Highlights As They Happen.’ Today, that’s what it’s all about, GIFs, digital highlights as they happen. He was doing that 24 years ago.”
That included providing information to sports bettors. The late Bob (The Bear) Cowan, an NFL handicapper, was hired to give his picks every week and The Score’s famous ticker included odds.
“We knew even in the TV days that betting was an integral part of why people were passionate about sports,” said Levy, grinning over a Zoom call. “When some kicker made a field goal in an NFL game, the guys on TSN would say ‘that’s interesting.’ Our guys on camera were pulling their hair out because the kick took it over the 14-point spread and someone just blew a $25 or $50 bet.”
When Rogers bought The Score’s TV network for about $190 million, little attention was paid to Levy hanging on to theScore website and digital media assets.
Eight years later, the Score Media and Gaming’s mobile sports app (theScore) attracts almost four million users a month across North America and the sports content posted on its TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts reaches almost 90 million sports fans monthly.
Today, Score Media and Gaming, publicly traded on both the TSX and the NASDAQ, has a market capitalization north of $900 million.
“We always knew the app was going to kick butt in Canada because we were that cool TV network,” said Levy, who turns 68 this week and says he is still having fun. “We didn’t anticipate the huge pickup we got in the States. ESPN is No. 1 and we’re right behind them and in front of the brands we grew up with like NBC, CBS, Yahoo.
“They’re all looking at us, scratching their heads and saying, ‘Who the hell are these guys and where did they come from?’ ”
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal ban on sports betting in 2018 — the ban previously limited sports betting primarily to Las Vegas — Score Media and Gaming became the first media company to launch a mobile sportsbook (theScore Bet) a year later.
The sportsbook is now available to bettors in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey (which is quickly overtaking Nevada as the wagering leader in the U.S.) and Iowa.
Other sportsbooks and media companies have been scrambling to establish partnerships to provide sports fans with statistics, injury reports and other information, along with the ability to place a bet. DraftKings purchased the Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN) for a reported $70 million (U.S.) in cash and stock in March and Denmarkbased Better Collective paid $240 million (U.S.) for The Action Network earlier this month.
“John has bucked the odds,” said Brian Cooper, a sports business executive and a member of Score Media’s board of directors. “He doesn’t do things in the traditional way and (theScore Bet) is another example of that.”
While Score Media and Gaming continues to work on expanding into other states, Levy is especially excited about the anticipated passing of the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act in Canada.
“This is our home turf, man,” he said. “In Canada, we already have that huge level of engagement and love of the brand. If you add (the digital audiences of ) TSN and Rogers together, they don’t come close to us, and DraftKings isn’t close to us. There’s going to be wideopen competition (in Ontario) and we’re not shying away from that. It’s going to be a different ball game with us being able to lead out of the gate.”
While other provinces are expected to operate a restricted gaming industry, the Ontario government has made it clear that its licensed and regulated betting strategy will include many players.
Existing sportsbooks like the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (which operates the ProLine parlay game), theScore Bet, DraftKings and FanDuel are slam dunks to be in the mix. Torstar Corporation announced in early March its plans for an online gaming business that includes casino games and sports betting, and there’s been plenty of speculation that Rogers, Bell Media, and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment are also looking to get in on the action.
So, say others, theScore isn’t a sure bet to be the No. 1 player.
“TheScore has a great brand recognition, and sports betting is all about the score,” said marketing expert Tony Chapman, host of the podcast Chatter that Matters. “The challenge is that everyone is going to be circling the wagons (around sports betting). Amazon and Google would love the data from sports betting because it tells them even more about the consumer. OLG wants to protect their turf, and MLSE is looking to replace what they’ve lost with no bums in the seats.”
“The positioning and brand recognition of theScore in this market will be interesting,” added Dr. Cheri Bradish, executive director of the Future of Sport Lab at Ryerson University. “I’m not sure that consumers first and foremost generally recognize them as a ‘Canadian’ brand, and then how that association and affinity will translate to actual consumption, especially with competitive offerings in the market.” Bring it on, said Levy. “(Sports betting) is the biggest opportunity. I loved the TV business. I love the mobile app. (But) this thing takes it to a whole different level.”