Newspapers Relying On Sports Betting To Stay Afloat

At least that's what news site Philly.com is banking on (Image via Taylormadetirade.com)

Philly.com, the online home of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, is turning to sports betting for an extra source of income.

The Philly-focused news site just teamed up with FanDuel.com to create an online betting service called Instant Fantasy Game.

The service (which is legal) allows readers to put up wagers on fantasy games.   According to paidContent, in Instant Fantasy Game, readers pick an opponent, set a wager, and then draft their fantasy team.  Games only last one day and whoever wins gets a cash prize of up to $90.

Yoni Greenbaum, the VP of product development at Philly.com, told CNET that Philly.com partnered with FanDuel.com to satisfy two major goals: “content differentiation and revenue.”

Though a bit outside the box, Instant Fantasy Game could be the type of money-maker Philly.com desperately needs.

More than 30 million fans a year play fantasy sports on sites like ESPN, and if Philly.com is able to attract these users to its site, it could translate to huge dollar signs for parent company, Philadelphia Newspapers.

The media company was forced to file for bankruptcy last year, as readership and ad revenue continued to decline industry-wide.

Philly.com is banking on services such as legal sports betting to attract readers, but will it work?

Bloomberg Steps Up On Fantasy Baseball

Fantasy baseball just got a lot more intense, thanks to Bloomberg.

The financial news outlet created a fantasy draft prep kit ($19.95) and a season-long update tool ($24.95) based off data from mlb.com, USA Today reports.

Bloomberg is offering MLB data-driven fantasy tools (http://bit.ly/bLFhY0)

The fantasy tools appear to be useful for both die-hards and beginners.  Using real-time data, the tools allow  fantasy owners to create interactive draft lists and transform unreadable data into easy-to-follow charts and graphs, according to Today‘s Fantasy Roundup.

This is a smart move for the news organization, which has managed to keep a competitive edge despite industry-wide declines in ad revenue and readership.

By expanding its coverage and offering unmatched, useful tools at an extremely reasonable price, Bloomberg is moving beyond its terminal audience and will thus capture new segments of readers.