Today we sit down with BettorOff CEO Alex Dubin whose company has assailed the conventional wisdom of flash-over-substance Twitter algorithms that have been misleading the sports betting community. Rather than sit idly by and watch the misinformation pandemic unfold, Dubin and BettorOff have created a safe heaven for verified, data-driven and immutable stats-based insights that help inform sports bettors’ decisions and deliver on true added value in the age of mass sports betting legalization. Check out our full conversation with Alex below.
What inspired the creation of BettorOff and has the original vision for the company materialized, or have there been changes in course as you have journeyed forward?
A: BettorOff was created to bring transparency and accountability to the sports wagering information marketplace in general and Twitter in particular, where myriad “experts” claim impressive but unverified win rates and ROIs. Though there are multiple causes of this problem, the most prevalent is also the most basic: the now infamous Twitter algorithm, a program whose main directive is to promote the most contentious, outrageous content, irrespective of its validity and often in spite of it. The byproduct of this feckless automated sorting mechanism is that Twitter inherently rewards flash over substance, making it increasingly difficult to separate signal from noise – a dangerous state that threatens to worsen under Twitter’s new ownership regime.
BettorOff is the verified, data-driven alternative for the sports betting community, a true meritocracy where every pick is tracked and stored to enable our users to make informed decisions on whose advice to take, especially if the person offering that advice is charging for it. And when it turns out that any of our users are the real experts, they can monetize that skill by selling their picks, completely free of charge and without expending the time and effort required to market themselves as an “expert” on other social platforms, specifically Twitter. BettorOff is a true meritocracy, where we let the leaderboards and sortable stats do the talking. It’s simple if you win, your name will appear atop the leaderboards, if you lose, it won’t. End of story. Where you stand on our leaderboards is where you are; there’s no buying your way up there. At BettorOff, we are about promoting quality, transparency and reliability.
Can you tell us more about the unique traits offered by the platform?
A: Our most unique feature is thatall user picks are tracked on the Quantum Ledger Database (“QLDB”) and are, therefore fully verifiable and 100% immutable. This means users never have to worry about deception, exaggeration or misinformation being presented as fact on BettorOff.
Another area where the BettorOff community platform distinguishes itself is in the clarity of our purpose: to serve the wants and needs of sports bettors with integrity, while providing a premium experience to our community members at zero cost to them. The best platforms are those developed with a specific purpose in mind and a clear plan to serve that purpose, which is why the BettorOff team is focused exclusively on catering to the wants and needs of the sports betting community.
To draw a comparison or two, consider social platform success stories, LinkedIn and Twitch. LinkedIn became the go-to platform for the professional community (previously underserved by Facebook) by building its entire feature set with businesspeople in mind. Twitch (originally justin.tv) was a community platform built for the passionate and highly underserved gaming community on YouTube and rose to enormous success by concentrating its offerings on streaming.
BettorOff is the community platform built specifically for the passionate and sorely underserved sports betting community currently languishing on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Our platform is focused on serving that sole constituency by delivering an unparalleled feature set, including dynamic leaderboards, private groups, competitions, best odds and so much more, all backed by immutable pick histories and stats, displayed through the sleekest, most intuitive, user-friendly UI/UX in the industry, enabling our community of sports bettors to experience everything they’ve come to expect from multiple platforms, sites and services, all in one place.
Do you know in which state BettorOff is most popular among sports bettors?
A: BettorOff has users across the US, as well as in the UK. Because we are a community platform, not a sportsbook, we can be accessed in all 50 states, regardless of the legality of online sports wagering in any particular state or territory. Because of this, BettorOff users can offer their expertise (at a price they set or 100% free of charge) to the community, regardless of their ability to place real-money bets in their state. Take California for example, which just recently voted against the legalization of online sports betting. Although people in the Golden State cannot place a real-money wager on FanDuel, Caesar’s, BetMGM or the like, that doesn’t mean the state doesn’t have informed handicappers and definitely shouldn’t prohibit them from sharing their insights with others and, if they desire, monetizing those insights.
What are some of the goals you have until the end of the year?
A: Our goal remains constant, be it by the end of this year, middle of next, or five years down the road; we will do all we can, all that is necessary and more, to deliver a superior user experience for our sole constituency: the sports betting community. Our team resolves to deliver that experience by taking continuous feedback from our users, iterating, experimenting and improving, to remain on the bleeding edge of all things sports betting.
Do you think more bettors would start using BettorOff considering the growing expansion of sports betting in the US?
A: The natural result of online sports betting’s rapid expansion has been a concurrent rise in the userbases of sports wagering-related platforms and services, such as BettorOff and that is, in fact, what we have seen. As the online sports betting community grows, more and more people are seeking a forum where they can easily find, share, socialize, buy and sell tips, insights and opinions. A survey conducted by BettorOff earlier this month showed that more than 55% of adult U.S. sports fans trust handicappers on social media “very little” or “not at all;” with more than 65% saying that they would be interested in a platform that verifies picks and results.
While some of America has already begun to flee Twitter entirely, the fact remains that it is still a major destination for sports bettors and what comes next for the social media giant will undoubtedly have real and lasting implications for the sports betting community. Even before Elon Musk arrived at Twitter, the platform presented significant challenges and inefficiencies for its users, particularly sports bettors – no pick tracking and the ability to change or delete tweets made user accountability all but impossible to enforce making the Twitterverse a virtually lawless ecosystem, especially in the world of sports wagering tips and “expert” commentary. As this lack of transparency and accountability continue to grow under the new and potentially even more dangerous and less accountable regime, bettors will continue to seek out a community platform that values transparency and accountability and that is where they will find BettorOff.
Many companies in this space have reached out to professional athletes to represent their brand. Do you feel BettorOff needs to scope out similar opportunities in future or now?
A: Our main focus continues to be growing our community, and a celebrity or athlete is just one way of doing that. While the use of brand ambassadors is important, and something we’d like to explore in the future, our goal would be to use them not merely as paid spokespeople but as informed champions for our community.