Wynn Resorts has entered into a deal with Blue Wire and invested $3.5 million in the sports podcasting network.
The deal includes the build-out of a podcasting studio in the Wynn Las Vegas lobby. That studio will host Blue Wire podcast personalities as well as star athlete guests to entice people to visit the hotel, get excited about sports, and hopefully place bets on them. Wynn runs a subsidiary business called WynnBet, which handles sports betting, and the team specifically eyed Blue Wire to promote that brand.
Craig Billings, president of Wynn Resorts, says the studio will be “activated” during March Madness and NFL kickoff, for example, to bring energy to the hotel around sports, and in turn, it’ll get people to possibly gamble on games. The studio is set to open this summer with Blue Wire branding committed to it for three years.
With this deal and investment, Blue Wire CEO Kevin Jones says his team will hire staff on both the operations and talent side based in Vegas. Wynn will receive equity through this investment as well as some in-podcast ads, and the two groups will also collaborate on a branded podcast for WynnBet. Billings and Jones declined to share details about the branded show other than to say it’ll have a “deep level of storytelling” that’s “entertaining” and “compelling.”
