Yahoo has announced the acquisition of Wagr, a peer-to-peer sports betting app, for an undisclosed sum of money.
“The acquisition of Wagr is an exciting step in the development of the next generation of Yahoo Sports’ gaming portfolio,” said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo. “Wagr stands out for their innovative emphasis on community and social engagement in sports gaming, which aligns perfectly with the Yahoo award-winning fantasy platform that has brought tens of millions of fans together around their love of sports for over 20 years.”
Wagr will be fully integrated into Yahoo Sports. It is not exactly clear what that means, but if I had to guess (which I don’t, but I will, just for you), it is that Wagr will not have its own, independent app/platform once the transition is complete and that its features will just be absorbed by Yahoo’s products.
Wagr earned a sports betting license in Tennessee in September 2021, becoming the first “social” sports betting operator to be licensed in the United States.
The sportsbook approaches sports betting differently than others. Its goal is to facilitate bets between friends and family. It takes the “hey, I bet you the Chiefs will beat the Patriots this weekend” banter between co-workers on a Friday afternoon and takes it to a formal sports wagering platform.
It’s not peer-to-peer, though, meaning the two buddies aren’t directly betting against one another. Instead, Wagr is still the sportsbook and serves as the house and sets the lines for both people’s bets. The platform is just structured in a more social way so that people can bet “against each other” and see who wins. Aside from the differentiation from its competitions, the big benefit for Wagr is that it is getting action on both sides.
The fact that Wagr is still the house is what helped it get licensed in Tennessee. At the time, Tennessee Education Lottery CEO Rebecca Hargrove said that the licensing organization was wary of a peer-to-peer format because it was of questionable legality. Wagr serving as the house, though, got the site’s license across the line.
“While we know our fantasy leagues increase fan engagement and give people something to root for, the real value is in keeping friend groups together through competition and camaraderie around the sports they love,” said Yahoo Sports SVP Jon Shaw. “Acquiring Wagr creates an immediate opportunity for us to expand into new group formats that can take engagement and friendly competition to the next level.”
