“It’s all about ensuring fans never miss an Instant Classic in the making”

How did your frustration with missing big sports moments lead to creating Are You Watching This?!?

The seed of the idea was planted way back in 2000. I had just moved to Austin, was feeling homesick, and had made plans to watch my hometown Jets on Monday Night Football. What started as an exciting night with drinks and pizza on the couch turned into an utter letdown.

The Jets were being embarrassed by halftime, and I was asleep by the fourth quarter. I woke up to the news that not only did the Jets stage a comeback, but they forced overtime in a win so epic that the “Monday Night Miracle” has its own Wikipedia page. And I’ve never forgiven myself for it! When the concept of RUWT?! finally crystallized years later, the idea of quitting my job and solving the problem was irresistible. Sports is the last DVR-resistant genre on TV, and it doesn’t matter how many replays you watch, a big moment you don’t catch live will always feel hollow.

What was the energy like launching MetaBet in 2019, and what gap did you want to fill in the betting market?

It was exciting but quiet! We knew we were sitting on powerful technology, but we weren’t sure which gap we wanted to fill. It wasn’t until the sports world froze in 2020 that conversations with partners started to heat up. And once they did, thankfully, we were experienced enough to go where our customers led us. Some of our most unique products, like our best-in-class Parlay Calculator and automated Polling Tiles, all came from brainstorming sessions with customers.

How did you first team up with Catena Media, and what’s the best part of that partnership since 2020?

We try not to play favorites with customers, but they coined the “MetaBesties” term, so they’re definitely high up the list. We first connected with Catena during the early days of MetaBet, when we were still figuring out where our tools fit best in the betting ecosystem. They’re a joy to work with because they’ve never just seen us as a vendor, they rely on us as a partner, helping push their properties forward.

How’s the Optimove partnership helping you reach fans right when games get intense?

This partnership works because it’s simple at the core: we identify the moment, and Optimove delivers it. Our Excitement Analytics tracks every major game in real-time, surfacing the most thrilling plays as they happen—buzzer-beaters, ninth-inning comebacks, and wild overtime finishes. Optimove steps in with best-in-class orchestration, turning those moments into perfectly timed messages tailored to each fan, because each of our fandoms is unique.

Together, we’re helping sportsbooks and media companies stop interrupting fans with generic promos, and instead reach them with content they actually care about—right when they care the most.

What’s it like working with FanDuel Sports Network to keep fans hooked with excitement Analytics?

FanDuel Sports Network is a dream customer. Regional Sports Networks have been an important part of fandom in the States for decades, so we’re thrilled to use Sports Excitement Analytics from our parent company, Are You Watching This?!, to drive engagement. By injecting our live data into their CRM, they can trigger alerts the moment something big happens, whether it’s an underdog pulling ahead or a game headed to OT. It’s all about ensuring fans never miss an Instant Classic in the making.

How are those AI-driven betting widgets with DraftKings Network going, and what do fans think about them?

Our ability to clean, map, and “normalize” data is extremely unsexy, but it’s our secret weapon! It started as a way to cobble together data from different sources, but now, we unleash it in our MetaBet products to understand the key games, teams, and players being discussed in articles. Customers like DraftKings can focus on creating great content, and let us automatically insert the best complementary widgets to delight their fans and drive wagers.