Nasdaq Trade TalksJill Malandrino
Welcome to Nasdaq Trade Talks. I’m Jill Malandrino a global markets reporter at Nasdaq. Joining us, we have Jeffrey Kamys who is the Chief Investment Strategist and portfolio manager with Inherent Wealth Fund to discuss the growth of Sports Betting and the legalization in the US. Jeffrey has significant experience in the industry, having 15 years as an owner and operator of a fantasy sports company that created online tools for fantasy sports players and sent out digitized information to its participants. Jeffrey, it’s great to have you with us.

Jill Malandrino
Welcome to Trade Talks.

Jeffrey Kamys
Thanks for having me. How are you doing?

Jill Malandrino
Good. We’re doing well. Thank you. And give us a high level overview of the space, and what are the prospects for growth of Sports Betting and legalization in the US.

Legal Sports Betting in the US
Source American Gaming Association

Jeffrey Kamys
Since the time of the chariot races, people have been enjoying wagering. And that’s just a natural fact. And what’s going on now is as we have the growth of legalization of sports betting in the United States. We’re at somewhere near 22, 23, 24 States. We continue to see more and more companies entering the space.

Jill Malandrino
And it’s really a big high tech shootout for the fantasy sports players these days, right?

Jeffrey Kamys
It certainly is.

Jill Malandrino
We know what Disney did to streaming. What does the entry of Disney into sports betting say?

Jeffrey Kamys
Well, I think what this is about, is media combined with the betting, which also combines with advertising. So, as you get this content….. and anyone who has content now, every media company is game to be in this industry. We also see somebody like FuboTV now, FuboTV is a portfolio holding in our ETF that we’re talking about today, FuboTV is going to have one day interactive gaming. So you can imagine sitting on your couch watching a football game and maybe wanting to wager on a specific field goal that may be attempted. The top 10 holdings of the fund are, FLTR LN, PENN, EVO SS, DKNG, MGM, CZR, SGMS, KAMBI SS, WYNN, LVS. They can be viewed here iBET Sports Betting & Gaming ETF (IBET) – Inherent Wealth Fund

Jeffrey Kamys
And that’s really the future of this business. It’s becoming a digitized thing. I think the current story in the marketplace is that these stocks are based solely on Vegas and that Omicron and COVID issues hurt their performance. It’s not the truth. The future of this industry is digitized.

Jill Malandrino
So tell us about the ETF itself. iBET Sports Betting & Gaming ETF. What are some of the more interesting holdings in your ETF?

Jeffrey Kamys
So the iBET ETF, which is a Sports Betting and Gaming ETF, is comprised of about 40 to 50 holdings of publicly traded companies in the industry. There’s probably about 70 companies in the space right now that could potentially be in the ETF. But if you’re watching closely, you’ll see new companies emerging in the marketplace all the time. And that’s because there’s so many opportunities here for growth, so we’re seeing a lot of companies who are now getting/becoming licensed operators.

Jeffrey Kamys
I think Bally’s is a really interesting company. Bally’s is kind of an older company we probably don’t hear that much about, but they’re actually vying for a casino in downtown Chicago, which is really cool. They’re putting together a bid for about a billion dollar casino on the Lake in Chicago. Can you imagine if you take a city like Chicago, which is one of the best convention cities in the United States, and then you add a beautiful casino that has a rooftop deck and all these other amenities.

Jeffrey Kamys
You can imagine the possibilities for a stock like Bally’s, if that happens right?

Jill Malandrino
MGM recently purchased the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. Penn National Gaming was also in the running. What was the strategy behind the purchase?

Jeffrey Kamys
So, think about what’s going on here. These are younger people that stay at the Cosmopolitan. In the Sports Betting marketplace, we’re looking for these new millennials, these 25 to 35 year old’s. If you’ve been to the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, I’ve gone myself. I’m probably a little too old for the space now, but 25 to 35 year old’s are the targeted demographic. So, when you talk about digitizing and placing bets on your phone, we’re talking about a younger demographic. So that was a key holding for MGM to go after that. That’s one of the youngest demographic casinos on the strip, for sure.

Jill Malandrino
Yeah, I’ll move it out of that demographic, but that is a gorgeous property. I agree with you there. Let’s discuss your current outlook versus longer term outlook for the space and what are possible other entrance to it.

Jeffrey Kamys
Right. Okay. So this is really interesting to me, is who else is coming, right? Because it is so prominent now. And we’re hearing about sports betting everywhere. So back in the old days, let’s say 20-30 years ago, whenever there was a game on TV, you would always have an announcer and he’d be talking about the game. He may make a joke or allude to. Hey, that was important for someone. But now you have these announcers before the games during the games, talking about betting, if they wagered.

Jeffrey Kamys
So, to me, what I see is the future, with Disney entering the sports betting space, coming in with ESPN. It’s where Main Street USA comes into play in betting. So it’s going to continue to grow. And I think you’re going to see larger companies, media driven companies. If you have a media entity, you will be more and more involved in sports betting. And let me give you an example. So recently, Fox, Fox just announced that they are going to attempt to bring back the USFL, which was the United States Football League, something that was around in the 80s.

Jeffrey Kamys
Now, one of the main reasons or drivers is that they can keep the bettor or the person watching the game, engaged. So, Fox has their own betting tool. Fox bets, and essentially what they’re going to do now is create the content to keep the person watching the game and betting. And what does that do for their ad retention? It’s great. So, if you have someone who bets on a game and maybe the worst game ever, they’re going to still watch it.

Jill Malandrino
Yes, that is a brand strategy. Jeffrey we appreciate the insight. Thanks for joining us on trade talks.

Carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risk factors, charges, and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the Fund’s prospectus (to obtain a prospectus please call 1-833-910-2700). Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Risks include those related to investments in the highly-competitive sports betting industry, including from illegal or unregulated companies.
Expansion of sports betting (both regulated and unregulated), including the award of additional licenses or expansion or relocation of existing sports betting companies, and competition from other leisure and entertainment activities, could impact these companies’ finances. Small and mid-capitalization companies may be more volatile and less liquid due to limited resources or product lines and more sensitive to economic factors. Fund investments are concentrated in an industry or group of industries, and the value of Fund shares may rise and fall more than more diversified funds. Investments in foreign securities involve social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuation, high volatility and limited regulation risks. Emerging markets involve different and greater risks, as they are smaller, less liquid and more volatile than more develop countries. Depositary Receipts involve risks similar to those associated with investments in foreign securities, but may not provide a return that corresponds precisely with that of the underlying shares. Please see the prospectus for details of these and other risks.
Foreside Fund Services, LLC: Distributor not affiliated with (Inherent Wealth Fund, LLC)