Episode 215 Snippets: Vik Chokshi of FOX Sports

@njh287; www.dsmsports.net
On episode 215 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil
chatted with Vik Chokshi, Senior Editor - Gambling for FOX Sports.
What follows is a collection of snippets from the podcast. To hear the
full interview and more, check out the podcast on all podcast
platforms and at www.dsmsports.net.
Best Of The Digital and
Social Media Sports Podcast
Episode 215: Vik Chokshi

Vik’s Career Path
“It's definitely been a quote-unquote interesting career arc as my wife
likes to call it. I went to Marquette University and graduated with an
IT degree and went the IT route. I did that for about eight years.
During that time I lost my parents; I was pretty young, and so it was
obviously tough. I was an only kid and just kind of got burnt out at
that IT job and thought ‘Hey, life is short. Let me try to do something
else.’ I kind of had a moment of crisis, or whatever you want to call it; I
was a young kid by myself…

“So a friend of mine had a business idea and we kind of jumped into
that and did the whole entrepreneur thing. I did that for six years [and]
in that time span, I ended up getting married, having a kid. And once
that happens, your whole perspective on life changes again. It was
great, I learned a lot and made some good money, but I was also 36 at
the time, so having a midlife crisis again. It was at that time when my
wife pushed me and she was like ‘Why don't you do something that you
love?’ And for me, that’s sports — it's always been sports. I grew up
playing sports, coaching sports. I didn't grow up in the best part of the
city, so it really helped me in life just to stay out of trouble.

“And then when all this stuff happened with my parents, [sports] actually
gave me support in a foundation. My teammates were kind of like my family
and people that were there for me. So it's a very important thing to me and
that's when I decided to try to work in sports…And kind of going back a
little bit, I had started my own blog during the time. While I was doing my
own business, as you know, I started a blog called DockSquadSports. And
was just for fun. You know, I'm a big Chicago sports fan and the Bulls
drafted Derrick Rose in 2008, and I'd been watching him play since he was
in high school and I knew that kid was going to be special. So what better
time to start a blog than when the Bulls drafted one of the best players ever?

“It was a nice little tipping point where I just started blogging and
putting my thoughts out there. I didn't really even know what I was
doing, but it was fun to just kind of start putting things out there. And
through that, I met a lot of really cool people. So fast forward again,
back to where I was in the storyline — but when I was having this
midlife crisis, I decided to just kind of email tweet, hit up people on
LinkedIn and connect with people I hadn't met in the past to just
figure out how I could get my foot in the door when it comes to sports.

“And as you know, and I know, and a lot of people know, it's a lot harder than it looks. For
being such a big industry, there's not a lot of turnover. You have to, most of the time, know
someone to kind of give you your break because it is awesome working in the space. So, you
know, I hit up 500 people. I made a list. I still have this list, which is crazy, but five to six
people wrote me back. And it was pretty amazing, but all of those five or six people I had
connected with on either Twitter or through my blogging days and all five or six of those
people were actually big wigs and just really nice people that realized that they had been there
sometime in their life.
“So they hit me back and they started to hear my story and we just stayed in touch. And each of
those people found different ways to eventually find me work, whether it was freelancing or
just doing a project on the side. So that's how I got my foot in the door when it came to sports.

“One of those guys is Jason McIntyre who, at the time, owned The Big Lead. And now J-Mac, as
we like to call him, is at FOX Sports. He's on TV, he's doing his thing [and] is big time, which is
awesome to see. So he was the one that gave me my first real job job in the space at The Big
Lead, just basically giving me autonomy to write about things that I enjoyed, he knew my blog.
And that's kinda how I got into gambling.
“At that time, [gambling on sports] wasn't legalized in America, PASPA hadn't been repealed.
And so Jason's a forward-looking guy; he understood [that] gambling is going to be the next big
boom, let's start covering it. So that's when I started writing about it and just have been
grinding in the space ever since, doing a lot of projects, freelancing, doing whatever I can to get
by. And one thing led to another, and then I got a full-time job at Audacy, which was really cool
because they were doing their gambling initiative because everybody wanted to get into
gambling. This was about two years ago.

“And then the opportunity came along at Fox last year because of
Jason, which is great/ He remembered the work that I put in at The
Big Lead and we've stayed in touch. He's kind of been a mentor to me.
He connected me to Andrew Lynch, who's my boss now, and one
thing led to another, they liked my work, everything went well, and he
brought me on to Fox Sports last year.”

About the startup business Vik co-founded and ran
“It was called Arts and Spirits. I don't know if you've ever seen these, but they are places in
every city that you can go and take art classes and you can drink at the same time. They're
social, they're fun; they're paint nights, essentially. So we had a brick and mortar in Bucktown
in Chicago, which is a really nice area, and it did extremely well when we first started because
there wasn't anything else out there like that. And then a couple of years went by and of course
it was such a good idea — there's nothing proprietary about it, unfortunately — so the idea just
kind of got saturated a little bit. Stores started opening up in every pocket of Chicago in the
suburbs and we lost a lot of business that way. We were still doing well, but both me and my
partner at the time ended up getting married, having kids, and when you're working nights
and weekends — is it worth kind of the sacrifice if you're not making any money?

“So that was our six years, which was terrific. We also started an online platform, which is
still going, it's called Painting To Gogh. People can actually order the paint night at home
and do it at home with some instructions online, which is pretty cool. So just another fun
concept twist off of that. But yeah, I was in the paint business, which was very different for
me, but I will say I learned a lot and I made some great memories and it was definitely
great times. It's a valuable experience.”
“…It was a lot of fun. It was a great learning experience. I learned how to manage people.
When you own a business, you do everything from running the books to marketing to
social media — which is where I learned a lot, actually, because that was the tipping point
of social media when I had this business; just learning how Twitter works, how Facebook
works, how ads work, which was really cool. So I got that valuable experience. But yeah,
when you own a business, you have to do everything from, you know, marketing to
cleaning the toilets. You work hard, it's a grind, but I wouldn't change anything from that
experience for sure.”

On starting his blog DockSquadSports and figuring out what to do with it
“It's crazy because when I first started, it was not about [running it as a business or using it
to get a job]. It was more literally to just put my thoughts out there about the Bulls and
Chicago sports. And it was fun because Twitter was just getting started and it was just cool
to have a little bit of a Chicago following and start meeting people. Basically, that's how I
started. It was just purely out of the love of the game and just out of love for Chicago
sports.
“And of course that morphed a little bit…time is probably the most important thing in life,
right? And now that I'm older, I really do think that and believe in that. So when you
started getting a little older and your responsibilities and life changes — for me, that was
marriage. And then it was having kids; it's like, is it worth the time? And then basically
you're like, ‘Hey, how can I maybe make some money off of this?’ So you start reaching out
to some advertisers.

“I had a very simple blog. It was on Blogger, which was just like
WordPress and then started getting some local advertising money,
which was nice. Then that started helping me and I started getting a
following and meeting people and going to some of these
[conferences]...[There] was this amazing conference called Blogs With
Balls…Some great people would put together really cool events in
different states. And there was one in Chicago and that's where I met
Jason McIntyre. That's where I met a lot of people in the industry. And
they were the ones actually giving me some props and saying ‘Hey, we
noticed some of your work,’ which made me feel amazing.

“And that's maybe when I had a little bit of a light bulb where I was [all] ‘Hey, other
people are actually reading some of this. I should, one, start putting more time into it;
two, be just being a better writer’... because it honestly started as a passion project
where I'm just spitting stuff off, like on Twitter. So that changed my mindset a little bit.
And that's when I realized, well, maybe this can help me get a job in the future, so I'm
going to start clipping some of my best stuff and it just started making me put more
effort into it…
“And then unfortunately, once I had my second kiddo and got a real job in this space, I
ended up just shutting down the doors to the blog. But I do relish those days and it was
so much fun and it was cool to just be at a bar in Chicago and a random kid would come
up to me and be like ‘You're DockSquad,’ which was just amazing to me. That's the
power of Twitter. That's the power of sports. And that's the power of just having a very
cool community in Chicago where people are absolutely crazy about their teams.”

On using the growing power of social media to grow DockSquad
“Social media changed the game, and I actually realized that in two ways. It was
one with my blog and two with my business. So when I would post something, I
would then spit it off on Twitter, I would post it on my own Facebook — and just
the interactions that I got, just the traffic and numbers and how they went up;
like, this is pretty amazing and it's free. This is before paid advertising on any of
these platforms. This was before the [algorithms] and it was just a different
world. So to see the organic reach and see the traffic that was coming through
just by posting things, that's when I actually started to think bigger picture and
put together a strategy, not only for my blog, but for my business as well.

“That's when I realized just how big of a tool social media was. And again, this is before
Instagram and Snap and things. So predominantly for me, it was Twitter and Facebook that I
was using to basically just blast my stuff out there. And now looking back on it, it was probably
pretty annoying, right? You're on your Facebook feed and you got some kid posting different
links all the time to his business — but it was important to me. I was trying to hustle and I did
see results, which was probably the best part. But at that time, I wouldn't say I understood the
data and metrics part of the whole thing like I do now.
“So I just saw a good traffic spike and I just saw a lot of likes and interactions and comments
and people, noticing things when I was out in the streets and people going to a bar or coming to
my shop. I would talk to them and be like ‘How did you see this?’ And they would say Twitter or
Facebook. So to me, just getting some of that positive feedback really changed the game. And
that's when I was all in on social media, essentially.”

On differentiating DockSquad and figuring out his own voice and brand
“I always tell younger people that ask me this — try to find your voice. Don't worry about
trying to make everyone happy. It started off for me where I just started following a lot of
people that I looked up to on Twitter. And I would just see, how are they presenting
themselves? What's their digital brand or what are their digital breadcrumbs that they're
leaving? And I tried to start mimicking some of that.
“I will say [that] Jason McIntyre, Chad Millman, and a lot of people in the space helped me
at that time. But I would just follow them on Twitter and Facebook, Instagram, see what
they're doing, see what they're posting, and try to really understand. That helped me a lot.
And then I would also see what brands were doing right when it comes to social because,
again, it was so new at the time. It's very different now. So it's really a combination of
people that I followed and trying to mimic them and then mimicking brands and really
understanding how important and what kind of impact social media makes.

“Literally that's your brand at the end of the day. I used to write stupid stuff like everybody else
on Twitter. I understood that if you're ever going for a job, what's the first thing people are
going to do nowadays? They're just going to literally type your name into the internet, read your
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat pages for five minutes, scan them and they can get a
pretty good idea of who you are. And I can't lie — when I interview someone younger for
internships or freelance positions I pretty much do the same thing. They're your digital
breadcrumbs, right? That's your brand. And so to me, it's important to kind of clean that up and
make sure you're sharp.
“Back then, that's when I realized all of that, but it wasn't just me miraculously coming up with
it. I was lucky I had good people helping me, guiding me, telling me some of those things. And
so that's what I always like to pass on to some younger people nowadays. It was just basically
trying to mimic things I saw on Twitter from people I looked up to.”

“...I think that nowadays people can just tell when you're being fake
online. Your true passion comes out when you're talking about stuff
that you love. So you shouldn't try to be anybody that you're not; like,
just do your thing. Pick what you love and what you enjoy, and really
hit that because the people that are the most authentic, they have the
biggest organic followings in my opinion. And that's what you should
strive to be, but it's tough when you're young and you're trying to still
find your way and you're trying to find your path, or you're just trying
to get a job or you're trying to be liked by people…”

On how Vik thought about taking DockSquad to new forms as digital and social
evolved
“I didn't think about all of that at the time. To me, I enjoyed writing, so that was
kinda my thing, that fit well. I did start getting interview opportunities and
chances because of the blog and that's probably when I started realizing, Hey,
there's some potential there. Then I started seeing other people doing it more
and more and kind of blowing up when it comes to starting a podcast or
[posting] video or going on YouTube. But I just think it was also a confidence
issue for me as well. I didn't feel as confident speaking on camera or doing
interviews like I do now.

“And it was just a matter of getting reps in, which takes a different amount of
time for everybody. But I think if that's something that you want to do and are
thinking about doing, just start doing it. Everybody needs the reps. No matter
who you are or how good you are or how talented of a person you are, you just
need to start getting those reps down. So it wasn't until 2020 when COVID
started that I actually started my own podcast just because I wanted to add that
skill set. But during those DockSquad days, I didn't think about podcasting or
anything like that. I just kind of stuck to my lane, which was writing because
that's what I enjoyed and that's what I feel like I knew as well. So that was one
of the biggest reasons. And honestly, just being scared a little bit.

“So, if I started [DockSquad] now, I would definitely go digital, and just a whole array
of not only writing, but doing podcasting, doing videos, doing interviews, putting it out
on YouTube, just trying to build your brand as soon as possible, because I do think that
there's still a lack of good talent in the space.
“So if you want your first opportunity, how are you going to get that? Unless you really
know someone or you're just one of the best ever, which is rare — people need to notice
you somehow. What's the best way to do that? Just put your stuff out there organically
and just keep at it, get your reps in, and you'll be surprised. There’s a lot of big wig
decision-makers on social that find people that route. So that's probably the way that I
would go now, but it's so different now compared to back then. There weren't even that
many people doing podcasts when I started the blog.”

“This is the best time to do it [with] this whole content creator
economy in a way or whatever you want to call it, but there's just this
whole new opportunity thanks to social media content creation. And
you nailed it, man. And that's what it's all about, just putting yourself
out there, [getting] the reps in refining your work, getting better. Of
course you gotta network. I think the other big thing is just having
good relationships and really treating people well, whether you're
interacting with randoms on Twitter or you meet them in real life. Just
don't be an a-hole to people in general, right? Because it's such a small
industry and you just never know.

“And again, I always go back to the five or six people that wrote me back when I wanted
a job and how all of them [were] nice. I came across as a nice guy and stayed in touch
with people, didn't want anything from them, just to ask for advice. And they
remembered me, thought of me and found ways to give me jobs. And even to this day,
I'm still cool with and close with all those people and we still talk and they still find ways
to give me jobs.
“So if you come across as an a-hole early on — you just never know if that other person is
going to ascend in the space and there might come a day where they're going to be the
ones that have openings on their squad to try to potentially have given you a job, but
they're like, Hey, we don't like this person. So I think relationships are super important
and just putting yourself out there, those are probably the two biggest things right now.”

How Vik got into the sports gambling space
“[It’s] not a great story, but I definitely started gambling when I was super young. In high school,
I was making pools by hand, we were doing fantasy football — this was before Yahoo actually had
all of this set up, this was a long time ago, man…playing [the board game] Monopoly for money
and just doing different things. I didn't start betting on sports until probably college. And this is
the time where it wasn't legal [yet], so you're sending money offshore via Western Union.
Anybody that's done it understands what I'm talking about, but sending money to Jamaica,
essentially, to log into a website. So I've been gambling for a long time.
“Same thing with fantasy [sports]. I remember fantasy when it was done by hand. And then when
I was in college, Yahoo [fantasy] started and I was hooked. I was one of those guys that did like
47 leagues at one time. I loved it. I loved fantasy basketball, I loved fantasy football and took it
really seriously probably until I had my second kid, which is just recently. But I think the second
kid and then the pandemic and everything made me a little soft. Now I'm not as cutthroat, but I
just love fantasy and gambling.

“And I knew it was going to be a big industry. So that's why even on DockSquad, I would post
gambling picks, I would write about gambling, I would talk about it. I would do the same on Twitter.
It was just something inside of me. I knew everybody did it, but it was kind of taboo at the time. But
everybody that I ask, everybody that I talk to — whether it's a college kid or an older person, you're
watching a game at a bar, or you're watching it with your buddies — everybody had some money on
it. Whether that's five bucks or 500 bucks, I knew people were gambling. I would go to Vegas and I
would see how insane it was. And so I knew it was only a matter of time.
“And that's why I started writing about it. I think J-Mac saw the same thing. So he wanted us to write
about it at The Big Lead, as well. And even after I moved on from there, I started to keep that up. I
made that one of my niche things on Twitter as well. And again, just blogged about it, talked about it,
jumped on people's podcasts about it; because I do think, even back then, I knew it was going to be
really big and I’m glad I did that. But yeah I’ve been a degenerate gambler myself and when it comes
to the content side of things, I really got into it on the blog and then with The Big Lead…”

On creating content and conversation for newbie gamblers vs. more avid, knowledgeable
audiences
“It's crazy to think until 2018 you couldn't really even say or write a lot of the things that we do
now. When it comes to football, they couldn't talk about [gambling] on TV. And now, like you
said, everybody's talking about it, the NFL posted a job for VP of Betting today…the landscape
has changed so much.
“In regards to the demographic, I truly think it all depends where you work. But when it comes
to companies that are getting into content themselves, I think that for most of those
companies, and Fox as well, we are just trying to talk to kind of the new gambler. The casual
gambler, the guy that’s going to be watching the game on his couch, throwing five or 10 bucks
on the game and having some fun with it. So I kind of liken it to watching a movie — we pay
$10-$15 to go watch a movie, we have fun for two or three hours. And this is kind of the same
thing. We're watching something fun and then on top of that, you have an opportunity to
actually win money off of it. So that's kind of how I see it in my mind and that's our strategy.

“So a lot of the stuff that we do is more for the casual gambler. I think the hardcore gamblers, the
ones that are betting huge amounts of money, they're not really coming to a lot of these media
company websites and reading their content. They have algorithms and they're professionals and
they're betting on this and their livelihood is at stake. This is their job, essentially. So that's kind of a
whole different demographic.
“Now, it will be interesting to see how the space goes the next few years. I think the biggest thing
that we're seeing with sportsbooks or media companies or anyone is stickiness .Especially when it
comes to these sportsbooks, I think there's no brand loyalty. It's whoever has the best promo or the
best boost for today. That's what at least my buddies who are casual betters, that's what they do.
“So in Illinois… at the beginning, it was just DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetRivers. And on that day,
whoever had the best promo that's who they would bet with. So it'll be interesting to see. And same
thing with media companies; there are so many companies trying to get into the space, but not
everyone's going to last. There's a lot of companies that are going to burn out. And so I do think in a
couple years, you're probably going to just see a great consolidation and I think that's already begun.
We might just see the big guns that make it through the next couple of years…”

On the convergence of sports gambling companies and content/media
“I think two things — one, the people at least to me are going to be
either the ones that build the best community, that have the best way
of having fun, which Barstool I think does really well. They have a
really intense community, whether you love or hate Barstool, their
followers ride or die with their personalities, and it's because they've
built this family community where people ride and lose bets together,
or they win together. So I think companies like that will do well and
stick around.

“And then I do think Fox, and you're seeing ESPN — they're going to
ramp up pretty soon getting into the gambling space — but those two
have differentiators because they have TV rights. You'll have the
ability to stream on an app while also placing live betting or micro
bets or whatever you want to call it. But you'll be able to wager while
you're watching these games on their apps. So I think that gives them
a big leg up. And then DraftKings and FanDuel have built a pretty
strong user base. So that's kind of one way...

“And then when it comes to information, man, trust me, I've tried to do
it all aside from work, when it comes to gambling. I've known when
quarterbacks are going to be out, I've known when point guards are
going to be out of the game and I've beaten numbers by 6, 7, 8 points
because of that information and then still lost bets. Second of all these
odds makers and the people that set these lines, and then the ones that
automatically do it with software, they're just so sharp. They get the
same information probably sooner than everybody. A lot of those times
those numbers are already baked in. So even if you have information, it
doesn't guarantee success in in the gambling space, if that makes sense.

“I do think there is some value and I do think one of the big insiders will get
into the game eventually, probably over the next two years, whether that's
Woj, Shams or somebody in the game. But, personally, I don't think there's a
lot of value in it from a gambling perspective. But from a media perspective,
from a company side, I see a whole ton of value because they will then be
able to do exclusive posts about those kinds of things and that will drive a lot
of traffic to their websites or whatever platform they're trying to push people
to. So I see the value in that for sure. I just don't personally see a lot of value
in it from a gambling perspective if I was a gambler. But I do think one of
those big guns is going to make a move in the next year or two.”

On using advanced data/analytics, but not overwhelming casual bettors and fans with
it
“I think every company has their own strategy with that. For us at least at Fox, right
now[ that is catering more to the casual better, catering more to people that are new to
the game, making sure that they have fun, making sure they understand gambling,
what the lingo is, and not worrying too much about the algorithms and intense bettors
and just the whole professional angle of it. We do cater to that a little bit. We have this
great guy, Sammy P, who does weekly articles and gives perspective on what a
professional is doing with, say, the Super Bowl, or on what the oddsmakers think or
how they set the lines. But for us, it's about education more than anything. So it's just
making sure that the people that are consuming our content are having fun and
learning something about the game. More than just, hey, go put your car on this…

“And even for me, that's what I tell a lot of my buddies, man, trust me.
Like, I've tried to beat the game every single way possible and I've had
some amazing runs and I've had some insane losses, but it's just
tough to eventually be profitable long-term unless this is your career.
But for people that have jobs and are gambling on the side, just do it
for fun, have some fun, throw a few bucks, five, 10 bucks on it,
whatever you're comfortable with that allows you to actually have fun
while watching the game. That's probably the best advice that I can
give. And that's what I always tell my buddies as well.

“So now I'm more into long shots. For example, I'll pick a few teams
that I think can win it all so I can get a big return or I'll pick an MVP.
Or, I like betting on golf because every week you never know, and
analytics do help with that. So that's kind of how I do things, but that
would probably be my best advice is just have fun, educate yourself.
And that's what our goal is, at least at our company. But I know it just
depends on the strategy of every single different player in the game
right now”

On the content that is resonating with casual bettors for Fox Sports
“I think futures bets are probably the new wave right now that
everybody's having fun with. It's literally just that. You're betting on,
say for me, I like Justin Herbert to win MVP next year, so I'm going to
throw 20 bucks on it and maybe I can win, you know, I'm just making
up a number because I haven't looked at it yet, but maybe I can win
500 bucks. So when we put out futures articles, those seem to do
super well.

“And we have some great talent. We have J-Mac that writes for us, Geoff Schwartz –
former football player/o-lineman, Sammy P. So they will put out their futures bets
when it comes to everything at any time. Say the Super Bowl is over, they'll put out
some for next year. Or say, March Madness is coming up Sunday, we’ll put up their
three best NCAA tournament bets. So those have done super well. And then our
educational pieces have done well — we call them ‘How to Bet.’ And so we're
essentially teaching people how to bet a particular game, say the Bears are playing
the Packers, we’ll have some information in there, we'll have some data in there,
some trends in there, we'll educate them on what the line means, what a moneyline
means, what the total means. And then we'll try to include a pick in there, have some
knowledgeable insight from Colin Cowherd or one of our talent as well. So those have
done super well, because it's a little bit of everything and I think that relaxes and
helps just casual gamblers that are trying to get into the space. So those are probably
two that come to mind, two different types of articles that do really well.”

On preparing for March Madness
“It's tough. It's a juggling act that, if you work in the space, you know how fluid it is
every day, there's always something, right? So my goal is to try to plan as best as we
can. So we have, I call it shelling; but basically we will shell out different scenarios for
different things so that if something happens, we can just plug and play, essentially.
“So it's coming up with a plan probably the week before. So, the same thing with the
Super Bowl. We plan that probably a month ahead so that when the Super Bowl arrives,
we have content before, during, after — but like you said, things always happen. So
again, going back to this week, we had an insane week when it comes to sports, all
those quarterbacks were on the move, baseball came back, we had a USFL
supplemental draft at Fox, which is a big initiative for us with spring football. So things
always happen. So the more you can prepare the better it is, the less stress it is.

“For me, I like to create templates. We like to have a plan. We like to get the team on
board and just make sure we have everything covered. But things happen when you work
in this space; everyday things pop up, but we have already discussed, there's gonna be
buzzer beaters — what are we going to do if that occurs? Sp we've created shells. I'm
helping more with the editorial side when it comes to this March Madness. So it's more
how fast can we get out stuff on our FoxSports.com and our Fox Sports app? So basically
it's just a lot of preparation trying to make sure we have the people, the talent, the art.
“So that's another thing that goes along with our pieces. We call it the graphics team and
then the oddsmakers point of view. So there's a lot of different moving parts. Just
making sure everybody's on the same page so that, when something does happen, we're
able to spin it off real quickly.”

The most memorable game from Vik’s time at Marquette
“Oh man. I mean, it has to be our Final Four run. I was a super senior. So for
me, that was probably the one of the best years of my life. Just because when I
got to Marquette, no one would go to games and to see them do that was pretty
amazing. A particular game, I would say, [is] when Marquette beat Cincinnati
with Kenyon Martin. This is when we were not good, so we stormed the court.
That was my first time storming the court. I remember Kenyon swatted a ball
to like the 20th row, that's how good he was. But we beat them that year. So
that's probably my two favorite memories of just sports and being there.”

Vik’s favorite piece of content with DockSquadSports
“Oh man, that's so tough because we had a lot of fun ones. I had this
interview with Dwyane Wade; that's my profile picture still on Twitter
and some of my social media platforms. So I would probably say that
was the coolest piece of content that I created when I had the blog.
Because, one, it was just amazing. And that was honestly my first [real]
interview thanks to the blog, which was pretty cool. So it was like the
perfect intersection of everything. It was like Chicago, Dwyane Wade,
Marquette, and my blog all at the same time.”

The sport whose fans are the most avid about betting
“As much as I want to say March Madness or college basketball, it's
gotta be football. Football is king when it comes to everything —
viewership, gambling, fandom, just everything. They're just on a
different level. So, hands down it's football and the NFL to even drill
down a little further. It's the NFL by far, and then everything else.”

The sport[s] that are best for sports fans to try out betting
“That's a great question. I would still probably go football. I think it is the easiest thing — I
mean, again, gambling is not easy, so don't get me wrong there. But I think that if you
understand the rules of the NFL, you will understand gambling. But you have to educate
yourself. You have to read up on it a little bit because the point spread is involved, and the
moneyline’s involved.
“But you can bet on a total, [which] I think is probably an easy way to start when it comes to
betting on the NFL. So there'll be a total of 42 points for a game — it's either the total of points
scored by both teams goes over or under that 42 points, right? And you either win or you lose.
So I would probably say NFL, and then maybe starting with a total just to get your feet wet
would probably be the way to go.”

On a sport that Vik expects to grow with betting and conducive to it
“I think it's golf. I think that golf is going to be the next big thing. Not
only because I've personally started to get into it. Soccer is amazing.
Soccer is a worldwide sport [and] there's not a lot of stoppage in
soccer. And I think live betting is kind of the new big thing. And that's
why it's so big in football. You can bet every single time there's a
timeout or [the] same thing in basketball. Soccer sometimes doesn’t
allow for that many opportunities,

“Whereas golf, you can bet on every single hole, you can bet on futures
before the tournament begins — who's going to win. You can bet on it
after day one, you can bet on it after day two, you can bet on it after
day three. And crazy stuff happens in golf; just because you're leading
the whole way, [that] doesn't mean that that golfer is gonna win. So
there's so many different opportunities to bet on it. It's one of the
fastest growing sports in the world, I think, because [during] COVID,
that was a big point where people could get outside and play. Now it's
being watched more and the whole gambling component, I think, is
really going to blow up in that space.”

On Vik’s experience as a South Asian working in sports and his
involvement in the community
“It's kind of cool to see just now how different the landscape is
compared to when I was growing up. It does help a lot when you see
people that look like you or have been raised like you on television or
working in sports. But when I was growing up there weren't that
many people, and now it's a completely different landscape, which is
really cool to see.

“That's helped motivate me. I'm in a couple of organizations — I'm in South
Asians in Sports, which is cool. I'm in this Asian-American journalist
organization, which I take pretty seriously because it's just cool to meet other
people in the space. It's cool to pass your knowledge down and help those younger
people trying to come in the space. So I'm trying to really help with that a lot.
“And I do think it's a very important initiative…That's one thing I'm proud of
where I work right now and my team, we definitely have a very nice and diverse
community at Fox Sports and especially on my gambling team, which is great. So
it's something that's near and dear to my heart for sure, and something that I'm
really trying to push in the future moving forward as well.”

The craziest game in Vik’s memory from a betting perspective
“Oh my God, that is nuts, man…So when you're a bettor, you always remember your own
bad beats, you know what I mean? The soul-crushing defeats that you really thought,
like, ‘Hey, I have this in the bag.’ I was betting a lot of money and at the time I remember
a Michigan game…It was Michigan State-Michigan [football], and that was probably the
worst bad beat, just because I had a lot of money on this game. It was probably 2015 or
2016, but basically I remember Michigan State won on a [botched] punt.
“So Michigan, Michigan was up 23-21, and then it was a botched punt and Michigan
State ran it back and then they won 27-23. That was, I remember, one of the most brutal
beats that I've ever personally experienced.”

The variables and levers for gambling companies to use to win in
business
“It's tough, man. Money is probably the most important thing in the
world, that rules the world, right? And it's just having the ability to
have enough money to initiate strategies and marketing initiatives
and really just being in it for the long haul, I think, is going to be one
of the biggest things, because there is going to be a consolidation
where big guys just gobble up the little guys, just like in real life.

“So just having the power of Fox, I think, is great. It helps us with SEO. It helps
drive a lot of traffic to our website and app. It helps get a lot of casual people in
the door, especially because [Fox Sports’s] social pages have so many followers. I
think that's kind of another way where you can leverage another component of
the business is you can use social media to then push people and push traffic and
push gamblers. And who's got the biggest followings? It's Fox and ESPN. So
that's why you might see a lot of consolidation on the other side, where gambling
companies like DraftKings might end up buying a media company. They're
burning so much money when it comes to marketing, they might buy a media
company so that they can create the content for them in-house. So I think that's
going to be another big thing to watch in the space as well, moving forward.”

The best meal to get in Chicago and where to get it
“We're going for pizza for sure. So there's three
kinds of pizza in Chicago. There's obviously
stuffed pizza, there's deep dish, and then there's
tavern style as well, which are those little square-
cut pieces. So, I got a spot in the north burbs
called Barnaby's, which I love for tavern style.
There's a place in the city called Art of Pizza that I
love for stuffed and then Pequod’s for deep dish.
“So we're having now, we're having a little bit of
everything, man, if you come out here and it'll be
fun, and that way you get a little taste of all the
flavors.”

Vik’s (open-ended) bold prediction for the future of the sports gambling space
“I think that it's just kind of what I've been mentioning a little bit; I think that only
three or four players in the game are going to be left and we're going to see all of
these media companies that are out there either get bought out or just burn out
cash essentially, and have to pivot into something new. So that's one big thing.
“And then second of all, I think what I just said, I really do think DraftKings is
going to partner or buy out a media company because of the way that they're just
losing so much cash and getting killed on the internet, getting killed on social — I
think it's inevitable for them.”

Vik’s Social Media All-Star to Follow
“I love people in every industry. I think it's important to follow all
types of people. I think it's really important to follow smart people. I
love following, and I'm not just saying this to gas you up, but I love
following you on Twitter, man. (@njh287), and I think people would
learn a lot. I love following JW Cannon (@cannonjw), TK Gore
(@TKGore), Scott Soshnick (@Soshnick), Howie LongShort
(@HowieLongShort), Jess Smith (@WarJessEagle. I think if you're
into marketing, those are all really cool people to follow.

“I think if you're into gambling — Colin Cowherd (@ColinCowherd), Jason McIntryre
(@jasonmcintyre), Chad Millman @ChadMillman).Those are all really cool people
and just smart people and nice people to follow in life. And they post different
perspectives on different things, which is really cool to see. So I would say find some
cool people and things that you enjoy and follow smart people…
“The last thing I'll say is just in life, there’s this big thing — the five people that you
hang out with the most are probably the ones that shape you the most, right? Same
thing when it comes to social media, man, the people that you follow, that's what
you're intaking into your brain every single day. So make sure you cut out toxic people
and negativity and just follow good smart people and you'll be able to learn a lot.”

Where to find Vik and Fox Sports on digital/social media
Vik is @docksquad33 on Twitter and @vikchokshi33 on Instagram
Find @FoxSports on all platforms and the Fox Sports app and
FoxSports.com, and be sure to click on the Odds tab

Thanks again to Vik for being so generous with his time to share his
knowledge, experience, and expertise with me!
For more content and episodes, subscribe to the podcast, follow me
on LinkedIn and on Twitter @njh287, and visit www.dsmsports.net.

Episode 215 Snippets: Vik Chokshi of FOX Sports

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