Benzinga | Aug 25, 2021 12:40PM EDT

Nexstar Teams With SportsGrid On New Digitnet Sports Betting Network

Nexstar Media Group, Inc (NASDAQ:NXST) has announced that its Nexstar Media Inc. subsidiary is partnering with the streaming video network SportsGrid Inc. on SportsGrid Network, which is being billed as "the nation's first-ever diginet devoted to sports wagering and fantasy sports."

What Happened: SportsGrid Network launches Sept. 1 across digital subchannels licensed to Nexstar in nine U.S. markets: Des Moines, Grand Rapids, Knoxville, Nashville, Norfolk, Portland, San Francisco, Tampa and Washington, D.C.

At its launch, SportsGrid Network will feature 18 hours of exclusive live programming hosted by a team of on-air personalities, sports and gambling experts, and guest contributors, along with pre-produced programming and encore program presentations.

SportsGrid Inc. is a 24-hour sports wagering and fantasy sports program service, with content distributed across television and digital platforms. Its new endeavor will be available on recently vacated digital sub-channels licensed to Nexstar.

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Why It Happened: Louis Maione, founder and president of SportsGrid, observed that Nexstar commands 199 owned or operated television stations in 116 markets, adding it can provide "a great platform for distributing our content to fantasy sports fans and gamblers everywhere."

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia currently have legal and regulated sports betting industries while nine additional states are in the process of launching their sports betting operations. North Carolina and New Mexico have sports betting via tribal casinos.

Photo: Keith Johnston from Pixabay.