Don’t Bet on Disney

SMT is ready to add insult to injury after a bad year for Disney, which just last year released the legendarily terrible Artemis Fowl film. On March 9, 2021, a patent was issued to SMT for a system for live sports betting, adding another patent to SMT’s diverse portfolio of 32 patent documents in the last three years. This patent issued following reports in December 2020 that Disney is planning on leaning into sports betting through ESPN. Here’s the issue: Disney has no patents on sports betting. What’s more, Disney’s announced partner in the sports betting venture is DraftKings, a company that has patents directed specifically to its app, but nothing on sports betting systems. 

SMT, on the other hand, has a proven track record with sports betting. For example, it is a long time partner of NBC in broadcasting the Belmont Stakes, with SMT providing its Betting and Social Media board for people to keep track of real-time odds on the race. SMT is positioning itself to cut off Disney and become a dominant force in sports betting. If Disney hopes to have any edge in this area, internal development would probably take too long, so it needs to be looking at opportunities for acquisition or go ahead and fold its cards now. 

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