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Survey Says Cleveland and Cincinnati Dominate Biggest NFL Busts List
NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — They don’t have a Super Bowl win among them, but it appears that Ohio’s pro football teams are good at something. Drafting busts.
The sports betting website “The Game Day” conducted a nationwide survey of pro sports fans, who agreed that JaMarcus Russell is not only the biggest bust in NFL history, but fans voted him the biggest bust in professional sports history overall.
The data is based on responses given by sports fans across 48 states plus Washington, D.C., who voted on the biggest busts in the NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and the biggest ever busts in all sports combined.
“What was jarring was seeing so many athletes with Ohio ties on the list, particularly given the broad group of respondents. It shows Ohioans’ loyalty given their feverish fandom even while enduring a substandard product through the years.” – Pat Pickens, Writer at The Game Day and author of “The Whalers: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Mystique of New England’s (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise”
Let’s start in the NFL, where you’ll find the Browns and the Bengals dominating the list of teams fans believe have drafted the most busts.
Biggest Busts in NFL History
1. JaMarcus Russell – Oakland Raiders (23.8%)
2. Johnny Manziel – Cleveland Browns (23.5%)
3. Ryan Leaf – San Diego Chargers (16.1%)
4. David Carr – New York Giants (6.6.%)
5. Tony Mandarich – Green Bay Packers (5.5%)
6. Charles Rogers – Detroit Lions (5%)
7. Akili Smith – Cincinnati Bengals (4.9%)
8. Tim Couch – Cleveland Browns (4.5%)
9. Dion Jordan – Miami Dolphins (4.3%)
10. Ki-Jana Carter – Cincinnati Bengals (3.6%)
Johnny Manziel (Cleveland), Akili Smith (Cincinnati), Tim Couch (Cleveland) and Ki-Jana Carter (Cincinnati) are all in the top 10. Manziel was drafted 22nd overall in 2014, and played in only 14 games over two seasons in Cleveland before moving north to the Canadian Football League.
Smith was taken third overall by the Bengals in the 1999 NFL Draft and won only three games in his brief career.
Couch was selected first overall by the Browns in the 1999 NFL Draft, He was Cleveland’s first draft pick when the club re-joined the NFL as an expansion team.
Carter was selected first overall in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, but after suffering a ligament tear in his knee during his first preseason game, he was never the same.
Biggest Busts in Sports History (All Sports)
- JaMarcus Russell – Oakland Raiders (23.64%)
- Johnny Manziel – Cleveland Browns (23.34%)
- Greg Oden – Portland Trail Blazers (18.87%)
- Ryan Leaf – San Diego Chargers (15.99%)
- Brien Taylor – New York Yankees (14.10%)
- Anthony Bennett – Cleveland Cavaliers (12.81%)
- Kwame Brown – Washington Wizards (12.41%)
- Rick DiPietro – New York Islanders (12.31%)
- Brian Lawton – Minnesota North Stars (12.31%)
- Donavan Tate – San Diego Padres (11.92%)
And when you check the list of overall busts, it doesn’t get any better for Ohio. Johnny Manziel is number two on the list, Greg Oden is third, and Anthony Bennett is sixth. In fact, Oden and Bennett were voted the two biggest busts in NBA history (below).
Oden, although drafted by Portland as the number one overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, has Ohio ties as a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Anthony Bennett was the number one overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers out of UNLV. He lasted one season in Cleveland and was out of the league within three years.
Russell received votes from fans in 40 states plus Washington, D.C. and, perhaps unsurprisingly, his biggest vote share came from California.
Biggest Busts in NBA History
1. Greg Oden – Portland Trail Blazers (19.1%)
2. Anthony Bennett – Cleveland Cavaliers (12.9%)
3. Kwame Brown – Washington Wizards (12.5%)
4. Jay Williams – Chicago Bulls (10.3%)
5. Darko Miličić – Detroit Pistons (9.5%)
6. Sam Bowie – Portland Trail Blazers (9.5%)
7. Chris Washburn – Golden State Warriors (7.8%)
8. Michael Olowokandi – Los Angeles Clippers (6%)
9. (Tie) Adam Morrison – Charlotte Hornets (5%)
(Tie) Hasheem Thabeet – Memphis Grizzlies (5%)
Oden and Bennett top the list of the biggest busts in the NBA (according to the survey). Oden grabbed more than 19% of the vote and Bennett nearly 13%.
Biggest Busts in MLB History
1. Brien Taylor – New York Yankees (14.2%)
2. Donavan Tate – San Diego Padres (12%)
3. Matt Bush – San Diego Padres (11.1%)
4. Todd Van Poppel – Oakland Athletics (10.6%)
5. Mark Appel – Detroit Tigers (10%)
Taylor was thought to be a can’t-miss fireballer of a pitcher taken number one overall in the 1992 draft by the New York Yankees. But after hurting his shoulder in a fight, he never got out of the minor leagues.
Biggest Busts in NHL History
1. (Tie) Rick DiPietro – New York Islanders (12.5%)
(Tie) Brian Lawton – Minnesota North Stars (12.5%)
3. Claude Gauthier – Detroit Red Wings (11%)
4. Nail Yakupov – Edmonton Oilers (10.7%)
5. Patrik Štefan – Atlanta Thrashers (9.4%)
DiPietro had his one impressive season (2006-07), but injuries cut his career short.
“The survey clearly shows that the perception of athletes is directly tied to a person’s fandom and familiarity of a player within their state. And as a New Yorker who is a Knicks fan, I can relate to sticking with a team despite all the letdowns.” – Rich Migliorisi, VP of Web Operations at The Game Day
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Contact:Lauren Polkey: [email protected]
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Rapid growth in sports traffic and 400+ participating teams – the Golden Boomerang Awards 2025 results.

The Golden Boomerang Awards 2025, a global affiliate traffic tournament hosted by Boomerang Partners, has officially concluded after three thrilling months of intense competition. From February 3 to May 11, the tournament brought hundreds of affiliate teams across two dynamic leaderboards: Sports betting and Casino.
Boomerang shared some impressive numbers and results from the tournament:
- Over 400 affiliate teams from around the world participated (last year, 226)
- The share of sports traffic to the Boomerang portfolio brands increased by 39% during the competition;
- Sports traffic attracted to the active segment during the competition remained at 86%;
- The top sports event during the contest period was the Champions League semi-final match between Barcelona and Inter;
- During the same period, the top game on the casino leaderboard was the Sugar Rush 1000
In addition to awards in 11 categories (these will be awarded to the winners in May at a special ceremony), Golden Boomerang Awards 2025 participants competed for exclusive prizes in monthly drawings. There were a total of four such drawings:
- Month 1 winner — RevPanda. They attended AC Milan vs Inter.
- Month 2 winner — HighRoller Gaming. The prize was a trip to F1.
- Month 3 winner — Boring Seo. The Boomerang Partners team will fulfil their wish.
Boomerang also held a special competition as part of GBA 2025. It was timed to coincide with the Champions League semi-finals. The winner was team FUMMA, which will receive the coveted ‘Home Stadium Fan’ VIP experience.
With the competition closed, the Top 30 affiliate teams are receiving official invitations to an exclusive award ceremony and networking event at the legendary San Siro Stadium in Milan. As the Official Regional Betting Partner of AC Milan, Boomerang Partners is proud to host the winners in true Italian style — with a show-stopping evening that combines recognition, entertainment, and football heritage. At the center of the celebration will be Andrea Pirlo, football icon and AC Milan legend, who will personally present the award nominations to the top-performing teams.
More details about the final event and winners will follow soon.
About Boomerang
Boomerang Partners is a rapidly growing global brand offering a wide range of services. Boomerang is the Official Regional Betting Partner of AC Milan and collaborates with women’s football star and influencer Alisha Lehmann. In 2024, it launched the inaugural Golden Boomerang Awards 2024, the first annual global affiliate tournament. Boomerang Partners’ betting segment surged 5x, and gambling — 2x in 2024. Its affiliate program demonstrated a 120% increase in partners, and the number of sports betting offers surged more than 6 times. Six new products were launched by Boomerang in 2024, which contributed to an almost 1.5-fold increase in product users.
Boomerang’s portfolio contains 15+ gambling brands, including sportsbooks. They cover over 35 GEOs and offer a wide range of betting options with favorable odds. These products provide personalized bonuses and 24/7 multilingual support.
The post Rapid growth in sports traffic and 400+ participating teams – the Golden Boomerang Awards 2025 results. appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Sportradar Reports First Quarter Results

Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ: SRAD) (“Sportradar” or the “Company”), a leading global sports technology company focused on creating immersive experiences for sports fans and bettors, today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2025.
Carsten Koerl, Chief Executive Officer of Sportradar, said: “We had a strong start to the year with record quarterly revenue as we delivered broad-based growth across our leading product suite and diverse global footprint, while expanding margins and cash flow. The continued momentum we are generating builds upon our success from last year, demonstrating the durability of our business and our mission critical role in the expanding sports ecosystem. During the quarter we also further bolstered our leading content portfolio with the extension and expansion of our partnership with Major League Baseball and we signed an agreement to acquire IMG ARENA’s sports betting rights portfolio. We are excited by the unique opportunities these valuable properties will provide to our customers and look forward to generating additional value for our shareholders in 2025 and beyond.”
FIRST QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS
Revenue
Three-Month Period Ended March 31, |
|||||||||
in € thousands (unaudited) | 2025 | 2024 | Change | % | |||||
Revenue by product | |||||||||
Betting & Gaming Content | 193,807 | 171,588 | 22,219 | 13 | % | ||||
Managed Betting Services | 56,214 | 48,328 | 7,886 | 16 | % | ||||
Betting Technology & Solutions | 250,021 | 219,916 | 30,105 | 14 | % | ||||
Marketing & Media Services | 46,610 | 34,278 | 12,332 | 36 | % | ||||
Sports Performance | 11,411 | 9,306 | 2,105 | 23 | % | ||||
Integrity Services | 3,189 | 2,394 | 795 | 33 | % | ||||
Sports Content, Technology & Services | 61,210 | 45,978 | 15,232 | 33 | % | ||||
Total Revenue | 311,231 | 265,894 | 45,337 | 17 | % | ||||
Revenue by geography | |||||||||
Rest of World | 225,130 | 200,332 | 24,798 | 12 | % | ||||
United States | 86,101 | 65,562 | 20,539 | 31 | % | ||||
Total Revenue | 311,231 | 265,894 |
Total revenue for the first quarter was €311 million, up €45 million, or 17% year-over-year, driven by 14% growth in Betting Technology & Solutions and 33% growth in Sports Content, Technology & Services.
Betting Technology & Solutions revenues of €250 million were up 14% year-over-year primarily driven by a 13% increase in Betting & Gaming Content primarily from customer uptake of additional products and from U.S. market growth. Managed Betting Services revenues were up 16% driven by strong growth in Managed Trading Services from increased turnover and higher trading margins.
Sports Content, Technology & Services revenues of €61 million increased 33% year-over-year primarily driven by 36% growth in Marketing & Media Services led by higher ad:s revenue as several sportsbooks increased spending on marketing campaigns, and from contributions from the expansion of our affiliate marketing capabilities.
The Company generated strong revenue growth globally with Rest of World up 12% and the United States up 31%. As a percentage of total Company revenues, United States revenue represented 28% of total Company revenue in the first quarter as compared to 25% in the prior year quarter due to continued market growth and additional customer uptake of our products.
Customer Net Retention Rate of 122% further demonstrates our ability to cross-sell and up-sell to our clients, as well as the market growth in the United States.
Profit for the period
Profit for the period was €24 million, up €25 million, compared to a loss of €1 million in the same quarter a year ago, driven by strong operating results and a foreign currency gain of €28 million in the quarter as compared to a €14 million loss last year, due to unrealized currency fluctuations mainly associated with the U.S. dollar-denominated sport rights. These increases were partially offset primarily by higher share-based compensation and amortization of capitalized sport rights licenses expenses compared with the first quarter a year ago.
Adjusted EBITDA
First quarter Adjusted EBITDA was €59 million, up €12 million, or 25%, compared to €47 million in the same quarter a year ago. The increase was largely driven by the 17% revenue growth, partially offset by increased sport rights costs primarily related to the continued success of the ATP partnership deal, higher purchased services driven by investments in developing our product portfolio and increased personnel expenses to support growth initiatives.
Business Highlights
- Announced agreement to acquire IMG ARENA and its global sports betting rights portfolio. Following receipt of regulatory approvals and the closing, which is currently anticipated to take place in the fourth quarter of 2025, IMG ARENA’s portfolio is expected to enhance Sportradar’s content and product offering and further strengthen its strategic position as a leading content provider in the most bet upon global sports, including tennis, soccer and basketball.
- Announced the extension and expansion of our partnership with Major League Baseball (“MLB”) for 8 years, beginning with the 2025 season. Sportradar will exclusively distribute ultra-low latency official MLB data, media content, including MLB Statcast Data, and audiovisual content across our global client network. Additionally, Sportradar and MLB will collaborate on the creation of AI-driven products powered by player tracking data to create immersive, hyper-personalized fan experiences.
- Expanded Alpha Odds, Sportradar’s AI-enabled premium odds calculation and risk management solution, into cricket, a sport that generates an estimated €80 billion in global betting turnover annually.
- Signed multi-year partnership with the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV) to safeguard CBV competitions from corruption and match-fixing through Sportradar’s Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS), and to supply metrics and dynamic visualizations for coaching teams.
- Extended long-standing partnership with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). Sportradar will deliver integrity monitoring for more than 8,200 men’s and women’s matches organized annually by the CBF, now including all Brazilian national championships.
Balance Sheet and Liquidity
The Company’s cash and cash equivalents were €358 million as of March 31, 2025 as compared with €348 million as of December 31, 2024. The increase was primarily driven by net cash generated from operating activities of €102 million due to the strong operating performance, partially offset by net cash used in investing activities of €66 million, primarily from the acquisition of additional sport rights and from net cash used in financing activities of €19 million, due primarily to share repurchases related to employee stock grants. Free cash flow for the first quarter was €32 million, an increase of €32 million compared to the same period a year ago.
Including its undrawn credit facility, the Company had total liquidity of €578 million at March 31, 2025 as compared to €568 million as of December 31, 2024, and no debt outstanding.
2025 Annual Financial Outlook
Sportradar reiterated its fiscal 2025 outlook as follows:
- Revenue of at least €1,273 million, representing year-on-year growth of at least 15%
- Adjusted EBITDA of at least €281 million, representing year-on-year growth of at least 26%
- Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of at least 200 basis points
- Free cash flow conversion1 rate above the 2024 level of 53%
The 2025 guidance does not include any impact from the pending acquisition of IMG ARENA given the uncertainty around the timing of close. Guidance will be updated to incorporate the anticipated uplift resulting from this acquisition following the closing of the transaction.
Share Repurchase Plan
In March 2024, the Board of Directors approved a $200 million share repurchase plan. As of May 9, 2025 the Company has repurchased 4.8 million shares under the plan for a total of $86 million, including 3.0 million shares in conjunction with the recently completed secondary offering.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Sportradar will host a conference call to discuss the first quarter results today, May 12, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Those wishing to participate via webcast should access the earnings call through Sportradar’s Investor Relations website. An archived webcast with the accompanying slides will be available at the Company’s Investor Relations website for one year after the conclusion of the live event.
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ZEAL and GAMOMAT announce partnership

ZEAL and GAMOMAT, two renowned companies in the iGaming industry in Germany, announce their cooperation. As part of the partnership, ZEAL will integrate a continuously growing number of online games from the Berlin-based development studio GAMOMAT into its games portfolio in the web shops of its brands LOTTO24 and Tipp24. The cooperation has officially started in April this year.
Strong advantages for both sides
The cooperation brings advantages for both companies: While ZEAL can expand its product range with GAMOMAT’s popular and high-quality titles and also benefits from the company’s experience in international markets, GAMOMAT will increase its targeted reach and growth through its cooperation with ZEAL.
“With GAMOMAT’s popular games, we are expanding our portfolio with high-quality titles that will delight our customers,” says Alex Green, Vice President Games at ZEAL. “We are proud to have such an experienced and successful partner like GAMOMAT at our side and are very much looking forward to the mutual exchange.”
“We are proud of our partnership with ZEAL,” says Robert Kocher, Managing Director of GAMOMAT Distribution GmbH. “Our goal is to reach as many satisfied customers as possible with our portfolio. The regulated market in Germany is a home turf for us, and therefore the integration of our titles into ZEAL’s high-quality portfolio is particularly important to us. For us, this is another step in our sustainable growth strategy with a trusted partner.”
The post ZEAL and GAMOMAT announce partnership appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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