Hotelier Wynn Resorts is making a $3.5 million investment in the sports podcast company Blue Wire in a tie up that will see a podcast recording studio added to the Wynn Las Vegas lobby. The alliance, first reported by The Verge, will also look to prove Wynn Resort’s sports-betting business on Blue Wire podcasts and a new branded podcast called WynnBet.
Not unlike street level studios for radio stations or NBC’s “Today” show, the Wynn’s lobby studio is geared to building interest in events that take place at the resort. That could include boxers for a fight hosted at the Wynn, or athletes or entertainers who are staying at the hotel that could appear on Blue Wire podcast.
Wynn Resorts President Craig Billings told The Verge they will begin promoting the podcast studio during March Madness with an official opening expected in the summer. Blue Wire has reportedly committed to using the site for the next three years.
Blue Wire CEO Kevin Jones told the website that Wynn Resorts will take an equity stake in the podcast company. It will also get some guaranteed in-podcast advertising, although executives shared few details of their partnership.
Investors have shown interest in Blue Wire. In December it announced it raised $5 million from outside investors. That was in addition to the $1.2 million it raised last February.
Blue Wire’s focus has been on sports podcasts hosted by and for Millennials, including bringing more women and people of color to the sports podcast genre. Its founder, Kevin Jones, is a veteran of sports talk radio including KNBR San Francisco (680).