G911 Obtains Pregame Legal Demand for Retraction and Apology From Deadspin

Written by:
Guest
Published on:
Jun/28/2016

  • Letter objects to RJ Bell and Pregame alleged dealings with offshore sportsbooks and suggestion that Bell practices a form of deception
  • Deadspin article claims that sports handicapping analyst RJ Bell once caught on audio saying his picks don’t win
  • Pregame both is being paid by sportsbooks, and also Pregame benefits from its customers losing not true, letter asserts
  • Bell using Hulk Hogan attorney who successfully won damage case against Deadspin parent company, Gawker

Following a scathing report about sports handicapping website Pregame.com and its founder RJ Bell appearing on Deadspin last week, Bell and his firm sent out a Demand for Retraction and Apology on Monday.

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Gambling911.com has since obtained a copy of said demand letter.

The letter heavily refutes any relationship(s) between Pregame and offshore sportsbooks while suggesting the Deadspin piece diminishes Bell as deceitful. 

The article dismisses Bell as a more high tech version of ‘80s and 90’s “blowhards” the likes of Stu Feiner and Jack Price.

Deadspin writer Ryan Goldberg claims:

Unlike his forerunners—notable loudmouths from the ‘80s and ‘90s like Jack Price and Stu Feiner who came across like professional wrestlers—Bell is not braying on TV infomercials, promising to bury your bookmaker. He doesn’t have to. Mainstream media now brings the heads of these services on air and passes them off as analysts, affording people like Bell streams of new customers and free advertising a salesman could scarcely imagine.

Goldberg suggests in his piece that Bell is being cast as an oracle.

On Twitter, his followers number more than 117,000. Following him, he says, is like having “a seat in the sportsbook.”

But as Goldberg reveals, this could be a lot of bells and whistles (no pun intended).

In private, Bell seems to tell a different story. Audio recordings that surfaced last year appear to capture Bell telling a business partner that his touts’ picks aren’t successful enough to make them profitable for customers. “The odds are you don’t win,” the person identified as Bell says on the tapes. “I think we know that.”

The letter dismisses allegations that Pregame gets paid by both customers and the offshore sportsbooks for losing picks.

These statements claim that Pregame both is being paid by sportsbooks, and also Pregame benefits from its customers losing. Both are false claims. The practice of benefiting from customers losing is considered by many in the industry to be particularly egregious.

True Facts re: #1a and #1b

Pregame has had no financial dealings with any online sportsbook since 2008.This includes no advertising revenue and no revenue based upon a percentage of bettors losses. For the past four years, Pregame has not even received any revenue to promote any website that promotes sportsbooks. No evidence is offered by the Story to disprove these facts.

Bell is using the same attorney who just won a precedent-setting case against Deadspin parent company Gawker Media.  That defamation case was filed by professional wrestling star Hulk Hogan a.k.a. Terry Bollea.  The attorney representing both Hogan and Bell is prominent Los Angeles-based Charles Harder.  Hogan was just awarded $115 million in damages.

DAMAGES

The Story falsely claims that Pregame and Bell engaged in deceptive business practices claims that are provably not true. Pregame earns millions of dollars per year. Much of its revenue is based upon its hard earned trust with its customers, and being rightly perceived ashonest in the eyes of the public. Moreover, Pregame and Bell have earned positive coverage in the media, which leads to positive public attention, and with it, increased customers and revenue .The Story, which is based on false statements and claims of alleged deceptive business practices, has caused and will continue to cause, a loss of positive exposure in the media, and a significant decrease in the number of customers and amount of revenues. In fact, a main premise of the Story was how much Pregame and Bell have benefited from the good reputation the Story has unfairly attempted to destroy. Thus, significant damages as a result canbe easily proven, if and when necessary.In connection with damages, Pregame and Bell have achieved a very high standing withthe media, which threatens to be severely harmed, if not destroyed ,by the false and defamatory statements in the Story. Some examples of their high standing with the media include RJ

Bell of Pregame.com is the only sports bettor on Forbes list of Gambling Gurus and has been deemed a “Las Vegas maven” by USA Today. Bell is a former columnist forESPN.com and Grantland, a solo presenter at South By SouthWest, an expert witness for theU.S. District Court, and has been featured in a New York Times Magazine cover story  Bell’s TV appearances include SportsCenter, Outside The Lines, First Take, CNN,

CNBC, Fox Sports, FoxBusiness, CBS This Morning, CBS Evening News, and Nightline.

DEMAND

Notwithstanding their claims for substantial damages, Pregame.com and RJ Bell arewilling to resolve this matter amicablyifGoldberg and Deadspin/Gawkerimmediatelypublish afull, fair and conspicuous retraction, correction and apology as to each false and defamatorystatement in the Story, as explained herein. Failure to publish same will likely result inimmediate litigation and,should that occur, my clients would pursue all of their legal claims,causes of action and remedies, including without limitation compensatory damages and punitive damages.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com

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