FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — BroThrow is a sports betting app, unlike the ones many people are used to. Brady Sharp, co-founder and CEO of BroThrow says in his app, you're not betting against the house, but instead, real people.
"You're betting directly against other people, it can be friends, it can be other people on brothrow.com, you can create your own group of individuals that you'd want to bet with directly," Sharp said.
Sharp says BroThrow is different than most sports betting apps because the site takes even money out of the bets and saves users money.
"The main difference is you're not betting against the house, you are betting against other people, and you're doing it on fair terms," Sharp said. "So if you go make a bet at a traditional sports book, you're going to be paying $110 to win $100 ... And on BroThrow, we save you a ton of money because you're going to bet $100 to win $100 ... even money," Sharp said.
Sharp and his buddies got the idea in undergrad at the University of Central Arkansas when they wanted to bet against their friends but didn't have any legal options to do it in the state at the time. Instead, Sharp and his two co-founders, Andy Winckelmann and Chad Dickinson, got creative.
"So, we decided, hey, we're just going to bet socially," Sharp said. "We had a lot of guys in our fraternity house with us, and so we just started a group chat and we would throw out bets to each other and do it for even money. And that grew into a group chat that had over 120 people in it."
Arkansas legalized in-casino sports gambling back in late 2018. In the first full year, Arkansas sports books brought in $11 million total. Now, with app-based sports betting part of the equation, that total is up to almost $400 million this year.
"$350 million wagered on sports through the casinos and their apps this year," Sharp said. "To put that in perspective, around $50 million was wagered on site, meaning people at the actual casino. The remaining $300 million, that's all being done through the apps," Scott Hardin, spokesperson of the Arkansas Racing Commision, said.
While BroThrow isn't associated with any casino betting apps, Sharp said they could be looking to get into that in 2024.
"We've actively talked to casinos in the region and have talked to Saracen here in Arkansas," Sharp said. "One of our goals in 2024 is to find the right strategic partner here locally as a casino operator that can help us take BroThrow to the next level."
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