SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — With the sports gambling industry growing in the past few years, a group of recent SU alumni have gotten together to build a new startup unlike any other in the industry. 2019 graduate Dan Zimmerman and his team of SU graduates have built a new gambling social media platform called Verse Gaming, where people can place bets directly with their friends and see what other bets their friends on the app are making. A unique twist to Verse is that the bets are made directly between friends, eliminating the casino, which means that users are not losing any money to the casinos or sportsbooks. Zimmerman said he believes that down the line people will “see the benefits that come with having a profile-based social media” for gambling, simplifying fantasy sports and March Madness brackets.
Despite only launching the company recently, Zimmerman said he came up with the idea before his sophomore year yet was unable to pursue it until recently. Specifically, he says that the Supreme Court’s decision to repeal the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act made the concept for Verse Gaming much more realistic, with the sports gambling industry growing rapidly since the decision. Verse’s unique model gives it the potential for exponential growth in the future, and Zimmerman said both he and Verse are ready to be around for many years.
