How BetrBet gives sports betting creators “community in a box”

When sports betting went live in Ohio in early 2023, Zach Wick was in grad school, balancing an MBA and a master’s in instructional design. A veteran of the startup world, with stints ranging from automotive engineering to developing API products at Stripe, he leaned on some day trading experience and figured he could out-math the sportsbooks. Within weeks he was profitable, but his homegrown spreadsheet couldn’t keep pace.

“I needed something better than Excel formulas and pivot tables,” Wick said on The BettingStartups Podcast. That personal pain point became BtrBet, a web app that automatically syncs wagers, tracks results, and layers in analytics. But the project didn’t stay a solo bettor’s tool for long.

Wick and his co-founder, Matthew Bedard, realized the bigger opportunity was serving creators—bettors who already had audiences on YouTube, Twitter, or Discord. “Lots of sports bettors are lone wolves, but we’re all doing the same thing,” Wick said. “The best part of being part of a [community] is being able to see what other people are doing and interact with them.”

Today, BtrBet offers what Wick calls “community in a box” for sports betting creators. The platform features a white label solution for their brand, centralizing content, discussion, bet tracking, and line shopping. 

A key differentiator: BtrBet doesn’t touch creators’ affiliate revenue. Instead, it helps automate and amplify it by inserting their links when followers tail picks. “We just want to help you make more affiliate revenue, and then that’s all yours,” Wick said. The company makes money via a flat subscription fee or a small cut of tool revenue, a model Wick likens to Stripe’s alignment with customers. “Stripe only makes money if their customers are making money… BtrBet does the same thing.”

The shift reflects a larger trend in betting. As tools improve, sophistication spreads beyond sharp bettors and outward toward casuals. Wick notes that even the “blue-collar guys” in his small Ohio town are using things like Unabated to find edge. “Humans are just good at using tools.” That mindset frames creators not as touts selling questionable picks, but as the next generation of affiliates, equipped with modern tech to do their jobs better.

Wick says that fast feedback loops have made a “huge difference” for BtrBet, helping refine its product offering and keep its customers satisfied. The upstart began shipping features directly in response to creator requests, sometimes turning an idea into a working tool overnight. It’s a theme reiterated recently by SharpSports founder Ryan Murphy, who pointed to customer testing and faster product cycles as a key motivator behind the company’s merger with Pine Sports.

BtrBet is also notable for how it’s been built: entirely self-funded. Wick has seen companies raise capital too early, and he wanted to avoid the distraction of constant fundraising. By the end of the current NFL season, he expects the company to be “significantly profitable” without external money. Still, he admits that a small seed round could one day help accelerate growth.

For now, the near-term goal is to onboard 10 more creators making at least $2,000 per month above their current baseline. Wick says increasing influencer earnings by a few thousand is the “easy part,” the challenge is getting them to try out the product and commit to using it.

Listen to the full podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.