SportsAdvisors actually traces
their roots back to the original free telephone scoreboards, then known as SportsLine. However, the founder, known as “Big Red” did
not have the foresight to copyright the name. When SportsLine.com did as such,
they sent a cease-and-desist order to sports betting pioneer “Big Red” to stop
using the SportsLine brand. The score lines went to
the more generic “free scoreboard” moniker.
The early days featured such up-and-comers Mark Lawrence,
Mel Stewart, former NFL head coach and NFL Hall-of-Fame inductee Hank Stram, and legendary broadcaster Ray Scott. It has also
been a major stepping stone for such accomplished sports handicappers as Joe Duffy’s
Amazing Cadillac Club (JD of the ACC), theRealAnimal,
Jonathan Mardukas, Chris Jordan and his doppelganger
Oscar Dooley, the Lock Line and SuperLockLine, which begat MasterLockLine.com
Other handicappers who purchased advertising time, though
are not alumni, include included
(
Sports Broker, and Mike Anthony (the Million Dollar Man), and Jeff Allen.
Much like Vegas Insider,
the scorephone during its SportsLine days consisted
only of the most reputable handicappers. The Tailgate
Party for years was a must-call for every serious gambler as Joe Duffy,
Stevie Vincent and Chris Jordan gave gamblers the ATS edge with timely free sports betting information.
When “Big Red” sold the enterprise to television tout Stu Feiner the scorephones slowly
but surely took a turn into the hard-sell and began mimicking the Johnny DeMarco and Jack Price audiotext sports phone.
Literally every top handicapper left for the
Freescoreboard toll-free scorephone. Feiner
eventually sold to Steve Budin, son of one of the
early offshore sportsbook owners. Budin free spending
has help rebuild the Sports Advisors group around a patchwork assembly of
handicappers.
Hoping to learn from frequent missteps, Feiner has re-entered the scorephone arena led by
journeyman tout Chuck Franklin and several upstarts.