The Insights Group, the company behind The Esports Radar, has acquired Sharpr, the newsletter founded and written by digital media and gambling sector expert Cody Luongo.
The publication, which focuses on the future of internet gambling, becomes the latest addition to a growing portfolio that already includes The Dotted Line and Heat Map—both well regarded within the esports and gaming business ecosystem.
Read weekly by decision-makers, investors, and journalists across the gambling, gaming, and media sectors, Sharpr has built an influential readership spanning companies such as Riot Games, FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Bloomberg, and Caesars. Its addition further broadens The Insights Group’s reach and editorial coverage beyond traditional esports business topics (the focus of The Esports Radar), and into areas with increasing strategic overlap such as regulated betting and interactive media.
Cody Luongo is a senior media, content, and communications professional with experience across esports, gaming, sports betting, and consumer tech. In his career, he has advised both startups and Fortune 500 companies and held editorial roles at publications including ESPN and Esports Insider, with a focus on the business of competitive gaming. As a part of the acquisition Luongo will also be joining The Insights Group as a Strategic Advisor, as well as continuing to oversee Sharpr.
For The Insights Group, itself a part of GSE Group, and its Co-Founder and CEO Sam Cooke, the acquisition is part of a broader strategy to grow the company into a truly modern media group, aligned with its ethos of being a central platform for business intelligence across digital entertainment, including the converging worlds of esports, gaming, and betting.
“Sharpr is exactly the kind of thing that we want to be doing more of—these highly-engaged brands in strong niches. These more creator-led and creator-driven brands, as well, are definitely what we find interesting.” said Cooke to A Media Operator (AMO), which first reported the story.
“It’s difficult to write, design, brand, pitch it and also be the sales arm, which is part of the reason I approached Sam,” Luongo told AMO. “To have the commercial relationships and sales strength and network that Sam and his team brings is going to be super valuable for Sharpr, and something that I wasn’t really able to do.”
Cooke previously founded Esports Insider before selling the business, retaining the rights to the Esports Leaders event IP and the two newsletters, The Dotted Line and Heat Map, which he subsequently integrated into The Esports Radar.
With Sharpr now officially part of the lineup, The Insights Group is expected to continue rolling out further editorial products in the near future.
Readers can subscribe to Sharpr here.
