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They haven’t got a lot of chances in the battle with the other sports media. -- Nesterenko Vsevolod

Yesterday, I decided to look through the articles that have been written about Scorum, both good and bad. I stumbled on an article by Nesterenko Vsevolod in Diamondne.ws titled Why Scorum is going to fail? The article was published on March 26, 2018, months before the platform would officially launch.

I decided to read through the article to see what Nesterenko was right and wrong about, and to see if I should be concerned about Scorum's impending failure due to this analysis. I went into the article with an open mind, even though I'm admittedly biased towards Scorum as a big fan of the current platform and what this team has been able to do. But I'm always open to the opinion of others, and it's safe to say that Nesterenko has little faith in what Scorum is doing, and they were able to find others who agreed. 

“Empty. Project with a lot of problems” -- CEO at Bwin Russia (Dmitry Sergeev)

So let's look at the problems with Scorum Nesterenko identified in Why Scorum is Going to Fail. Here are the 7 reasons listed in the article and my thoughts on each. 

#1. No Established Community

Modern Media is mostly about the community. Scorum has a community of investors, but they didn’t own their own sports community, they didn’t gather their own sports authors and readers who will read and moderate their content.

Nesterenko argues that since there was no community of authors and readers at the start of Scorum, they would struggle to gain both. This is not uncommon among media startups, but is a legitimate concern if there is no major incentive for authors and readers. 

At this point I believe Nesterenko goes a little off the deep end. 

And this is a real problem because all successful authors are paid by the media. All successful authors have their own content sites and the public. All fans have already joined their own sports sites. So where will Scorum find people who will be ready to read and moderate (not to earn money)?

In the U.S. alone, there are expected to be over 30 million bloggers by the end of this year. To say that successful authors already have their own channels and are already being paid overlooks the fact that bloggers are underpaid and always looking for new revenue streams. Earning money on your own website is extremely difficult. On Scorum, it's (reasonably) easy. 

As to the question "where will Scorum find people who will be ready to read and moderate (not to earn money)?" there are two answers to this question:

  1. Why wouldn't sports fans want to read and moderate to earn money? On Scorum, they can earn for doing things as a fan they would be doing anyways. 
  2. Anywhere and everywhere. Sports fans seek out information and opinions on their favorite team. They will stumble upon and read articles from other fans, which is what we're already seeing here on Scorum. 

#2. It's Doesn't Provide New Value to Readers

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Scorum doesn’t create anything new for the reader. Scorum doesn’t resolve problems of the modern media and advertisers. So what actually does scorum do?

Scorum gives fans a voice, something that has been disappearing on major media platforms. Many sports media giants have removed comment sections, taking away the option for fans to be a part of each story and share their thoughts. 

Where else can fans easily create content about their favorite players and teams AND get rewarded for it? Scorum doesn't just take time away from readers, it rewards them, which solves a giant problem that exists in modern media. 

Another problem Scorum and other decentralized platforms solve is censorship. If writing for a national publication, some of your thoughts and ideas simply wouldn't be published. On Scorum, there's a place for unpopular and unique opinions, adding another reason to the list of why readers would come to Scorum. 

#3. Difficulty of Creating Media and Established Comfort Elsewhere

The process of creating media is more difficult. Readers already have more comfortable and trustable feeds where they get their latest news. So why should average sports fan join Scorum?

Creating media has never been easier in my opinion, and when it comes to what sports fans read, they are open to new sources. Sure, there won't be a lot of breaking news stories on Scorum, but there will be a constant stream of opinions that don't exist elsewhere. 

Why should the average sports fan join Scorum? I think this is pretty clear Nesterenko -- YOU GET PAID FOR BEING A FAN AND SHARING YOUR LOVE OF SPORTS. Why wouldn't the average fan join Scorum is a better question. 

#4. Not Enough Creators and Moderators

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10% of users create and moderate content, the other 90% are passive fans.

Fans haven't been given enough opportunities or incentives to create and moderate content, so why would they? I think this statistic (not sure where it was pulled from) is missing the point. Fans love talking about their team, they just need a place to do it and incentives to do so, and Scorum gives them both. 

#5. Users Already Earn

Users already earn on the media.

Very few places reward contributors. I wrote for Entrepreneur Magazine (online). Do you know how much they paid me per article? $0. 

With the rise of the gig economy, people around the world are building revenue streams and cutting things out of their lives that don't provide them with value. This trend will create more media sources that reward their readers, and Scorum is positioned well to take advantage of this movement. 

#6. Weak Content Editor 

I like the new editor, but this editor is better than others only for some kind (type) of content (articles about tactics with a lot of numbers and statistics). Articles like this are very difficult for the mind of the average fan, and only 1% of the authors use statistics for their publications.

The content editor on Scorum is clean and simple, which makes it easy for the average fan to use. I believe the editor can be improved, and I bet the team does as well. The Scorum team is constantly making updates, and will continue to adapt their platform to the wants and needs of the community. 

#7. Legal Concerns

Fantasy Sport with zero commission. No comments… Without gaming licences? Scorum are you kidding me? If you want to work legally, you will need to spend a lot of time for testing your fantasy and betting engine (3-6 months) in front of the special commission and you will need to buy a gaming license that shall be updated every year. But you will receive a lot of problems in the UK, US, Canada, Israel, Russia and other markets without local licenses. A nice joke!

This was published prior to Scorum obtaining a gaming license, so I can't fault the author's concern. There is still a lot of work to be done on the fantasy sports and betting platforms, but there is some movement in this area and it does appear that the team is going through all required legal hurdles. 

Your Thoughts?

What do you think about the author's concerns? Are these valid points? Comment below!