Chad Millman

Author & Media Exec | Founder, The Action Network

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About This Speaker

Media executive, author, and 2025 Hall of Fame inductee, Chad Millman, stands at the forefront of the sports gambling industry. Defining his career is a unique ability to foresee industry trends and build groundbreaking media ventures from the ground up. As the co-founder of The Action Network, Chad Millman launched the company in 2018 alongside The Chernin Group. He drove its development into the nation’s premier sports betting media enterprise. It was this success that culminated in the company’s acquisition for $240 million in 2021. His influence is so significant that Bloomberg Businessweek noted, “Few journalists embody the gambling industry’s capture of sports media quite like Chad Millman”.

Before his entrepreneurial success, Chad Millman built an impressive career at ESPN. He served as the Editorial Director for ESPN Digital and held the prestigious role of editor-in-chief of ESPN The Magazine. A true visionary, he established the sports betting beat at the network, seeing its importance long before the mainstream. During his time at ESPN, he became a familiar face and voice, making regular appearances on programs like SportsCenter and E60. He also authored weekly columns and hosted a popular weekly podcast, cementing his status as a trusted expert in the field.

Today, Chad Millman continues to shape the conversation in sports media. He co-hosts Apple’s top-ranking sports betting podcast, Sharp or Square. He is also a prolific author with seven books to his name, including four bestsellers. His works cover diverse subjects such as the autobiography of Howard Stern producer Baba Booey to The Odds. This publication is a deep dive into the lives of Las Vegas bookmakers and professional bettors. His next book, The Number: Chasing the Biggest Edge in Sports, is set for publication by Penguin Press in August 2027. As a speaker, Chad translates the high-stakes, data-driven world of sports betting into actionable strategies for smarter decision-making.

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Speaking Topics: Chad Millman

All In: Act Fast...And Win The Sports Gamblers’ Guide to Business Decisions

Elite sports bettors don’t chase perfection. They win when facing chaos and clouded visibility by compounding small edges, iterating fast and moving faster. Unlike risk management techniques that seek to minimize exposure, this approach embraces calculated risk as the path to outsized returns. Their strategy can be distilled into seven proven angles, which I define as The Edge Playbook. These are the core strategies of a decision-making operating system that eliminate hesitation, accelerate execution, and deliver results so decisions can be made in minutes, not months. THE EDGE PLAYBOOK: 1. Accept Imperfection: You'll never have perfect information and you will be wrong. The best bettors win just 53% of the time; success comes from acting decisively without certainty. 2. Budget for Risk: Risk isn't optional; unmanaged risk is fatal. Plan for it, size your bets, and stick to limits so one bad call doesn't derail the whole strategy. 3. Build a Process and Trust It: A consistent decision process filters noise, accelerates execution and stops endless second-guessing. 4. Audit Yourself Relentlessly: Blind spots and complacency erode edges. Review decisions with honesty and data to stay sharp. 5. Think Independently: Consensus often means the opportunity is gone. Question the crowd and look where others aren't. 6. Act on Small Edges: Even a 1% advantage compounds over time if acted on consistently. Waiting for "perfect" leaves you behind. 7. Signal Conviction with Action: When your data and process align, go all-in. Commit resources, time, and focus so the decision can deliver.