Thursday morning, Joe Fortenbaugh of ESPN's Daily Wager will moderate a panel at the BSM Summit concentrated on the sports betting world. Seeing as sports betting continues to boom across the country, it's easily one of the most intriguing panels of the day.

Hosts, PDs, executives, and everyone else in attendance will be able to take something away from how it directly affects sports radio. Luckily, one of the most recognized and respected faces of the sports betting industry will be moderating it. 

This isn't Fortenbaugh's first trip to the BSM Summit. He's been to the event before and he keeps coming back because of knowledge and networking. 

"There's a lot for someone like me to learn because even though I'm 41, I was late getting into this business," Fortenbaugh said. "I started radio right before I turned 34 years old when Jason Barrett hired me in San Francisco.

"Prior to that, I had worked for an NFL website, so I was kind of in the game a little bit. But from a radio and TV perspective, I've really only done both a short time. For me, there's still so much to learn from both of those industries. As well as the rise in digital."

It's humbling when Fortenbaugh thinks about the opportunity to lead a panel covering the industry he's in. Granted, it won't be a platform where millions are at home watching. Instead, it'll be a group of his peers that he respects and always wants to learn from. 

"I love the idea that I get an opportunity to try to share some of my background and some of my expertise," Fortenbaugh said. "I love the fact that something I've been around long enough might be beneficial information for people that are there.

"I remember a few years ago when I moderated a panel, getting to hear from Colin Cowherd, Jim Rome, Eric Bischoff, just really enlightening paths and journeys and advice on where the future is headed. But not only to be able to learn from these people, but to also contribute in some small way. That's awesome for me. JB and I have been going back and forth on the best questions and structure on the sports betting panel, so that people come away with maximum value there."

Fortenbaugh is cut from a very similar cloth as many other sports betting personalities that are entering the business. It's not a traditional medium and talent is coming from non-traditional places. Yes, Fortenbaugh did cut his teeth in sports radio, but not until his mid-30s. That's pretty late to start a career in sports media. But sports betting is different. You could have a ton of experience in radio or TV, or none at all. It's all about being entertaining and proving the best sports betting commentary.  

"What I've noticed is that it's so new to so many people, specifically the decision-makers, that whether they consciously tried this or not, they've expanded their bet on where they're going to try and get talent from," Fortenbaugh said.

"If you are a major radio network or television brand, you're probably going to look at smaller radio stations and smaller TV stations to find people. There's people I know in the news sector and they started in smaller markets anchoring midday and then they get an opportunity to go to a bigger market and maybe anchor at night. You watch the growth of someone in news or sports."

"I had an opportunity to work in San Francisco, which was awesome. Now I get to do weekends with ESPN Radio and some fill-in shifts," he continued. "That feels like it always has been a natural progression. Start small, build a name for yourself and then get an opportunity somewhere bigger if you continue on the path.

"Now with sports betting, I think you have a lot of decision-makers in both TV and radio who, they're really good at TV and radio, but they might not know sports betting as well as they know TV and radio. There's learning another subject on the fly and with that, when you're trying to find talent, you've got to find people that check multiple boxes. You can't just be good on TV. You can't just be great at sports betting. You can be an excellent sports bettor but if you're not going to be able to present well on TV, that can be an issue.

"It also sends a message to younger people in the business that you don't need to take the traditional route. What you need to do is work really hard, try to take advantage of any platform you can get on, and be great at it."

Even if you're in one of the states that don't have legalized sports gambling, the "Betting on Sports Media" panel will still be worth your time, because, at some point, betting will be legalized in every state. But even in the meantime, there's still a lot to learn about the industry and how it affects you. One thing that will routinely be said, sports betting is on fire.

"Oh absolutely," Fortenbaugh said. "New Jersey had been leading the way. Because you have a large population in New Jersey, it was one of the first states to legalize and they had all these people across the water in New York who would come into their state so they can make bets on their phones and then they'd jump back to whenever they lived.

"You mentioned Louisiana and Colorado legalizing, but we're still waiting for some of the big dogs like California. Look at the size of that economy, they haven't been legalized yet. Florida is toying with it, but it's in the infancy stages. New York just legalized and had put up some huge numbers, recently. The boom is on. The explosion is on.

"With more competition, both in the media space and in the sports betting offering space, hopefully that continues to lead to great products, great options for sports bettors, as well as for people who are looking to consume content via TV, radio, digital, whatever platform you may have."

On the panel, Fortenbaugh will be alongside DraftKings Chief Media Officer Brian Angiolet, FanDuel Chief Marketing Officer Mike Raffensperger, and Fanatics Chief Commercial Officer Ari Borod. Needless to say, it's a who's-who of the industry all on the stage at once and the conversation begins at 9:50 a.m. ET.