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After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting last May, most of the major U.S. pro sports leagues took quick action.
In August, the NBA announced MGM as its first official casino partner. In October, the NHL followed suit with MGM. By November, Major League Baseball announced its own deal with MGM.
But the NFL took until January, and went with a different casino: Caesars.
It is yet another example of the NFL standing apart from the NBA, NHL, and MLB on legalized sports betting. (Recall that the NFL also stayed away from supporting the “integrity fees” that the NBA and MLB have argued for.)
Caesars NFL sponsorship doesn’t include betting—yet
On Thursday, the NFL announced Caesars Entertainment (CZR) as its “first casino sponsor.” It is a three-year deal that is reportedly worth $30 million per year.
The sponsorship begins right away with the 2019 NFL Playoffs, and involves Caesars, “providing unique experiences for NFL fans by using its casino properties, celebrity chefs, premier music artists, and a wide range of entertainment elements.” Caesars also gets to “use NFL trademarks in the United States and United Kingdom to promote Caesars casino properties and activate at key NFL events including the Super Bowl and NFL Draft.”
In the wake of the SCOTUS ruling in May, which allows states to legalize sports betting in their own state, Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island have all passed legalized sports betting. Caesars has since opened a physical sportsbook in Mississippi and launched a sports betting app in New Jersey. It will also open a physical sportsbook at its Harrah’s Philadelphia casino.
But the NFL specifies in its announcement that the Caesars deal is “for the Casino category only” and does not include sports betting or daily fantasy sports. (The leagues that made deals with MGM did not include such language in their announcements.)
In other words, this is purely a marketing play. Caesars is paying $30 million to use NFL logos in advertising and call itself the NFL’s first casino partner. In that regard, it looks a lot like the NBA’s deal with MGM. As Yahoo Finance wrote at the time, the NBA holds all the cards in that deal.
And yet there’s a much bigger story here with Caesars and the NFL: The league that for so long wanted nothing to do with any whiff of gambling is now cautiously dipping its toe into that pool.
Caesars is a ‘founding partner’ of Las Vegas Raiders stadium
The NFL’s choice of Caesars over MGM should not come as a surprise to those who have been paying attention.