The NHL announced it has partnered with MGM Resorts International in a multi-year deal on sports betting.
The @NHL has announced a landmark sports betting partnership with @MGMResortsIntl. Details: https://t.co/7fLx0Fcfms pic.twitter.com/pAY5xaK6Ti
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 29, 2018
NHL, MGM Form Sports Betting Partnership
The NHL joins the NBA (and WNBA) in partnering with MGM. The Las Vegas-based group will gain access to NHL proprietary data for the purposes of sports betting. That data will include puck and player tracking data, once it goes through its testing phase. The data will be used to provide customizable betting opportunities for US gamblers. NHL executive vice-president and chief revenue officers Keith Wachtel said that providing MGM with enhanced statistics and analytics will provide “some creative and unique things that don’t really exist in the sport right now.”
The NHL is not getting a share of the gambling profits, but other teams cuts were not disclosed. The NBA and MLB have been unsuccessfully attempting to include an Integrity Fee. The Integrety Fee boils down to States paying a cut of their sports betting to the league to expand monitoring on suspicious betting.
New Landscape
At the announcement, NHL commissioner Garry Bettman said:
“The new sports betting landscape presents a unique opportunity for fan engagement utilizing technology and data that are exclusive to our league. Fan engagement, technological advancement and innovation are paramount to our progressive approach and will be at the forefront of everything we do.”
The US Supreme Court ruled that States could take sports bets if they wanted in May. Since then, MGM has been aggressive in striking deals with pro sports leagues. The NHL joins the NBA and WNBA as leagues to sign multi-year deals with MGM since May.
As part of the deal MGM, already the NHL’s official resorts partner will be allowed to market its products and services to NHL fan through its various media platforms and events. The Resort group can also use official NHL branding in its land-based and virtual sports betting options, within the United States.
