NHL partners with MGM for official legal sports play in hockey
The National Hockey League has chosen MGM Resorts International as its official sports game partner in the United States, as several states legalize sports gambling.
The agreement follows a May 2018 Supreme Court ruling that triggers a law that prevented most states from offering sports games. Estimates of illegal sports gambling in the United States range from tens of billion to hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
On October 29, the agreement gives MGM non-exclusive right to use logos and branding of team and league and real-time game data as NHL is under development. Data is a key factor in these relationships, as some athletes want the latest and most detailed statistics to measure their odds of success.
Casinos and other organizations that receive licenses in various states to handle sports betting do not require a partnership with major sports leagues. However, trademarks and copyright protection, access to raw and real-time data and other restrictions on intellectual property will give the parties that sign partnerships a team up.
During the deal with MGM and other casinos, NHL could collect over $ 200 million in additional revenues, according to a Nielsen report commissioned by the American Gaming Association earlier this year. Owners and players will share the money 50-50, according to NHL.
The agreement is for a fixed amount and NHL will not receive revenue based on the size or number of bets placed.
In addition to becoming the official gambling partner for NHL, MGM will be the league's resort. This partnership gives MGM a valuable marketing boost in promoting hockey games at its resort, by allowing the use of team and league branding. The company has 20 resorts, of which 1[ads1]4 are in Las Vegas.
It is the second sporting league for MGM, which announced an agreement with the National Basketball Association on July 31, which is believed to be worth $ 25 million to the league over three years.
In May 2018, the Supreme Court cut down the law on professional and amateur sports, adopted in 1992, which prohibited most states from allowing sports betting except for limited existing games and certain minor sports and activities such as bike racing and low-stake social gambling. It included Nevada, which had legally pooled sports betting, and handled almost $ 5 billion in bets in 2017.
Since the Supreme Court's ruling, Delaware, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey and West Virginia have legalized sports betting and some analysts expect so many like two dozen more to follow.
