The Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association and the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League have concluded a multi-year marketing agreement with Party Poker, becoming the first professional sports teams in the United States to partner with online gambling.
The deal between the teams, both controlled by private equity tycoon Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, and the Gibraltar-based unit of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment is reported by Bloomberg to be worth at least US$10 million.
Online gambling sponsorships are a staple of the European sports landscape, and more are in the works in the US, experts say, as the industry is legalized in more states, growing in public acceptability in the process, and professional sports franchises struggle to find fresh revenue streams to compete.
The Party Poker deal will seek initially to leverage the teams’ large New Jersey fan bases. New Jersey is the most populous state so far to legalize online gambling and is expected this year to account for more than 80% of the total regulated market, or about $435 million, according to Bloomberg Industries estimates. State officials say player registrations with Atlantic City’s casinos, the state’s exclusive providers by law, have exceeded 150,000 two months into operations.
Nevada was the first state to legalize the sector but allows only poker. Delaware went online in the fall with a full array of casino games operated under the auspices of the state lottery. New Jersey also allows casino games.
Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, the world’s largest publicly traded online gambling company, operates in the US through a joint venture with MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming, co-owners of Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who signed the online wagering law last year, also supports the introduction of sports betting in the state and is fighting a federal ban on the sector. Major professional and college sports organizations are in favor of keeping the ban—although 28 NBA teams have casino sponsorships and 20 have lottery deals—and the National Football League and Major League Soccer also prohibit sponsorships from online gambling. Major League Baseball says it considers such agreements on a case-by-case basis. There are none currently, a spokesman said.
