In 2018, US states were given the power to legalise sports betting. Approaching three years on from that momentous ruling, what is the situation in the country’s multi-billion dollar betting market and how influential will gambling be in shaping US sport’s earning prospects? By Ed Dixon Posted: February 19 2021 
A certain global pandemic may have irreversibly defined sport in 2020, but it has also been a period in which sports betting was firmly established as a powerhouse player in the US.
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Certainly, the only thing many in the sports industry were able to celebrate last year was the end of it. But as the sector lurched uncertainly into 2021, the close of a tumultuous 12 months only proved just how abundant, burgeoning and influential betting has become in the world’s biggest sports market.
In October 2020, Americans legally bet an estimated US$3 billion on sports for the first time in a single month, according to the American Gaming Association. Sports betting revenue was up nationwide by 53.5 per cent year-over-year to US$237.5 million. In December alone, New Jersey set the national sports betting record for the fifth consecutive month, taking an eye-watering US$996.3 million in bets.
Naturally, the decimation of the global sporting calendar meant revenue for the broader gaming industry was down year-over-year, falling 33.5 per cent to US$24.12 billion by October. But it is a measure of betting’s proliferation that six states – Colorado, Iowa, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Dakota – generated more income from wagering for that month compared to a year ago.
Of course, this abundance of betting all stems from the downfall of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), the law which effectively outlawed sports wagering across the US save for a few states including Nevada, the home of the gambling hotspot of Las Vegas.
Having been in place since 1992, PASPA was pushed aside in May 2018 when the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of New Jersey’s law permitting wagering on sports, paving the way for other US states to do the same. Within six months, seven of them did so.
At the time of writing, 20 states had legalised sports betting, with a further six passing a bill on the matter. Industry analysts predict nearly 80 per cent of all US states will have some form of legal sports betting product on offer within a few years.
In October 2019, William Hill partnered with Monumental Sports and Entertainment to create the first sportsbook at a US sports venue at Washington DC's Capital One ArenaThe PASPA decision had been expected for some time, ending more than 25 years of debate. Now, coming up to three years on from that monumental decision, what is being done by those looking to thrive in a multi-billion dollar market?
As would be expected, betting partnerships are booming. Big league franchises have inked lucrative, exclusive multi-year sportsbook deals, with Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Chicago Cubs' contract with DraftKings reportedly worth around US$100 million alone.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) also reaffirmed its commitment in the space through extensions of its betting data partnerships with Genius Sports Group (GSG) and Sportradar, enabling the pair to continue distributing official league data to licensed operators in the US. The league currently has more than 20 sports betting partnerships with gambling companies, a number that is only set to rise.
“Our goal is to partner with every sportsbook in the United States,” Scott Kaufman-Ross, the NBA’s senior vice president and head of fantasy and gaming, tells SportsPro.
“The industry, collectively, is now embracing the value of official data, particularly for in-play betting. The adoption of this has been substantial in the early years of sports betting here in the US and the importance of using official data for in-play betting is clearly recognised throughout the industry.”
Kaufman-Ross describes the NBA’s commercial prospects in the field as developing “very well”, noting that leagues and teams can lean on their intellectual property (IP) to add further value to the betting industry, particularly gambling brands looking to establish themselves in the US. Among those brands is Unibet, part of the Malta-based Kindred Group, which currently works with the National Football League’s (NFL) Philadelphia Eagles, the National Hockey League’s (NHL) New Jersey Devils and Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Philadelphia Union.
“All the teams have proved very keen to deliver an exciting partnership to drive engagement with their fans,” says Manuel Stan, senior vice president USA at Kindred. “The best example is the blackjack game produced together with the Philadelphia Eagles, which is the first time in the US when a professional sports-themed casino game has launched.
“Sponsorships will remain a key part of our marketing mix in the next states we will be entering. As the leagues and the teams continue to show strong drive to utilise the partnerships to increase the fan engagement and innovate, we will continue to seek opportunities in this space.”
Evidently, competitions eager to tap fresh revenue streams in the wake of the Covid-19 financial fallout – MLB reportedly suffered US$3 billion in losses of the back of the curtailed 2020 season – will look to betting as a rich source. What does remain uncertain, though, is exactly where it sits within a sports organisation. It would be easy to view gambling solely as an income generator, but a multi-layered approach, incorporating fan engagement and marketing opportunities, seems part of the wider game plan.
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy placed the first wager at Monmouth Park when the state opened to legal sports betting in June 2018“We want to meet the fans wherever they are and so, if [betting is] how they’re choosing to engage, we want to support that,” says Kaufman-Ross. “We've seen the data that shows people who play fantasy sports, people who bet on sports, they are some of our most engaged fans. They consume more content than traditional fans – they watch more games and for longer periods of time.
“We do think it's an opportunity to grow it as a business line and we've never shied away from the fact we think there's revenue to be generated. We think that it's appropriate for leagues to participate in the revenue that is generated from the use of our competitions and the product that the NBA and its players put out on the floor.”
Precisely how valuable the US sports betting market is remains up for debate. A report by Ibis World in 2018 roughly estimated that fully legal sports betting in the US would be worth an annual US$55 billion. In the same year, the American Gaming Association pegged the illegal gambling market at US$150 billion. Whatever it may be, even a minor investment could result in significant returns.
“One way to look at it is based on the marketing strategy of each operator,” says Stan. “Let’s use some high level estimates where operators look to spend between 30 per cent to 40 per cent of their revenues on marketing in their early years and ten per cent to 15 per cent of their marketing budgets on sponsorships.
“Let’s assume a US$1 billion online sports betting market in 2021, then based on the variables above, we are looking at US$40 million to US$50 million a year already in 2021. I think it’s fair to say it is a massive revenue opportunity for US sports.”
One of the key differences between the US and Europe is the fact that the sports world is revolving around data.
Manuel Stan
Sport Betting Market Share
Broadcasters have been quick to take note. Perhaps the standout betting deal in 2020 saw NBC Sports pen a five-year agreement with PointsBet reportedly worth some US$500 million. The considerable outlay designates the Australia-based operator as the exclusive provider of odds, props and betting trends to the Comcast-owned media group’s linear and digital platforms. With rights to premium properties like the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, Premier League soccer, PGA Tour golf and Nascar, it’s little wonder PointsBet saw NBC as the perfect partner to supercharge its US expansion.
Among others looking for a piece of the pie is FuboTV. The purchase of California-based technology startup Balto Sports in December marked the streaming platform’s first move into the online sports wagering market as it aims to develop its own offering, rather than align with an established sports betting operator.
A chance for FuboTV to stand out, maybe, but all the demand has seen the introduction of betting focused broadcasts, featuring tailored commentary and odds-based graphics, to enhance the overall experience.
For its rescheduled 2019/20 season in Orlando, the NBA rolled out nine of these broadcasts on its various networks, a decision the league took as part of a larger initiative to innovate around game telecasts as different fan groups seek more tailored experiences. One of those innovations was the betting-focused NBA BetStream, a new alternative broadcast featuring overlays of real-time betting odds powered by league partner BetMGM.
DraftKings has steadily expanded its presence in Major League Baseball since partnering with the league several years ago“Personalisation is a trend that we see not just across sport but across the broader media landscape,” says Kaufman-Ross. “Betting became one of the natural segments to experiment with. Since we know that a lot of our fans are consuming NBA content through a sports betting lens, let's create a telecast that is specifically tailored to them.
“It was very much a ‘version 1.0’. The next step is building in more interactive features where you have digital overlays that present live updating information. It is definitely something we are excited about and we plan to do more of and enhance the experience over time.”
Sports Betting Marketplace
Notably, the='>Gambling brands are facing tougher restrictions in the UK and a potential outright ban on sports sponsorship
For fans of the PGA Tour and European Tour, IMG Arena's Golf Event Centre delivers immersive viewing through the use of live interactive leaderboards and group displays. It also provides detailed information for players on every hole, coupled with digital representations of courses all the way down to every bunker and blade of grass.
While undoubtedly impressive from a technology standpoint, IMG is looking to appeal to consumers in the US, and further afield, by offering the chance for more in-play bets to sit alongside the live viewing experience. Golf, in particular, lags behind on this front.
“Our information shows that about 95 per cent of all betting on golf is pre-event,” reveals Max Wright, IMG Arena’s senior vice president, commercial. “For the vast majority of other sports, the live betting action is now north of 60 per cent of the total betting revenue. That shows that there is an environment where, if you can bring a shot-by-shot and immersive live experience for betting on golf to a consumer, there is the potential for the share of revenue to rebalance and be much more equal.”
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It all leads to two thoughts. Firstly, will the US market evolve to mirror the plethora of bookies seen in Europe? Secondly, is current regulation in the country sufficient enough to prevent over-saturation? For Wright, it is still too early to tell conclusively.
“We’re less than a couple of years into this now and during this period we've had the pandemic, which has created an unusual set of circumstances,” he says. “I think that, before too long, we'll get to a situation where the overwhelming majority of the US has regulated and from there we're in a position to understand what a mature and maturing market is going to look like.
Sport Betting Market Size
“What we’ve seen historically in other territories is that sports that may not have been traditionally well followed have become fantastic sports from a live betting point of view because of the fact that they are available, they're easy to follow, their scoring systems are not hard to get to grips with, and that brings in fans.
“I think what we'll see is a broadening of the revenue base not just on the core four, five or six sports that tend to have been successful in the US. Then it's down to the quality of product and the ability of the brand to sustain that evolution and retain the engagement of their consumers in the long-term.”
Us Sport Betting Market
IMG Arena is looking to bring new in-play betting products to='>US rights holders and broadcasters will come under pressure to prevent a betting overload from consumersSports Betting Market Growth
Inevitably, operators and US sports’ stakeholders will look to more mature markets – either for insight or as a cautionary tale. Irrespective of one’s own views on gambling, the country is on course to be at the forefront of in-playarticle__image>
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