NHL Deal Underscores Importance of Sports Betting Partnerships
Last week, the NHLย announced aย dealย withย PointsBet, makingย the sportsbook platformย itsย official betting partner in a dealย that will also see the NHL receive around 43,000ย PointsBet shares worth more than $500,000 (theย dealโs total worthย hasnโt been disclosed).ย
25 statesย and the capitalย now haveย some form of sports betting either operational or legalized.ย Naturally, media companies are among those seizingย the opportunity forย massive partnerships over the last two years.ย
Legal sports betting is still in its early stages, making it an exciting and lucrative sector for companies to expand into in order to access a userbaseย large enoughย toย crashย these platforms during the Super Bowlย earlier this month.ย
But theย mere existence of sports betting as a new viable, legal market isnโtย the only reason whyย media companiesย want to put their cards on its table.ย
NBCUniversalโsย 10-year dealย with the NHL is also set to expire in 2021, withย NBCย planningย to shut down its main sports network by yearโsย end, further exemplifying a heightened need to expand revenue streams into sports betting as it becomes increasingly uncertain whether broadcast sports audiencesย willย everย return to pre-pandemic levels.ย
Sports bettingย is only expected to grow, providing a potential rich new revenue stream that can offset declines that could come as cord-cutting dwindles theย pay-TVย audience, which could impact rightsย and advertising fees.ย
This article is an extension of Variety Intelligence Platformโs thirdย special reportย on sports betting.ย