The NFL is the last major American sports league to sign official betting deals with sportsbooks. It recently announced three sportsbooks as its official betting partners. As an official betting partner, sportsbooks will gain access to official league statistics and can promote their relationship with the league while tying their brand name to team and player statistics. If the five-year deal holds, the NFL will make nearly $1 billion in revenue over the next five years. The NFL can choose to opt out of the deal after three years.
The NFL concluded that the ideal sports betting legislation would have substantive licensing requirements, clear markets, and protection for consumers. In addition, bets would be resolved using league data and would prohibit betting by insiders. In order to implement such legislation, the league would need the backing of the 32 NFL team owners. The owners of each team fell into four categories: pro-bettors, amateur and minor league owners, and minority-owners. The NFL’s ideal betting legislation would prohibit insider betting and place onus on bookmakers to prevent insider betting.
DraftKings is the first official betting operator with the PGA TOUR. In addition to being the official betting operator, DraftKings will have exclusive rights to use the TOUR’s trademarks in the US. They will also be allowed to use the TOUR’s partner platforms and distribute their content through their app and media. The deal also includes rights to produce pre-game betting programming and distribute highlights to users. Golf is the fourth most popular sport on DraftKings, and it will be the first major sport to be partnered with DraftKings.