Gambling partnership on Jets radar
The New York Jets NFL American football franchise is on the look-out for a gambling partner, according to the New York Post newspaper.
The team has been in talks with multiple casinos, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told the newspaper. The deal would reportedly be worth between $750,000 (£576,000/€646,000) and $1m per year.
The franchise declined to comment on the report.
The Jets play at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where online sports betting launched last month. DraftKings was the first operator to launch regulated online and mobile sports betting in the US state.
Fourteen venues offered legalised sports betting in New Jersey for the start of the NFL American football season this past weekend, with Monmouth Park and Caesars Entertainment receiving final approval on Friday to take online bets from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Tropicana Atlantic City are also reportedly in the process of securing licences for sports wagers.
On Friday, the Dallas Cowboys became the first NFL team to seal a sponsorship deal with a casino, just days after the American football league relaxed its rules on such commercial partnerships.
Dallas has teamed up with WinStar World Casino and Resort, which has secured the exclusive designation as the franchise’s official casino. Ironically, WinStar is located in Oklahoma where, like New York, sports betting has not been regulated yet.
The length or value of the deal has not been disclosed, but the casino will be able to use the team’s logos and marks.
The sponsorship was made possible by an amendment that was recently approved by NFL franchise owners. At the end of last month, the NFL’s Business Venture Committee updated its rules regarding gambling-related sponsorships, with some caveats attached.
Teams are now allowed to strike commercial partnerships with casinos, but will not be allowed to promote the latter’s sportsbooks. Moreover, team-owned channels will be able to show advertisements for casinos and daily fantasy sports, but not sportsbooks, in shoulder programming and pre-season games.
The NFL’s change of stance in relation to casinos has occurred nearly four months after the US Supreme Court overturned a federal ban on sports betting.
Last week, a report commissioned by the American Gaming Association and carried out by Nielsen Sports revealed that the NFL could boost its annual turnover by $2.3bn (£1.8bn/€2bn) per year through widely available, regulated US sports betting.
Picture credit: MarineCorps New York