Landmark Raiders deal for Caesars
Caesars Entertainment has bolstered its rapidly-expanding US sports partnership portfolio by being unveiled as the first founding partner of the Las Vegas Stadium, the future home of the Las Vegas Raiders NFL American football franchise, in a mammoth 15-year deal.
The 65,000-seat stadium is expected to bring 520,000 people to home games each year when it opens for the 2020 NFL season. The Raiders franchise will relocate to Nevada from its long-term home of Oakland in California.
Caesars said that it would use the partnership to offer special customer experiences, including access to a Caesars-branded owners’ suite at the stadium’s 50-yard line. Other experiences include VIP dinners on the field, training facility events, fantasy camp participation, stadium tours and tickets to home games and other events at the stadium.
There will also be a branded stadium entrance and drop-off one, as well as branding placements on digital, media and print platforms.
In recent days, Caesars has announced partnerships with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball franchise and the New Jersey Devils NHL ice hockey team.
However, the partnership with the Las Vegas Stadium is arguably the most significant to date.
The NFL, despite relaxing its rules that previously barred teams from entering into partnerships with gambling companies, currently do not allow partnerships with sportsbooks.
“Sports have long been a core part of the Caesars’ experience,” said Chris Holdren, Caesars’ chief marketing officer.
“With this deep partnership, Caesars will become an essential part of the game time ritual for Raiders fans everywhere.”
The Raiders did not immediately respond to a request by iGamingBusiness.com to clarify whether the future possibility of offering sports betting at the venue had been included in the contract with Caesars.
Although the original stadium lease included language that prohibited “gaming and gambling, the maintaining or operating of a gambling establishment and/or sports wagering or any wagering on racing or other non-sports events”, it did not mention mobile betting.
Last month, MGM’s online gaming chief Scott Butera said that US sports venues should consider introducing in-venue betting services for fans in order to capitalise on the expanding, regulated market.
Image credit: Caesars Entertainment / Raiders