Broncos’ betting deal ace in the hole

Article posted by Coliseum, August 4^th, 2020

Image: Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos has struck a multiyear betting deal with BetMGM, a market-leading sports betting and gaming platform from ROAR Digital, LLC – the joint venture between MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) and GVC Holdings (LSE: GVC).

The Broncos cashed in on the legalization of sports gambling in Colorado, US, and inked the multiyear partnership with BetMGM recently.

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based at Denver in Colorado, US. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The franchise plays their home games at Empower Field at Mile High located in Denver.

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MGM Resorts International is a global entertainment company with national and international locations featuring best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art meetings and conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical entertainment experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant, nightlife and retail offerings. ROAR Digital LLC is a US sports betting and online gaming joint venture, created by MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) and GVC Holdings Plc (LSE: GVC). Based in New Jersey, the venture was established in 2018 to create a world-class sports betting and online gaming platform in the United States, in order to take advantage of the new regulated sports betting market developing in the US.

GVC Holdings PLC is one of the world’s largest sports-betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail sector.

As an official sports betting partner of the Broncos, BetMGM and MGM Resorts will provide premium fan experiences, including Empower Field at Mile High’s BetMGM Lounge and VIP travel packages. The strategic partnership also contains a free-to-play game available in the official Denver Broncos 365 mobile app, digital marketing assets, and in-stadium promotions and signage.

Last month, the Broncos announced deals with FanDuel and Betfred USA.

The high point of the Broncos-BetMGM deal is the NFL’s first in-stadium sports betting lounge.

The BetMGM Lounge, located on the Level 1 concourse adjacent to Gate 4 and outside Section 111/112, will enable fans 21 years and above entry to a full-service premium bar, a luxury lounge, live odds (a part of gambling) and assistance with BetMGM’s mobile app. Additional exciting in-stadium promotions, highlighted by BetMGM’s season-long First Possession Payoff, will be announced in detail at a later date.

Apart from the physical offerings, a free-to-play game will be on offer for Broncos fans in the team’s official mobile app. The game will provide the opportunity to eligible fans to try their sports prediction skills for a chance to win prizes provided by MGM Resorts, including trips to its resorts across the country.

“This partnership with the Broncos allows us to showcase not only a premier BetMGM sports betting and gaming platform, but also the world-class entertainment experiences we can deliver with MGM Resorts,” commented BetMGM’s Chief Marketing Officer Matt Prevost.

“We’re excited to bring both of these to Broncos’ fans at Empower Field Mile High and across the country, and to offer BetMGM users new ways to engage with their favorite football team,” Prevost added.

“As we think about the sports market in Colorado, the first team we think of is the Broncos. Their heritage and success on and off the field occupies a unique place in the Colorado market,” he continued.

Remarked Broncos Chief Commercial Officer Mac Freeman, “When we began the process of identifying potential partners in this category, our goal was to provide Broncos fans with unique ways to engage with sports betting.”

“Together with BetMGM, we can now offer our fans and M life Rewards members in Colorado new opportunities such as in-stadium gaming lounge, VIP travel packages to MGM Resorts around the country and a free-to-play game through our mobile app,” Freeman added.

“We benefited from timing and Colorado was an early-mover as a State. We were on top of the topic and engaging with a lot of folks that were in the space. When Colorado went live (on May 1), we were in position to have an idea of what we wanted to do and what we were looking for,” the official stated.

Prevost informed that talks between BetMGM and the Broncos occurred “off and on” since the beginning of this year, but picked up pace in the month of June.

“I think the Broncos recognize that sports betting are going to be a big part of the landscape in Colorado and we, like the Broncos, think responsible sports betting are a way to increase fan engagement and deliver a terrific experience to their customers and our customers,” Prevost noted.

Freeman continued, “BetMGM covers all the spaces that we didn’t necessarily have with our first two partnerships. MGM brings a really diverse and broad portfolio to the table. We’re thrilled with the way it worked out.”

Commented Prevost, “We wanted to put our distinctive imprint on the Broncos experience. We wanted to provide fans a place for them to engage in content and also an area where we can provide education for what is a new industry and new concept to many consumers.”

Salient features of Broncos-BetMGM deal:

BetMGM will offer a ‘First Possession Payoff Game’ on its app that will revolve around the Broncos scoring on their opening drive. On the Broncos’ app, MGM will develop a free game that will likely be a simple “pick’em” contest; and
In concert with MGM Resorts, there will be travel packages offered for the Broncos’ annual game in Las Vegas against the Raiders;

“We fully expect that MGM Resorts and their nine different properties in Las Vegas will be home to Broncos fans when they make the trip,” Prevost said.

“At the moment, we’re only offering sports bets via the mobile app. Our longer-term plan is to offer retail sports betting there when the world returns to normalcy,” he maintained.

The Broncos began examining potential partners once voters in Colorado in November last year approved Proposition DD to allow legalized sports gambling.

Since the FanDuel and Betfred USA deals were announced in June, Freeman said the Broncos have heard from “many” NFL teams about the process.

“It’s kind of a crazy landscape. A lot of teams are in States that aren’t active (in legalized sports betting) so they’re not in position to do these deals and a lot of teams maybe got working on the process a little later. What we did strategically will probably be adopted by a lot of teams,” he noted.

BetMGM recently launched in Colorado in partnership with the Midnight Rose Hotel and Casino. The BetMGM mobile app is available for download in Colorado on both iOS and Android. BetMGM uses an exclusive betting engine that allows sports fans to place bets safely and with ease. The Broncos have announced three sports betting partnerships before any other NFL team has added one. They will not be adding another
gambling-related partner.

NFL eyeing gambling

Media reports stated that the NFL is showing great interest in betting and will allow specific stadiums to team up with sportsbooks sponsors to build betting lounges in their stadia. The move is triggered by the sports betting industry’s rapid rise in the United States.

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league comprising 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference.

However, the league has made it clear that it will not allow punters place any bets on them. Since casinos permit bettors to place 24/7 bet online betting, punters can place their sports bets online.

For a long time, the NFL was not very open to the idea of gambling and the sports gambling industry did not go down well with them. They considered betting on football as a direct threat to the honor of the game. Lately, the league has changed its position on sports betting and has begun embracing it. They no longer view sports casinos as threats to the game but rather think of it as a way of providing enhanced experience to fans.

NFL teams are free to choose a casino to form association with from their locality. Caesars is the NFL’s official casino partner, while DraftKings is the official fantasy sports partner. The league will also let teams have sportsbooks sponsorship because as State legalization spreads, legislation issues will no longer prove to be a stumbling block for more organizations.

Betting lounges

Only teams in States that enjoy legalized sports betting will be allowed by the league to ink sponsorship deals. In the US, 14 States allow sports betting, and more are expected to hop on the bandwagon. Teams are also restricted to strike deals with sportsbooks that are accredited in the State.

A casino sponsor can use the official logo of the team they’re sponsoring in their promotion and marketing.

The league has not yet greenlighted betting windows or real betting in the physical lounges. Sportsbooks can only put their signage and odds and bets. They are also entitled to register new customers from the lounges. The stadiums will use a restricted area called the upper bowl to set up the lounges. Punters will use these designated places for mobile betting on online casinos with the help of their smartphones.

Chris Halpin, VP, Strategy and Growth, NFL, explains that the focal point of the deliberations by the committee of owners is the lack of physical betting windows.

According to Chris, the NFL agreed unanimously on the point that such windows would expose underage fans and overwhelm those not interested in betting. As a result, it was agreed that confined lounges arrangement would work best.

Future bright

As more States give their stamp of approval on sports betting, top sports companies will spread into new jurisdictions. Very soon, sportsbook startups will come up and apps and Web-based platforms making sports betting more efficient.

NFL teams’ cash registers will jingle due to substantial sponsorship deals from sportsbooks. Their fans will also enjoy an enriching experience from the betting lounges. The newfound partnership between the NFL and sportsbooks will flourish even more as the stakeholders continue deliberating and coming up with more innovative products and services.

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