The NBA has announced a new multi-year partnership with MGM Resorts, making MGM the league's first official gaming partner.
In coming to the agreement, which sources confirmed to The Washington Post as a three-year pact worth US$25 million (A$33.7m), for the first time the NBA will be compensated for having a product on which people can place bets.
New direction: The Supreme Court decision to quash the ban on sports betting will have a profound impact.
Photo: AP
As the gambling industry has evolved in the wake of the US Supreme Court striking down the federal prohibition against sports betting earlier this year, the NBA has remained at the forefront of attempting to take advantage of the new frontier the American sporting landscape has stumbled into.
The league has aggressively courted lawmakers at both the federal and state levels in the hopes of receiving an "integrity fee" for having people bet on its games.
The NBA has stated this fee would go toward additional monitoring of the sport, which it says will be necessary once gambling is legal across the country and not primarily just in Las Vegas. So far, though, attempts to impose the fee have failed to gain any traction on the government side.
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At the same time, however, the league has been talking to various casinos themselves and by striking this deal with MGM, the NBA can set a precedent that it should be compensated for having a product on which people can wager.
"It's a bit of a shift [in strategy]," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "Our initial strategy was a consistent federal framework. There was a shift in that strategy when we saw that wasn't going to happen with the repeal of PASPA [the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act] and no federal replacement. We were then going to be looking at a state-by-state strategy.
All smiles: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver
Photo: AP
"Once we started discussions with the states, we were realistic. We saw it was going to be an uphill battle. By the way, it's still early days in those state-by-state discussions. At least 20 states are currently considering legislation, but only a small handful have passed bills so far."
And that is where MGM comes in. That the league would partner with MGM is a natural fit, given MGM is the owner of the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, the owner of the two largest arenas in Las Vegas and is already a core partner with the league for its annual summer league in Sin City.
If the NBA is going to continue to do business in Las Vegas – or potentially surpass the level of business it is already doing there, which is quite substantial – it only makes sense for MGM to be part of this.
In addition, MGM will have the cache to say it was the first gaming partner of the league and be able to advertise across all NBA platforms, including NBA TV, NBA.com and on the league's official app.
Silver made clear during his news conference that the only exclusivity MGM will have in this deal will be from the data it receives from the NBA – meaning MGM will have the league's official stats at its disposal, which could be particularly useful for in-game betting, not to mention the potential for possible more creative in-game bets down the road using some of the league's motion tracking data.
What the deal doesn't do, however, is prevent people from betting on games anywhere but MGM properties. Fans will still be able to go to whatever place they choose to make a bet on the NBA once it is legal, and the bets themselves won't change.
What did change on Tuesday, however, was the perception – at least in one instance – that the NBA should be compensated for providing the thing for which people want to put their money on the line.
The NBA will be hoping this is just the first of many such agreements to take place moving forward.
The Washington Post
