The National Football League in the United States of America was against sports betting for a very long period of time. That is now in the past because the NFL has realized in recent years that legal sports wagering can generate some serious income.
All 32 teams and the league signed contracts regarding legal gambling and sports betting. This will represent a huge source of revenue for the NFL. In 2021, the league will generate a total of $270 million. According to the official predictions, the total income may get as high as $1 billion in the current decade.
NFL Records Huge Loss in 2020 Due to the Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous financial losses across the globe, and every industry in the US has been affected. The estimations of the financial losses in the NFL go all the way to $4 billion in a single year.
Only the testing for COVID-19 cost around $100 million, given the fact that members of 32 teams took daily tests. The entire organization of training and playing games also took a lot of money. Furthermore, the lack of fans on the stadiums hugely affected incomes. It was time to find new sources of revenue.
NFL Introduces Sportsbook Partners
At the beginning of August 2021, the NFL announced that there would be six sportsbook commercials per game. In April, the league announced that the three exclusive sports betting partners of the NFL would be FanDuel, DraftKings, and Caesars.
Meanwhile, new sportsbook alliances have been added to the family. The likes of FoxBet, BetMGM, PointsBet, and WynnBet signed contracts with the league.
When talking about individual football clubs in the States, we have many new examples of successful cooperation between them and their sport betting partners. For example, Arizona Cardinals are about to build the first retail betting shop at their State Farm Stadium. This will be the first-ever shop of this kind inside an NFL stadium.
Some clubs will be changing the names of their stadiums. The first among them will be New Orleans Saints. They signed a contract with Caesars, giving them the naming rights to their Superdome.
Despite the fact that gambling, in general, is not allowed in Texas, Caesars managed to sign a marketing deal with the Houston Texans.
Sports Betting Partners Also Record Huge Incomes
The legalization of sports betting in the United States of America is an ongoing process. Since the repeal of the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, the sports betting industry in the States continues to rise. Currently, sports betting is available for US players in 12 states, plus Washington DC.
The capital of the USA is also the home to the NFL franchise. A total of 14 out of 32 teams are based in states that allow sports betting. According to the predictions of the officials, the NFL could generate as much as $20 billion from betting. When compared to $7 billion in 2020, the betting handle is tripled.
If the predictions are correct, the legal sports betting operators will record a profit of $1.5 billion.