*By Michael Teich*
The NBA is continuing its push into the sports betting market. On Friday, the league announced on Cheddar that it inked a deal with UK-based Bet365, bringing its total partnerships with sports betting operators to five.
"Their brand is huge internationally," Kaufman-Ross told Cheddar. "They're one of the biggest players throughout Europe and other parts of the world."
The deal with Bet365 follows the same framework as its previous deals with MGM, FanDuel, FOX Bet, and William Hill. Each of these operators has the right to use official NBA data, utilize marks and logos to create a more authentic product, and will be promoted from NBA.com.
The NBA has been quick to embrace legalized sports betting after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal ban in May 2018. It became the first major U.S. sports league to partner with a sportsbook operator after signing a deal with MGM in July 2018. The NBA monetizes these partnerships in a number of ways.
"In some of our deals, yes we get a royalty on the betting volume," Kaufman-Ross said. "In others, it's more like a flat fee, or a per state fee."
Currently, thirteen states have up-and-running legalized sports betting. Only four of those have true mobile betting. Five more states, plus Washington, D.C., have approved the practice, but sports betting in those regions is not yet operational. The U.S. has handled a total of $12.4 billion in sports bets since June of last year, and the legalization by more states will fuel growth even more, said Kaufman-Ross.
"There's a lot of growth that we think is going to come when new states come online and new states pass mobile betting. And I think what'll be really interesting is that what we've seen thus far, is once a state does pass a law with true mobile betting, it happens very quickly."
BetMGM Host Olivia Harlan Dekker joins Cheddar Bets to talk about lessons learned from this year's NCAA Tournament and to share which teams have the best value going forward.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Emmanuel Acho joined Cheddar News to talk about his new book "Illogical: Saying Yes to a Life Without Limits." The former NFL player, current broadcaster, and host is on a mission to help people see beyond the goals that they have set for themselves. “People say 'what is being illogical?'" he said. "To me, it's believing it is so even when it's not so — so that it can be so."
Adidas is now the first major sports brand to create a program for paying college athletes. The new "name, image and likeness" network will allow more than 50,000 students across NCAA Division 1 schools to become paid spokespeople for the brand. Thilo Kunkel, Associate Professor and Director of Sport Industry Research Center at Temple University, tells us why this new program is only the beginning of an exciting time for student athletes.
Sports betting has boomed over the past year; but at the same time, sports betting stocks have not been so hot. Now, some sports betting brands are starting to rethink how to spend their money, especially when it comes to ads. It will come after online sports betting brands spent more than $320 million on advertising in 2021, up 38% from 2020, per MediaRadar. Brendan Coffey, sports finance reporter for Sportico, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Rowing-machine maker, Hydrow, raised $55 million in Series D funding round, led by Constitution Capital. Hyrdow offers a connected rowing machine that costs $2,495. The company's funding round comes as the at-home fitness industry is facing some challenges, due to many consumers returning to gyms after working out at home during the pandemic. Bruce Smith, founder & CEO of Hydrow, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
WNBA star Sue Bird is back with the Seattle Storm after announcing her retirement last year and spoke to Cheddar about taking a pay cut to help her team win, issues around gender equity in sports, and partnering with beer brand Corona on sweepstakes that will allow fans to win a limited edition Corona fridge with space to display sneakers. "I love whenever you can partner with a company that you A) enjoy," she said. "It's not that ridiculous to see me with a Corona in my hand. You're not supposed to say that as an athlete, but it's true."
Turkish media reports say a second superyacht belonging to Chelsea soccer club owner and sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has docked in a resort in southwestern Turkey.
Ben Strauss, sports and media reporter at the Washington Post, joins Cheddar News to recap round two of the NCAA Men's Tournament and what we can expect heading into the Sweet 16.
March Madness kicked off this month as more and more states are legalizing sports betting — and some major upsets almost immediately busting many a bracket. Jay Croucher, the director of trading at the sportsbook PointsBet, joined Cheddar News to talk about the tournament and the current top picks. "There's not too much difference in terms of the busiest days of the year between the Super Bowl and the first day of March Madness," he said.
The NCAA tournament kicks off this week, so it's about that time to finalize your march madness brackets if you haven't already, and decide where to call the upsets. Iain MacMillan, senior editor at MacMillan, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
