Yahoo Sports, BetMGM enter historic partnership in sports betting
When the United States Supreme Court overturned a federal ban on sports gambling in 2018, allowing individual states to decide whether to make sports betting legal, the walls between sports and sports gambling came down.
Leagues have embraced casino partners and acknowledged that fans enjoy betting on their games. Announcers casually drop in references to point spreads during broadcasts. The landscape quickly changed.
The next step will be a partnership between Yahoo Sports and BetMGM. Guru Gowrappan, CEO of Verizon Media and Jim Murren, Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International, announced that Yahoo Sports and BetMGM have entered into a partnership to “power sports betting for Yahoo Sports and create collaborative content experiences and live events.”
What does the announcement mean for fans?
The multiyear partnership makes Yahoo Sports the official Digital Media Sports Partner of MGM Resorts. The integration will launch in the Yahoo Sports app (iOS or Google Play) in November in the United States. Transactions will take place on the BetMGM platform.
The NBA, NHL, football, college sports, baseball, soccer, golf, and tennis will be included in the integration.
“The historic partnership with Yahoo Sports and BetMGM will change the future of fandom, providing new ways for sports fans to go beyond engaging with content and interact through commerce,” Gowrappan said in a release. “At Verizon Media we believe in building products that connect consumers to their passions and drive the deepest end-to-end value possible.”
MGM will distribute Yahoo Sports content across its properties and platforms, and Yahoo Sports will host multiple player events at MGM Resorts properties.
“This partnership marks an important moment for BetMGM in the growing U.S. sports betting sector,” Murren added. “Integrating Yahoo’s leading fantasy sports operations and content with BetMGM’s world-class sports betting and interactive platform uniquely positions us to drive market share and large-scale adoption among sports fans.”
Leagues embrace Yahoo Sports, MGM partnership
The NBA and NHL have already entered partnerships with MGM, and commissioners of both leagues said in statements that the new Yahoo Sports partnership will benefit their fans.
“As sports betting continues to transform the industry, this partnership brings together the power of two trusted partners of the NBA,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. “By working together, MGM Resorts and Yahoo Sports will offer fans unprecedented ways to engage with our games.”
“The expanding sports betting landscape presents exciting opportunities to increase fan engagement and leverage emerging technologies,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “MGM Resorts, a valued partner of the NHL, along with Yahoo, a leading media brand, will connect fans to the action on the ice in new and innovative ways.”
The sports betting world is growing rapidly. The new partnership between Yahoo Sports and BetMGM is another sign of a new era in that realm.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
