United States - The commissioners of two of the United States’ most prominent sports leagues — the NBA and the NFL — are hedging on sports betting to increase their dipping viewership numbers.
The two top officials spoke at the Allen & Co. conference in Idaho about their renewed focus on nascent trends such as that of sports betting to further attract fans to their respective leagues.
The Allen & Co. conference is an event where foremost executives in the sport’s world gather and discuss what the future holds for the sector.
One of the primary concerns that were discussed was the rising popularity of video streaming platforms. The leagues lean heavily on income from conventional television outlets. With their share of the viewing market dropping, the sports leagues are now searching for other means to drive up revenue.
NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, thinks that the technology that would let them take advantage of legal sports betting is already being developed. The NBA is in the process of generating an improved app that would cater to sports bettors. It believes prop bets would be a main draw for new users. They will function as an extra incentive to watch a game, which then results in better engagement.
Silver is confident that the potential for corruption in the sport is diminished because of sports betting legalization. This is because of the large database of bets, as well as the ability for the league and operators to quickly identify and monitor any shady betting trends.
The NBA is rolling out sports betting ads as part of its broadcasts. It is also collaborating with different gambling operators.
The association deals with MGM Resorts, the French National Lottery, Sportradar, and Genius Sports. As a result of these partnerships, the NBA would be able to distribute exclusive data to operators all around the world.
Meanwhile, the NFL would earn as much as $2.3 billion in additional profit every year when the sports betting market in the United States develops a little bit more, according to the American Gaming Association.
It already has Caesars Entertainment as its official casino sponsor. This deal is estimated to be worth $30 million a year and is in place for three years.
Silver noted the competition to gain people’s attention exists, and how they are looking at ways and means to get people more interested and more importantly, engaged in watching their content. Measures to bolster desirability include adding more information and especially statistics to broadcasts, more information about players, innovative camera angles, augmented reality, and virtual reality.
NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, believes technology is key in getting more fans into the stadiums and watching on television. Goodell said he wants fans to have access to the same level of information and the media as when watching the game on TV screens. One of the main keys for this strategy is having access to Wi-Fi in all the league’s stadiums.
