The Buffalo Bills announced that they have signed a deal with Seneca Resorts and Casinos to be their casino sponsor, thus becoming the fifth team in the National Football League to have a deal of this nature.
The historic collaboration was made public by Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Bills. A Seneca Studios will also be established at the team’s headquarters, which would be tasked with creating exclusive content.
The Seneca tribe will also be given priority inside the stadium to promote their gambling facilities in the area. Three gambling facilities are functioning under the control of the Seneca Nation in the state of New York.
To commemorate this new deal, the two parties have introduced a monumental promotion called the “Ultimate Billieve RV Giveaway,” the winner of which will go home with a brand-new RV from Thor Motor Coach Winds as well as two Bills season tickets for the 2020-2021 NFL season.
Through this new collaboration, the Bills are looking to establish various levels of fan engagement and raise the in-stadium experience for fans that are attending the games live
However, there are some who have cast their doubts on the partnership, owing to the fact that the Seneca tribe supposedly has a shady reputation in the state.
There have been a number of clashes over the past few years between the tribe and the state government over gaming compacts. According to state lawmakers, as per the compact they inked with the tribe, millions of dollars are allegedly owed to the state from Seneca-owned gambling facilities.
As a result of the tribe’s failure to make these payments, the state government is taking the issue to a federal court to find out what the next course of action should be.
The Seneca tribe was handed approval to offer gambling in the state of New York as long as they gave a 25% cut of their profits from slot machines to the state government. This gaming compact ended in 2017 and tension over this arrangement has been prevalent since then.
Since the conclusion of this agreement, the tribe has not made any such disbursements to the state. As retaliation, state Governor Andrew Cuomo is snubbing to have portions of roads running through the tribe’s land fixed until there is a resolution to the dispute. Reports have indicated that this particular three-mile-long road is in such dismal condition that it is crumbling in places, making it awfully unsafe.
It was in September of last year that the NFL gave the green light to teams to begin accepting casino sponsors. This is permitted so long as the teams are not promoting sportsbooks. To date, four other teams have such sponsorships in place. These are the Dallas Cowboys, the Baltimore Ravens, the Green Bay Packers, and the Las Vegas Raiders.
