The National Basketball Association (NBA) and William Hill, one of the United States’ foremost sportsbook operators, have agreed on a partnership to make the latter its fourth official sports betting partner.
The partnership means that William Hill would now have access to exclusive official NBA betting information and would also be allowed to use the league’s logo on its marketing collateral, mobile and desktop sportsbooks, and its social media channels.
William Hill would also be tasked with helping the NBA with its integrity monitoring systems to try and prevent any match-fixing and suspicious betting.
In return, the William Hill sportsbook would be marketed through the numerous digital assets that are part of the NBA’s profile. This includes the NBA website, official app, and all of the league’s social media channels.
Exact figures of the deal were not made public but it is reported to be a seven-figure deal. William Hill now joins the other betting partners of the NBA which include the Stars Group, FanDuel, and MGM Resorts.
As part of the NBA’s agreement with MGM Resorts, which is worth up to $25 million, the league receives a slice of the profits from NBA sports bets, based on volume. This is a royalty for the company’s use of the NBA’s intellectual property.
Scott Kaufman-Ross, the head of fantasy and gaming for the NBA, discussed how William Hill is a global brand that has been setting the bar in the legal sports betting space in the country.
“We are excited to work together to provide a world-class experience to our fans,” said Kaufman-Ross in a statement.
Dan Shapiro, William Hill’s vice president of strategy and business development in the US, has also talked about the benefits that this collaboration would bring to its operations. The company is banking that this would be a long-term partnership that would be mutually beneficial for the league and all of its respective franchise teams.
Since the conclusion of the federal ban on sports betting back in May 2018, the NBA has been more active in embracing legal sports betting. The league was initially looking at the introduction of integrity fees but started to concentrate on selling exclusive league data to sportsbooks.
A new set of rules were introduced by the NBA in September, which many people consider is related to gambling.
One of the primary changes was to make sure that teams submit their starting lineups at least 30 minutes before each game. Previous rules permitted teams to announce their starting lineups a mere 10 minutes before tip-off.
The rule change was introduced for greater transparency for coaches and fans, but also for bettors. It allows bettors to have more data available before placing their wagers.
