Following last year’s landmark US Supreme Court ruling that overturned a long-standing federal ban on sports betting, many knew that sportsbooks teaming up with sports media giants to enhance brand exposure would become a thing in the industry.
The latest such high-profile partnership involves Las Vegas-based casino giant MGM Resorts International and Yahoo Sports.
In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Yahoo Sports owner Verizon Media said that its sports media platform has become the official Digital Media Sports Partner of MGM and its recently launched BetMGM sports betting app.
Yahoo Sports said that the integration will launch in the Yahoo Sports app in early November in the US. Sports betting transactions will take place on the BetMGM platform.
The BetMGM app was created as a result from MGM’s partnership with Isle of Man-based gambling group GVC Holdings. The casino operator and the multi-brand gambling giant announced last year that they have agreed to form the Roar Digital joint venture that would represent the two companies’ collective effort to tap into the nascent US sports betting market.
The BetMGM app first became available in Nevada and was launched last month in New Jersey as a revamped and rebranded version of MGM’s original online gaming product PlayMGM.
Details about the MGM/Yahoo Sports Partnership
Yahoo Sports provided scarce details about its partnership with MGM in its statement on the matter, but Sports Business Daily was able to shed more light on how the deal would work.
It seems that Yahoo Sports, which boasts 60 million monthly users, will act as a BetMGM affiliate, that is to say it will use its sports content to promote and refer traffic to MGM’s sports betting app. According to sources, MGM will share a portion of the revenue generated from bettors referred by Yahoo Sports with the sports media platform.
Both MGM and Yahoo Sports confirmed that the deal will be termed as an affiliate arrangement in filings to regulators.
Verizon Media further pointed out that the first version of the joint sports betting product will initially launch on the main Yahoo Sports pages and app. Broader rollout across the site will take place at a later stage.
In states where sports wagering is legal and the BetMGM app is authorized to accept wagers, users of the Yahoo Sports app who check scores or see live feeds will also be offered betting lines, odds, and other related content. They will also be invited to click through to MGM’s sports gambling app.
In other states, users will be referred to either free-to-play games or fantasy-style content that MGM and Yahoo Sports will develop as part of their partnership.
Yahoo’s own fantasy spots product is included in the partnership between its owner and MGM.
A Historic Partnership
Commenting on their deal with MGM, Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan said that it would “change the future of fandom, providing new ways for sports fans to go beyond engaging and interact through commerce.”
Under the terms of the partnership between the two companies, MGM will distribute Yahoo Sports content across its gaming properties around the US and platforms. In addition, Yahoo Sports will host player events at MGM’s properties.
Jim Murren, Chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas casino company, said that “this partnership marks an important moment for BetMGM in the growing US sports betting sector” and that it “uniquely positions us to drive market share and large-scale adoption among sports fans.”
The deal between MGM and Yahoo Sports follows a media and sports betting partnership between The Stars Group and FOX Sports that provided the gambling operator with an exclusive license to use FOX Sports trademarks.
The two companies launched the FOX Bet sports wagering app last month as part of their deal and a free-to-play game that awards cash prizes to players who predict correctly the outcome of sporting events.
Source: Yahoo Sports, BetMGM enter historic partnership in sports betting, Yahoo Sports
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