WFT and FanDuel are sports betting partners.
By Skip Charles in Vegas
The NFL forced the cancellation of scheduled appearances by then-Dallas Cowboys star Tony Romo and other players at a 2015 fantasy football convention in Las Vegas.
That’s how much the NFL wanted t0 stay away from the idea, let alone the realty, of sports betting.
Now, just three years after the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports gambling in most states, the NFL has been as aggressive as any league, forging partnerships with betting operators, infusing broadcasts with gambling content and allowing betting to seep into the stadium experience.
In April, the league announced Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel as its official sports betting partners.
The NFL and its teams expect to generate about $270 million in revenue this year from their sports-betting and gambling deals, according to a person familiar with the league’s finances. That’s only the beginning.
“You can definitely see the market growing to $1 billion-plus of league opportunity over this decade,” Christopher Halpin, an executive vice president for the NFL who is its chief strategy and growth officer, told the Washington Post.
The league’s approach involves a delicate balance.
“For adult fans who want to bet in legal markets on sports, have products and partners that serve them best in class and advance their experience,” Halpin said. “And on the flip side, don’t alienate the fan like my mother who doesn’t want sports betting in her national CBS broadcast.”
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